I’ve spent the last two days reorganizing my studio, a Herculean task that is nowhere near complete. Here’s a “before” photo, to illustrate what I mean:
If you are appalled by this, so am I; I’d let things slide for way too long. So I shoveled the mess into four giant plastic tubs and got to work. The desk, cabinet, and ironing board got moved to the garage, and in their place, I installed some shelving from IKEA:
The corner shelf was a bit of a mystery. The narrow front opening made it impossible to store large plastic tubs there, which nixed my usual approach to organization. Eventually I decided to store my weaving yarns on the shelf. I rebagged them in heavier plastic bags (to protect against moths), and relabeled them more clearly. I’m about halfway through the process now:
I’m sorting the yarns by weight, with thicker yarns on the bottom and thinner yarns on top. That should make it relatively easy to find the yarns I’m looking for.
Meanwhile, some simply amazing shuttles arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I had sent Terry at Bluster Bay a chunk of pheasantwood a few weeks back. I loved the figuring in the grain – it looked just like pheasant feathers!
I also ordered a Swedish shuttle from curly andiroba, a gorgeous wood that Terry had found buried in a lumber yard.
So I was expecting some beautiful shuttles. But the ones that arrived on my doorstep went far beyond my expectations:
Here’s a closeup of the bottoms, so you can appreciate the fine grain in the pheasantwood (it really doesn’t show up in the small photos):
The curly andiroba is particularly beautiful – it shimmers as you tilt it back and forth, like ripples on water.
I admit at this point that I am collecting Bluster Bay shuttles – I have ten or twelve of their Honex-tensioned end-feed shuttles, which is more than anyone really needs. But they are so beautiful, and such a pleasure to work with, that I just don’t feel guilty.
And what are the cats up to? Exploring, of course. Two out of two cats surveyed approve of the new furniture.
Beautiful shuttles, I wonder if ‘shuttle envy’ is a thing, just like shaft envy. Studio tidying is on my list for today too, my yarn is supposed to be boxes on IKEA shelving but far too much of it seems to have escaped
That looks great! And its a reminder to me to organize my own stuff better. I keep my yarn cones out in the open, but mid-day sun from the windows streams in, and probably I should move them into something more protective.
Oh you Stash Amateur, you. Funny, I’ve been mucking out my studio this week too. It spilled over into the guest bedroom and is causing angst. I just needed my peaceful workspace back. I’ve been writing again –first time in ages. But the stash is a problem. I have more yarn than some yarn stores do after 20 years of collecting with 10 years of not-really-weaving-but-kinda-am-sorta. There’s another book in the works here. This one is non-fiction.
Interesting! What’s the general topic of the new book?