The Clearout Continues

 I have spent most of my time clearing out the sewing stuff in my basement. Some has been claimed by friends. Some will be going to the local "Buy Nothing" group. A lovely piece of wool fabric had an encounter with moths, so is sadly gone into the garbage. I kept a small amount of the things stored in the basement. Hopefully they will appear here soon, as newly finished projects.

This week, we started to have hope that spring was coming.

Snowdrops appeared in a sunny spot in the side yard, as the snow was melting. Of course, yesterday, we got another 5 cm. of snow and today we have freezing rain. Tomorrow we might get +16C, unless the weather forecasts are just teasing us. This is spring in my area.

I finished the purple shawl, making two UFO finishes in March. As a reward, I cast on my April socks, a few days early.

I see I have cat hair on my pants (no surprise) but that yarn is such happy yarn. Who doesn't like a rainbow, symbol of hope!  They are going quickly. They should be done in no time.

This week will have more basement clearing. I hope I might get a little bit of sewing time.

The Great Clearout of 2025

 We have a new project to keep us busy. We have been planning to fix up the basement, for a number of years. We finally got to a point where we had a clear idea of what we would like to do, found a contractor that saw our vision (sweet and simple), and decided to go ahead. Then we heard the horrifying words: "I can start in two weeks." So now we have a deadline to sort through the many years of "stuff" that has been stored down there, doing the toss, donate, keep process. 

This was my giveaway piles of fabric on Thursday night. I found 5 Beaver neckerchiefs, brand new, which is odd because I only have 2 kids.

I mentioned on Friday morning to my church handwork group that I had some fabric and craft supplies to giveaway. They all stopped in on the way home, and took at least half of the stuff there. Of course, I have found more. My DIL, a goddess at posting on the local Buy Nothing group has volunteered to post the stuff for me, and handle the pickups.

It is surprisingly easy to let stuff go, when most of it hasn't seen the light for many years. My sewing space used to be in the basement, and when I moved upstairs, some of the supplies didn't get moved. There are also the hobbies I don't do any more. So very little is staying.

Of my current hobbies, my March goal of finishing a couple of WIP's is going well. 

The Boublay scarf is finished, and just needs blocking.

The bobbles along the cast off are beaded.

I am on to my next WIP. It is called Sobriquet, and the pattern is by Romi Hill. I started it in Feb. 2024.

It should be finished next week. I am just working on the border.

I also started a Musselburgh Hat. 

It is a top down hat and from here it is about 14" of straight knitting. Great project for meetings and waiting rooms.

In an effort to have a bit of spring, I forced some Forsythia branches.

The yellow is bright and cheerful. In a few short weeks, the whole bush will be covered in yellow.

Meanwhile, my Christmas cactus is having an identity crisis. It bloomed the end of November, and then decided to bloom again this week.

More pretty flowers to enjoy.

So, tomorrow is back to the clear out.  We can actually see progress, as more bags and boxes leave the house. I'll report back on the progress.

In Like A Lion Cub

 March came in, not like a lamb, but like a rather small Lion. There was more snow.  We got 109.3 cm of snow in February, in 12th place for the snowiest month on record. The snow has continued into March.  Today and tomorrow we are above zero, but that ends tomorrow night, and we are back in the freezer again. 

It seems like a good month to bake. Yesterday, I made Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, to have with our coffee.

It was Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras, or Pancake Day) so I made pancakes for supper. They are Oatmeal Apple Banana Pecan Spice Pancakes. When my kids were at home, they would eat a double batch in a single sitting. I made a single batch, and half are stored in the freezer for another day.

We had local maple syrup with them.

I finished the Trail Blazer Socks. I missed finishing in February but it was close.  So two pairs of socks for 2025.

I have decided that March will be a good time to finish three WIP's that I have sitting here. All of them are single skein fingering projects, two small shawls and a cowl.

The first one is a very small scarf, that uses a 30 gm ball of fingering. It is called Boublay by Laura Nelkin. Beads will be added.

Aren't the colours great! The yarn is Uneek by Urth Yarns. The colour is "54". There is purple still to come.

Not much sewing accomplished, but the knitting is going well.