Simplify 2008 - The Results

So, how've I done in my decluttering this year? I've kept a record and I think it's a good start, although I still have a long way to go. You can see that I kind of lost momentum toward the end of the year. (And we won't even talk about the weight loss attempt.) But progress is progress, and, with the excesses of the Christmas season behind me, I'm ready to resume the decluttering process. While I don't know that I'm ready to go as far as this fellow, I do dream about being unfettered by STUFF. Wish me luck!

TOTAL DECLUTTERED FOR YEAR
10 bags
18 boxes
18 books
25 VHS tapes
2 items of furniture
2 jars of coins

January

2 leaf bags of clothes/stuff and 2 boxes of dishes/ornaments to Goodwill
5 pounds

February

3 leaf bags of clothes and toys (includes 10 pr. shoes, 3 purses, 6 pr. pjs) and 18 books to Goodwill
1 pound

March

Not much success decluttering
Gained and lost the same pounds

April

2 leaf bags and 1 box of clothes, books, and toys to Goodwill

May

1 leaf bag of clothes and 1 box of dishes to Goodwill
4 pounds

June

2 leaf bag of clothes, 2 box of dishes/toys 2 bags of VHS tapes to Goodwill

July
4 boxes of household items, 1 shelf unit, 1 wicker trunk to Goodwill

August

4 boxes of household items, kids' clothes/shoes, kids' stuff to Goodwill
1 rusty old swingset that had outlived its usefulness
5 VHS tapes
2 jars of coins to Coinstar

November

4 boxes of warm clothing items for Wheelwright mission project

Christmas Gifts Accomplished!

(Well, sort of). Here's the breakdown of my hand-knit gifts that were actually completed and given this year by Christmas:

1 pair of felted clogs - Dad



2 ruffled hats - twin nieces (Here's one, modeled by D#1)



1 pair of fingerless mitts - D#1



Instead of stressing over what I didn't get done, I just enjoyed giving what I finished. The others on my list received bought items, but I decided not to stress over those this year either. This Christmas just had a different feel for me. Instead of letting myself get wrapped up in and/or aggravated by the consumerism and commercialism, I decided to just be grateful - grateful for the incredible gift that is the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place - and to look for ways that I could live out that gratitude. I have a long way to go, but it made for a much more meaningful Christmas season this year.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebration.

Christmas Knitting

I finished another felted bowler hat this morning. I hope it will work for the recipient. I left it in the washer longer than I had planned (distracted with Facebook, I'm afraid) and it shrunk a wee to much. I stretched it and worked quite a bit with it in the blocking phase, so I think I saved it. I'll let you know.

I started another mitred square vest, but lost count about 8 rows into it. I frogged it and decided that I needed to take a break from knitting for the rest of the day.

I still have quite a list to go:

• Vest
• Ruffled hat
• Bunny Blanket Buddy (although I think it'll be a puppy instead)
• 3 pair of fingerless mitts
• Pillow cover
• Afghan (mostly done - just about 12 inches more to go)
• Man's hat

How many more days are there before Christmas?

Now on to a non-Christmas item -- I finished the "Vomit Socks" last night and loved them so much that I wore them to bed! They turned out very cute and they are the perfect color to wear with my tan mary-jane Skechers. Today I wore them out shopping and to the Opryland Hotel to see the Christmas lights. I think they really enjoyed their first outing! :)

Deadline Knitting

I started this Baby J sweater on Friday and finished it today with 40 minutes to spare before the baby shower for which this was made. I breezed into my LYS last Wednesday evening, right as they were ready to close, and bought the yarn. I cast on the project on Friday morning and have done nothing but knit since then. Yesterday, I realized that I still needed buttons, so I went back to the LYS on my way home from work and found these little cuties. Then it was back home to knit knit knit until I finished around 11:00 p.m. I handwashed it and blocked it before I went to bed at 11:30. This morning, I got up early so that I could sew on the buttons before I left for work only to realize that I didn't have the right color thread. Of course, the sweater wasn't dry yet either, but, since it turned out a little too big anyway, I tossed it in the dryer. It came out the perfect size. (Better to be lucky than smart!) I swung into Wal-mart on my way to work, picked up the thread I needed, and sewed on the buttons during my break.

Whew! I don't know why I do this to myself, but this hasn't been the first time I've done something like this and I know I'm not the only one out there. Anyone have any last-minute-to-spare stories?