Scout tagged me (and I think everyone else) for her new meme – show your knitting space. Not so easy at Chez Une d’Janvier. I know that some people will have cleaned/straightened up their house, but well, frankly, I don’t have time for that these days. And really – why not let it all hang out! (And yes. G knows I’m posting pictures of our squalor on the Internet.)
We’ll start with the living room – where I do a lot of my knitting.
Numbers are counterclockwise from the far left:
1. This is where I usually sit when I knit. I put my feet up on the ottoman (currently covered with work contracts and invoices.) Note the lone size #1 DPN – I find it very helpful in moving stitches around on my two circulars and picking up stitches and stuff. I think there’s a sweat jacket there too. I get cold sometimes.
2. This is where G sits. His legs are on the ottoman too. He constantly yells at me to stop “sewing” and come snuggle. I usually tell him just let me finish the row.
3. This bag contains the yarn I just bought from Purl on Saturday with the girls.
4. Here we have the infamous scale. The broken swift. The ball winder. Some wound up yarn. If you look on the floor right below the table you can see the yarn scraps used to tie up skeins.
6. Assorted yarns. The Koigu is here, but you can’t really see it. Some package wrappings from the mail. All the Rhinebeck yarn is here and on the floor in front of couch. Most of it’s in bags. Oh and the Curious Georges all live here.
7. My Flower Basket Shawl and behind that is my first project – a 5’x6′ four color slip stitch afghan. Yeah. I’m ambitious.
8. All of my Rhinebeck receipts.
9. Socks That Rock. ‘Nuff said.
10. Here we find a bunch of notions: tapestry needle, Obsidian to fix the Carbon sock, Nancie Wiseman’s The Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques. A million different cuticle scissors that I can never find when I need them.
11. This is the great leather basket I have that holds all the abandoned projects. Right on top – Short Rows. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.
My house is a mess, obviously. But I do clean! Or I used to sort of. The last time I cleaned was when Vicki was here and that was half assed at best. Once I’m done with my work, I’m going to get the house in order enough so I can hire someone to clean. We used to have someone, but we had to fire her like two years ago. It’s been a mess ever since.
Okay. Here’s another picture. This is the yarn/knitting photography staging area. It’s in the dining room on the other side of the living room (it’s an open floor plan.)
I get good light by the silding glass door out to the balcony and I usually use that big (heavy too) slab of wood to take the pictures on. When it’s nice I take the slab out onto the deck and shoot. See the big green thing – that’s our beloved Patio Bistro. This thing rocks – and it’s electric! We can’t have gas on our balconies. Also, the wind here is very bad – our chairs literally blow around. That’s why the grill is in the house – G wants to protect it. Once, a bird built a nest under the grill. The cover was longer and it gave her shelter I guess. Her name was Fotula. She laid two eggs and in a tragic accident, the whole freaking nest blew around the balcony and the little eggs were left abandoned. The whole thing was very, very sad for us.
Last knitting space: the bedroom:
This is my side of the bed. Notice my blanket on my pillow? On the floor we have a ton of knitting books, yarn, needles, patterns, the last K1R2 book I was reading, head phones for watching TV late at night while G’s asleep, the abandoned Sunshine Sock. There’s my January One bag I made for Maryland. Sometimes I get really paranoid about all the crap on the side of my bed because it’s right in front of the heating/cooling unit (see the door?) which at any given time has a couple tons of water running through it. These things break apparently. You’re always seeing/hearing about floods around the building because people don’t check their hoses. We do. These units are old, but sometimes I have daydreams about the pipes bursting and ruining everything I have on the floor next to the bed. Guess it doesn’t scare me enough to do anything about it though.
So there you have it! That’s where I knit! Kind of scary, I know, but somehow we manage to live here. It’s all getting on my nerves a lot lately, but I’m stuck in the office all day and barely come up for air. But I’m starting to not be able to find things and that’s such a time waster running around the house cursing and screaming because I can’t find what I need at that particular moment.
Consider yourself tagged.
Thanks so much for this. I love being a knitting voyeur. And yes, I did tag everyone. HA!
Is it freezing there today?
Rofl. Yeah, I’m a wuss. I cleaned (the small area) and I cropped. But I feel much better now. 😉
Thank Gawd, I’m not the only one! You have given me the courage to display mine too. Later, though, after I have a chance to pick up a bit.
I feel so much better. My mother always said that a house is to be lived in. If it’s always perfect then it shows you clean and do little else. You do so many different things in a day…knit, work, snuggle…that’s all much more important than a cleaned up space.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Cleaning Lady. It’s the secret to my success, lol. But, if you’re not unhappy with the way things are then you shouldn’t worry about it. I’m too anal to relax unless everything’s picked up, though. Thanks for the tour!
Oh my gosh….. you’re place is a mess!! And I don’t mean that in a bad way. I just thought that mine was bad.
4. What’s the scale for? Broken swift…. poor thing. How about you buy me a swift for Christmas and I’ll buy you a swift for Christmas?
5. Your Diamond Fantasy Shawl is gorgeous!!!
7. So is your Flower Basket Shawl!
10. I have that book too!
Wow, looks like you get a lot of knitting done. I’m envious. I only have like 2 WIPs…..
love your blog.
Hey, I’m coming over to tidy up right now.
Seriously looks like you are working hard. Are you sure you didn’t scatter stuff around on purpose to create that high-energy look? xox Kay
Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! My room is a great mess also, and I was starting to think I was the messiest girl in the Universe! You see, my mother is a perfect housekeeper (and she has a job as a translator), mostly because she cannot stand clutter and confusion. I live with 3 other girls, and each of us has a separate room. Of course, my room is the most messy! I clean the room periodically, but I haven’t had the time to tidy up. So much to knit, so little time! I intend to tidy up a bit, because it’s not fun being unable to find things, but I don’t intend to have a perfect house like my mother… I can live in clutter!
So, thanks again. You are wonderful to show us a real photo of a real, lived house.
I don’t have to take a picture-my squalor looks almost exactly like yours!
You know, I have an open floor concept too. If the floor is open, I dump stuff on it. 😉
oh my…. oh my.. my overly neat and tidy self just nearly had a heart attack from looking at your pictures, but that large pile of socks that rock had something to do with it, i’m sure 😉
Can a guest be homesick?
Love you! Miss you!
Thanks for being brave and letting it all hang out. I saw that meme and shuddered… my end of the couch and coffee table are messy!!
haha, i feel so much better. Until THIS MORNING the side off my bed has looks like that for months!! I sent it to my husband, as proof i am not the only one!!
You’re knititng area looks a lot like my sewing room. Half the time I do manage to clean it, but then it gets worse over time and has to be re-organized.
I am doing a major re-org this weekend before my parents come as they will be sleeping in our bedroom, and us on the floor of my sewing room. I’ll wait to take pictures when it looks good, I should probably take before and after pics to be fair, but this morning we cleaned the bedroom for the new bed to be delivered so it’s actually clean for once.
I saw your shameless begging over at Vicki’s. To answer your plea, No your place did not look this messy. It was about 1/2 this messy.
You do not need a cleaning lady. You need a pug. If you had a pug, then you wouldn’t be able to ‘keep’ so much stuff on the floor.
ask Jen, I bet she agrees with me.
I love you even more now!
🙂
What a blast to be a voyeur in your house/life. It is so nice to see that other people live amongst clutter like I do, (my house is way worse, though — way more clutter). Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Wow Cara! I won’t be ashamed to invite you over!! Nice new socks.
yup, looks like home to me!
i’m ashamed to say it that i’m one of those types of people that needs to at least straighten things up in order to feel calm. so woah… that’s some clutter! I’d be willing to help clear the clutter for some STR 😉 I ordered some via their brand spankin’ new website… I said that you sent me.
I love your shawls too! I want to knit my first lace project and was looking at your flower basket shawl… love it.
Thanks for being so real 🙂
Somehow, I really expected to see Oprah on your TV… 😉
Your knitting place puts mine to shame. I’m on a raggedy old couch with bad lighting and lumpy cushions. And my fat cat usually sits on the back and chews my hair.
On a brighter note, I finished my first pair of Jaywalkers!
http://www.livejournal.com/users/good_egg/13784.html
And I have an extra skein of BMFA STR that I’m trying to trade. If you or anyone else wants it, contact me at my blog.
“He constantly yells at me to stop “sewing” and come snuggle. I usually tell him just let me finish the row.”
I have a 2 year old with whom I have similar conversations all the time. I was hoping we’d evolve out of it, but maybe not…
I’m going off to take my own photo now.
wow! i can’t believe from the comments and your sharing, that i’m not the only one who’s overtaken the home with knit and craft. thanks for braving to share – glad to know i’m among creative souls…..
I love that you posted this. Your house reminds me of mine except that I’m still rocking the college sheik look.