Another Island of Misfit WIPs

Really I am not a knitter who does well with more than 2 WIPs at any one time. I get distracted and diffuse. Look! A new yarn! A new knitting pattern! A bright shiny object! So it's time to buckle down and get to work. Fall is just around the corner and I don't need any hangers-on. The hats for the Ukraine (upper left in pic) need to be done by this weekend. I have 1 1/2 hats left to go. The Devan (lower center of pic) is no longer for a co-worker's grandbaby (he would have outgrown it already) but for another little guy due in 2 months or so. And Cypress Ribbon will be done as soon as I get the #3 needle out of Devan.

This is the drawer of tee-shirts, cut up and whole for an I-cord rug melding in the back of my mind. I scored some really cheap tees at a local resale store which complement the ones I already cut up (thank you, clothes purging!) I'm not sure what size needles I'll use. Any suggestions?

Domestic tranquility

The contact papering is finished! Note the nicely organized shelves.

And I'm so much happier now that I purged

all the unwanted/stained Tupperware.

(I just found out that Chittenden County takes all plastics #1-7! Woot!)
You may not be able to see it in these pictures, but the trees in the marshy area of the Sandbar are already turning colors. That - coupled with the Halloween candy in the store today - does not bode well for summer.

Anniversaries come and go.

Sometime in the past two weeks, my blogiversary came and went with nary a nod from me. Maybe next year, we'll have a big party complete with prizes, cake and beer. This year, I'm in the home zone. Actually for the past 18 months I've been in the home zone, with the last few months being less about the renovations and more about decluttering/simplifying.

It is amazing to me that the more I declutter, the more I find to do. And I'm a purger by nature! I think a lot of it has to do with the fact this is the longest we have lived in any one place and the natural purging that happens when you move hasn't happened here in 12 years. I also find that as I get older, I get more ruthless. I have never been a sentimentalist, but now I'm finding stuff that was on the fine line between 'memory' or 'dust catcher' status has fallen decisively onto the "I don't want to clean/maintain this anymore" side of the fence. So Goodwill has received several CattyAbode dropoffs in the past month (cast iron skillets and a set of dishes, anyone?)

While I'm in the home zone, knitting is now deadline-driven only. I'm working on Chas Arthur's baby sweater, which is not speedy due to the sock yarn/#3 needle concept. And since he was born last Sunday (2 weeks early, thankyouverymuch) at almost 9 lbs, I've kicked the sweater up a size which only compounds my problem.

So it's time for me to get back to work, but I thought you might enjoy a picture of Isabelle in an empty box (I was purging old receipts and records.) I think she's honing her Serengeti skills.