Organized...who knew??????????

If anyone tells my mother what I'm about to divulge here, I'll deny it to my last, dying breath. And I'm sure there are a few others out there that are probably needing some EMT services right about now. Or some heart patches. (don't hit your head on the table when you pass out folks) Yep...it's that shocking, even to my daughter. What's this earth shattering announcement?

Come closer. Really close and I'll whisper it into your ear. Go ahead, and lay your ear right up on your computer monitor. Naw naw naw...don't lean back in your chair. Give it a really good lean-in and plaster your ear right up on the screen here. Yep...that's much better...now...press in your ear. 'Cuz I can tell you that I'm never going to admit this again after today. EVER. So you'd better catch it fast, 'cuz it's going to be quick and veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy quiet.

Ready? Here goes. *taking a very deep breath here.....* (feeling like I'm in first grade again standing on the edge of the diving board at the Filler City swimming pool knowing that my swim coach will never never never never catch me as I step off into the deep end...and my mom's too far away to catch me...who knew my knees could knock together this hard? This is really scary!)

I am getting organized. And here's the kicker. I like it!

There. I said out. Out loud. Well, nearly out loud. So, don't blink 'cuz you heard what I said, and it was exactly what you thought I said. Hmpf! And I never have to say it again after today! (hehehehehe)

Ahhhhhhhhhh better than therapy...I got it off my conscience and it felt good.

Thank goodness THAT'S out of my system.! ahhhhhhhhhhhhh now..for the fun!

While I'm waiting for the washing machine to do it's chores for this week, I'll show you what's about to hit the hot water today!

We have a couple of these:

and a couple of these:

And one of these!

(ran out of time, I'll finish up the rest later, they're not due for awhile yet.)

For those of you who are curious...they're the Oven Mitt and Trivets from the book, Felted Knits. I absolutely love this pattern and this book! I've used Paton's Classic Wool, double stranded for today's little adventure. In the past I've used Cascade 220 and Lopi wool. So far, I've not met a wool that I've not loved to felt! (Just make sure it's not a Superwash wool)

And since part of my garage now looks like this-they'll be more down the road now that I know what I have!

if anyone tells my mother...I'll deny it to my dying day...but I kinda like the way it feels to be this organized.

Not only are we color coordinated..but we're in zippy bags by dye lot, too! (I'm telling you, don't faint!)

But wait Bob, there's still more!

In a further effort to be ultra organized at a glance...we've added colored dots with letters on them. a=acrylic, c=cotton, w=wool. now, where do they go?

Well, Bob, I'm glad you asked..they go on the outside of each carton so at a glance I can tell the fiber content inside...and upon closer inspection the brand of yarn and which colors in that particular box.

Now, where did we get this idea? Back in the mid-90's we were moving into a house with 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and had to move out of two houses in one day (give or take) and had a few friends helping shuffle the boxes along. I had spent the previous 2 months packing up the whole mess.errr....house by myself and thought if every bedroom and bathroom had their own 'color' I wouldn't have to stand next to the moving trucks opening every box to decide where to send it all. I used a color dot on the box, and hung a sheet of construction paper to match on the corresponding door. You didn't even have to read! to figure out which room to take the boxes to. And it worked really well. Well, at least in the beginning. While my son and I were lining the kitchen shelves with new paper the last truck load come over and the guys (OH BLESS THEM MY LUCKY DAY!) got tired going up the 17 stairs to the bedrooms and piled the load into the garage. Now, it wouldn't have been so bad had the boxes of refrigerator food been at the bottom of the middle of the pile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ya, not so good. I found them a week later. And not the easy way. oy! fun times as my kids like to say.

Yes, it was mentioned last night that "this classifies as "scary OCD organized"..."

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ravelry....you're so good for me, would you please send some smelling salts over to my Mom's house now? She's going to need them. Fast!

Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have a bunch of wool that's 'itching' for a hot bath! (I'm just praying they're not 'dyeing' to 'blend together'....)

Encore, blends and sock yarns....you're time is up soon! Start getting yourself organized and picture ready. Don't forget to straighten out your labels. Ravelry needs your data. I swear, it's the best 'library card catalog' ever! Cross referenced..and all!