November
Color: Brown, Neutrals, or Earth Tones
Pattern: Folk Art
For: Maximum Coziness
Challenge: A craft inspired by previous generations of crafters. Bonus points - craft in a group (either virtually or in-person)
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Ran my October stats a little earlier than usual this time around. I sewed … 48 doll dresses (prepping for a market) which only used up 1.8 yards of fabric. I also finished up 1 roll of washi stickers, a spool of ribbon, 1 vinyl sticker, 2 sticker packs, and 4 sticker sheets.
Next month I plan on doing nothing!
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Just a little reminder as we head into the holidays: please don’t forget LC this year! We enjoy this place for all the fun swaps, inspirational craftalongs, and incredible inspirations. We have formed some lasting and amazing friendships. And we have done it cost-free. Please think about giving to show your support and love for this great community! Let’s keep this Craftalong going for years to come!
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I just wanted to relay a story that covers destashing. When I went to my knitting group this month, I found out that a lot of the members “inherited” many unfinished knitting, crocheting and sewing projects from a member who had died.
Many felt obligated to finish her projects for her even as they had WIPs of their own.
It really got me thinking about my stash and my unfinished projects and who would “inherit” them and curse my name under their breath…(not in a mean way, but in sense of feeling responsible for them)…
Two things:
- Make what I want so I will finish.
- Get rid of everything I no longer do, want, need, love, etc.
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This is a very good perspective. I am really working on seeing my projects through to finish or admitting when it isnt working and frogging it in the moment. I’d rather people have to rehome some supplies and stash with open possibilities than get locked into a “labor of love” that even I wasnt feeling before passing on.
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I really don’t mind if I am learning something new or making something that I know someone else really would love. An example: I really don’t enjoy making amis…but, if I know the person really loves something and I have the skills, I do enjoy doing it.
I am assessing every WIP and deciding its fate…I have too many projects I want to do and the ones that are haunting me prevent me from starting them…I have to clear the ghosts to be among the living… 
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The 5 truck loads of stuff we hauled away for a colleague were FULL of his mom’s UFOs. I did not keep a single partially constructed item for myself to complete, nor did I try to pass them along. That would feel so unsatisfying to me, trying to finish someone else’s abandoned project. I couldn’t do it.
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I tried to finish an afghan my mom started and ended up tossing it. It was cheap yarn, the colors were not to my taste, and there were too many memories attached. I have finished some things, like a few of her cross stitch pieces. I am guessing that abandoned projects were abandoned for the same reasons I am feeling now…might as well get rid of them now.
Fabric is going to be the toughest for me…but there is no reason for me to hang on to a lot of it, especially things I bought to make work clothes…
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The minute we retire I swear work clothes are going straight into the bin, whether I made them or not. Gah, I hate dressing for the office.
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I still have to keep a few dressier things to attend board meetings and gala events for fundraising. But, I agree…most of them will never be worn again…
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I do so wish we had a creative reuse store I could donate to here. I definitely lightened by load before moving here by being able to donate to one in Portland, but that was 11 years ago! Maybe I need a road trip just to donate craft supplies AND recycle some stuff, too. 
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This conversation got me wanting to destash clothes so now there is a big pile of them to donate. Also lots of xmas stuff I don’t think I’ll ever use again. Last night a neighbour hauled away a huge cabinet & 3 of the 5 looms I just “inherited” are promised to friends & fam, half the wool is given away & I’m about to box up everything else I don’t want to keep from the 5 truck loads of supplies I was gifted in the past 2 weeks. I didn’t even keep 1/8th of it. I’m feeling great about that 
OH! That pre-diabetes program I did helped me shed 15lbs! So now that 1 pair of work pants that were too small for me but I kept them anyhow because I actually liked them so much? They fit 
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I’m sure I’ll be destashing in a couple weeks.
There is a creative reuse store in Denver, but I haven’t been there. It’s close to downtown and I really have no reason to go downtown anymore.
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You have always been my inspiration to clean out and organize…I’ve started a box that I will put online with random crafting stuff for anyone to come pick up. I can’t even think of my clothes right now…I kid you not when I say I have over 50 pairs of black pants…
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50 
I always think I want more pants but what I really want is better replacements. My favourite pair cost me $1.50 at a thrift store sale, lol. But they’re getting tatty. I wash & dry them in the machine, they’ve come out perfect for about 3 years now, maybe longer. They are industrial strength work-wear! Flattering too.
Here’s the destash pile:
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I worked a corporate job in several large cities where black was considered the most appropriate color to wear…I mostly wear black leggings or capri pants, so I really just need to let go of the more formal pants. I swear I have the first pair I bought nearly 40 years ago! Plus, my sister keeps giving me hers that she can’t wear or is tired of…I just need to say “no”.
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For those getting rid of the office attire, I want to suggest Dress For Success for donating. They help women re-entering the workforce get interview-appropriate clothing. I think they especially like plus sizes, but can take more than just those.
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Destash a bunch of Noro yarn I inherited into a cowl (not pictured) and then lavender sachets that I’m gifting to office mates for the holidays.
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These are such pretty gifts! Really nice use for lovely scraps - I might have to borrow that idea.
The conversation about inherited WIPs is a good thing to think about. I remember I found it very meaningful but also hard to deal with all my aunt’s craft stuff that I inherited. I finished some WIPs (socks, cushion), but it made more sense to adapt others. I used an unfinished cross stitch in a zipper pouch (abandoned because the fabric was too small), and with an unfinished quilt, I wasn’t up for doing the whole quilt, but I made some squares into cushions for my uncle, and some into a simpler lap quilt. Some projects needed to be discarded though.
I think I’m due to go through my sewing and knitting projects too, with that lens in mind. I don’t want to leave a huge pile of stuff (not that I’m planning to go anywhere soon, but you never know!) And I know dear mr jemimah would find it hard to deal with that stuff.
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Used up nearly a whole yarn cake making two sets of fingerless gloves:
Leaving this much left over:
Which is going into the stash cabinet for now. Maybe another doll dress or something in the accessory category will present itself as the perfect pattern for it. In the meantime I picked up some baby soft white yarn I’ve had at least 10 years to work up another ballet shrug for Kidlet. The other one I made last month is a tad too small.
Hopefully this one will be a bit more loose. It’s hard to tell, the pattern is labeled for “a 5-6 year old” but that’s not super helpful as humans vary greatly even at the same ages. Fingers crossed!
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