Sunday, October 08, 2006

 

Call the Ministry!


The title comes courtesy of my friend mouse, who longs to live in Canada so she can shout things like "call the Ministry!"

I do believe I may be the most disorganized person in the world. No, really. I'm a packrat and, apparently, completely insane. Team that up with being exhausted and overscheduled most of the time and this is the sort of thing you end up with when all of the boxes in your guest room get rammed into your studio and then fall over:




Yeah, there comes a point where even I get ashamed, so last night, amply armed with fortifications and a great big shovel, I started organizing this mess.

First, seeing the weather has turned and all of the shelters are in urgent need of blankets, I hauled out some of the ones that the good folks of Vancouver have been putting together for the last year. A few were a little ... pungent, shall we say? (Folks, if you're knitting for "the homeless" please note that even the homeless don't want to smell the cheese-flavoured popcorn you were eating while knitting their blanket. Wash it before you give it to me ffs; my hydro bills are through the roof.)

I washed them and have a nice stack to take over to the shelter later today:




I went through some boxes of yarn, as there are tons and tons donated every year, much of which can't be used. (Again, if you're donating to "the homeless", please check what the agency you're donating to actually requires. In our case it's worsted-weight acrylic. New. Nothing else. Just because it makes you feel virtuous to clean out your craft room doesn't mean that all of that crochet thread and funfur is going anywhere.) Anyhow, I get tons of wool and wool blends donated, which we can't use (ease of washing. If you wash a blanket in hot water and some of the squares are acrylic and then a few are wool ... well, I think you can imagine the result). There's a lady at my parents' seniors' centre who has a big bunch of friends who sit about knitting toques for the folks who live on our streets and they can use any amount of any yarn available. I'll be dropping off a garbage bag full of yarn at my parents' place when we go up for Thanksgiving dinner tonight. Yes, the Canadians celebrate it this weekend. I will also celebrate on American Thanksgiving. I love a good feast.

(The chenille I spoke of in an earlier post was also a misguided donation. It's gone to the elementary school for kids to use to make hair for people they draw on posters. Good god, you didn't think I was actually going to knit with it, did you? I'm not that drunk.)

While organizing I came across a few interesting finds:


a pile of merino/tussah, which proves that I can't spin. I like it, though

It went in the:


box of weird shit i have spun

I also found 100 grams of wool/mohair blend from "Shades of Narnia" in Chilliwack. Beautiful soft stuff and I love it, but it certainly confirms the notion that goats don't bathe quite as often as they might, if you know what I mean. (hint: it doesn't smell like cheese-flavoured popcorn)




The studio is nowhere near organized yet, but I can actually see hints that there might be a floor in here. Hoping to get my dyeing table in here after dinner (the rest of the afternoon is committed to making cookies with Miss Muppet) and maybe commit some sort of outrage upon the thousands of yards of superwash I have languishing back here. I just bought my first batch of acid dyes ... look for photos shortly.

Oh, and for anyone interested in that brown wool, the two small skeins have gone to live in Sweden, of all places. i'll try to put the two big ones up on the sidebar-clickything later.

Comments:
Dude.. did you take your kid along with the stack of blankets to the shelter?? CALL THE MINISTRY!!! "were you drunk at them time?" hee-hee-hee!
 
Love the box of wierd stuff! Now that is something I can do. Have a great Thanksgiving.
 
Taking the kid TO the shelter is fine. As long as you bring her home after.

Nice pile of blankets. Good job.
 
Ok, I got half way through the chenille sentence, "It's gone to the elementary school for kids to use..." and I thought, damn...what a bitch (thinking they were going to learn to knit with chenille)!! LOLOL It will make fine hair, though.

Oh. And if you want confirmation of a pack-ratted studio gone bad to make you feel better, email me and I'll send you a private photo.
 
Speaking of the sidebar shop thingy, the pink stuff is MINE PEOPLE.
back away.

*furtive looks*
 
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