another sweater update, bunny galore, reduction of stuff

first things first...

sleeve #1 is complete! after this i just cast off and put it in the pile with the other pieces. i'm about 3" into the second one and hope to have it done some time next week. then all i have to do is the collar and sew everything up.


rabbit enjoys eating lots of things.
spring lettuce mix...

strawberries (though she didn't eat them...i just gave her my plate and she enjoyed licking it. i thought she'd lick a hole through the glass.)

argh. she's so pretty.

here's my next felting project...this will be a large trivet and a set of coasters. be on the lookout for my etsy store coming soon! i'll post about it when it happens some time next week. :)


i've been making an effort to reduce the amount of stuff i have. crafters tend to accumulate stuff associated with their various interests. it would be one problem if i just had a lot of stuff. in addition to stuff, i have more craft stuff. fortunately for me, i have only a one bedroom apartment, so hoarding stuff is limited to the space i have. i need less stuff. i came to this conclusion several years ago, but i only started to do something about it in the last year or so. i've been reorganizing my craft stores:

*beading
*needleworks (yarn, patterns, needles/hooks)
*quilting (never really got that into it, but i still have a bunch of stuff)
*bath stuff. (tons of soap left over, still. good thing it won't rot.)
*slide transfers (less of the "craft" and more of the visual, but the same amount of stuff)
*other various projects.

with regards to the yarn...this past weekend i went to a knitting guild meeting in maryland where they had a yarn swap. i was very concerned about leaving yarn there but coming home with some as well. i brought a bunch of novelty yarn that i loved using a few years ago, but balls and balls of it have since found their way to the "some day i will use this" box. i left the yarn there and lo and behold, someone else wanted it! i got rid of about half of what i have, and i even got a few $$ for it. the only bad part is that it didn't take up much space in my bedroom. it was one large shoebox full, but that's still one shoebox less!

tonight i am also expecting my little kitchen table and chairs to be picked up by someone i connected with on freecycle. (great service, by the way. check it out if you haven't already.) it's a cute little table with two drop down leaves, so it was perfect for my first few apartments that had only small spaces for eating. i've had it for several years and i'm a little hesitant to give it up, but i'm not really using it and someone else wants it. everyone wins!

the whole key here is to not replace things as i use them up. even toiletries. i don't use hairspray, but for some reason i have, like, 3 bottles of it. gotta use that stuff up. clothing has been going to goodwill on a regular basis, too. i have so much stuff i haven't worn in a while, or that i know i'm not going to wear ever again, so why should i keep it around? i don't have a lot of space.

i feel kind of stupid because i've spent money on all of this stuff that i don't need to live, and i feel like i will be wasting it if i get rid of it in some manner, but aren't i wasting it if i don't use it, too? i'll just spend this summer giving things away, using things up, crafting with what i have and such. just have to move on from here and be wiser about my accumulation of stuff and things.