A little update on the 2017 decluttering challenge: I’ve been at it for just about four weeks now and so far I’ve rid our home of 741 items. I am serious about this. Conversely in that same time I did come home with a couple of new things. Circumstances considered, I was very well behaved. The first series of temptations came during an outing to a rare and used bookstore where everything was being sold for next to nothing. The second was a craft swap where everything was available for literally nothing. Books and craft supplies. My kryptonite.
A hundred and six year old first edition copy of a book that I thought might make a pleasant family read aloud, two children’s magazines from 1937 and 1944 respectively, that have the sweetest illustrations and which I intend to tuck into Mairi’s Easter basket and two old knitting magazines. Including the six or so books that Mairi, Galen, and Seraphina picked out, we spent $12.
I came home with a few things from the sewing and knitting exchange as well. There was an entire room full of free sewing and knitting supplies people! I’m only human. Still, I dropped off three boxes worth of donations and everything I came home with fit in my handbag. Not such a bad exchange.
The two designs above are from Bear Brand Campus Knits Vol. 335, cira 1947. The patterns have rather humorous names such as “Beau Catcher” (Steve checked it out and found the bait inferior). These two above are “Art Appreciation” and “Collegiate” and I can’t decide which I’d rather grace my needles.
I started sifting through craft supplies before I was truly ready because of the swap. It’s really an emotional process, much like sorting through sentimental items. I’m afraid this is one area where I’m guilty of keeping every last thing, just in case. It’s comforting to me to feel that in lean times I could make whatever might be needed. But I want to live with more freedom now, not stockpiling for a future which may or may not come. I’ve started looking at certain fabrics and telling myself that I’ve made my dress or blouse or whatever from it and now I can let what’s left move on to someone else. It has already served it’s purpose for me. I don’t have to use up every last scrap. I’m trying to think less in terms of what I could use, as just about everything falls into that category, and more what I genuinely think I will use. And perhaps more importantly, what I want to use.
What about you? Do you have experience with decluttering craft supplies or trying to keep a more minimalist craft set up?
