My mother went crazy every Spring. She scrubbed, re-organized and cleaned everything in the house. Winter wardrobe was put away ("but Mom!!! It's only 28 degrees outside!!") summer clothing was inspected, mended, given away or thrown out.
I always vowed to avoid such compulsive behaviour and would rather sit in a corner with a book, waiting for the Spring cleaning urges to subside. I'm perfectly content with summer and winter wardrobe existing side by side in my closet year round, thank you very much.
Enter an empty closet in a new apartment, an adult female with compulsive yarn-hoarding traits, a vast collection of quilting fabric and supplies and a teenager with anxiety issues.
I swear that child is my mother incarnate.
But she has a point: the closet has turned itself into a collection bin of things that have no home. There are Why-did-I-buy-this', I-don't -know-where-to-put-this', I-give-this-to-the-Goodwill-some-day's, I-swear-I'll-fit-into-these-again-someday's and last but not least What-the-heck-is-this's.
I decided this needs to be turned into a crafting space, with neat bins for the yarn, shelves for the books, cabinets for the office stuff and a tabletop for the lap top and college related things. Having my own space would also eliminate the scathing looks my child gets when I am trying to work and she is trying to play a ridiculously loud video game, or watch a so called "Reality" show.
Here are a couple of pictures of the offending closet space.
*sip*
-Okay then...let's get this started. First bin.....Oh, hey! I forgot I had this yarn!! Such a pretty blue. Wonder where the pattern went that I wanted to use...
Several minutes later..
*sip, sip*
-Well, I'll find it some other time. OH! There is the kid's sweater that I wanted to unravel and use the yarn for something else. And the pattern for the scarf I wanted to make....
*sip*
-Wonder if the beginning will be hard to find.....
Two hours and a second glass of wine later ...
*sip*
-Hihi! My mother made this sweater. She'd kill me if she saw me undo it...wonder what yarn she used......
*sip*
-Only one way to find out. Where's the lighter?
Concerned teen: "Mother!! What are you doing in the kitchen sink with yarn and a lighter??"
*sip*
-When I set yarn to the fire... no...wait....a flame to the yarn....and it melts....it's plastic. It could alarm the....set off the alarm. If it's wool it will not flame...burn!, and stop smool...smou...smo..scorching when I take the lighter off.
-Hihihi!!! It's on fire and melting. Cheap bitch! Is there any more wine??
"MOTHER!!!"
The four hour "cleaning session" ended with the following result: Yarn found that I forgot I had. Pattern for said yarn impossible to locate. Child size sweater halfway unraveled. Determined it is acrylic. It burned with a bright yellow flame. Burned! Not melted, or smouldered. Burned.
The bin is now in the middle of the room, adding to the "early storage design" flair of my sleeping quarters.
And my head hurts......
