The two-hour tidy

Resistance be futile: over the weekend I realized I would have to clean up my knitting gear. It wasn't that I couldn't find anything... it was just so messy. What's the point of having a yarn cupboard you can open up to sniff at for aromatherapy purposes if the chaos inside (and, um, outside as well) gives you a stress attack?

It took a while, but it's much better now.

It helped that I found a different place to put the sewing fabric that's been accumulating in there since I started opening up the machine on weekends. Also that I found another square basket with a hinged lid in which to stash some felted sweater bits I'd singled out for sewing together a speedy little cardi but haven't got to yet. And I took advantage of a couple of drawer pockets that weren't too busy to hold some infrequently accessed knitting aids.

While sorting, I found:

the perfect yarn for a multicoloured shawl. And

the perfect yarn for a Haapsalu shawl (off-white alpaca in fine fingering - can you imagine???) And

a lot of roving from when I tried to learn to spin last spring! And

a lot of stuff for needle felting

(those last two might start inching their way toward the felted cardi basket, don't you think?) And

a nice clear slot for my beloved kitchen scales that still haven't seen the kitchen, they've been so busy with yarn.

While doing this I found time to play with the scales, separating balls of sock yarn into perfectly-matched smaller pairs for two socks each.

And I cast on for another idea I had, and I knit a lot of Monkey... but more about that tomorrow. For now I would just like to revel in my tidy knitting cupboard. And maybe go open up the doors for a nice soothing sniff.