Over the past few days I've made a couple of things that have come about because of my decluttering mission. When I cleared old clothes out of the bottom of the wardrobe I found an old lambswool jumper that I loved but that had shrunk and had a small but obvious stain on the front that wouldn't come out. I was going to throw it out but then I thought of all you resourceful folk in blogland and thought 'What would they do?'. I'm no expert at sewing but I got my sewing box out, chopped off the body of the jumper and turned it into a cushion cover. I'm happy with how it turned out and pleased that I get to have those lovely colours around rather than throwing it in the bin. I've kept the arms in the hope that I'll find a use for those too. I may try making arm warmers or something.
The other thing I made was a tidy for all the plastic bags that have accumulated. I mainly use my own bags and keep one folded up in my handbag for shopping, but plastic ones still slip through the net. I keep them because they can be useful but man, do they get in the way. So I dug out a ball of DK yarn from the stash in a colour I find unpalatable and was never going to use for anything else (why did I buy it? No idea - bad shop lighting maybe?) and knit up a bag tidy.
Ugly but useful! It hold about 20 bags. If you know how to knit this is very quick and easy to make, so I'll quickly jot down the pattern here.
Materials
25g (approx) Double Knitting yarn (I used acrylic, any smooth yarn would do)
4mm straight needles
7.5mm straight needles (this doesn't matter too much so if you don't have 7.5mm use 7mm or 8mm instead)
(Optional - a 5mm or 5.5mm needled for casting off loosely)
Pattern
Using 4mm needles cast on 30 sts and work in 1 x 1 rib for 1 1/2 inches.
Change to the 7.5mm needles and work as follows:
Row 1: K1 *YO, K2TOG. Rep from * to last st, K1.
Row2: Purl
Repeat last two rows until work measures 14 inches.
Change back to 4mm needles and work in 1 x 1 rib for 1 1/2 inches.
Cast off loosely (otherwise you won't be able to fit any bags in!). It helps is you cast off using a 5mm or 5.5mm needle.
Sew (or crochet together) the back seam. To make a loop for hanging up the bag holder either crochet a short chain, cast on 30 sts and cast them off again or find a bit of ribbon. Attach the loop to the top and stuff with bags.
De-cluttering update:
29th June, papers on the dressing table = a goodly pile
30th June, DVDS = 7 that I havn't watched for at least a year and won't watch again.
1st July = A 12 inch stack of CDS
I also had a thorough tidy up yesterday and caught up with a few jobs around the house so I feel more comfortable than I did at the beginning of the week and I feel that I've made progress. I've been introducing good little habits like spending a few seconds wiping down the sink after doing the dishes and those things are stopping mess from building up again.
P.S - Dragonfly, welcome to my blog, I'm glad you're enjoying it!
The other thing I made was a tidy for all the plastic bags that have accumulated. I mainly use my own bags and keep one folded up in my handbag for shopping, but plastic ones still slip through the net. I keep them because they can be useful but man, do they get in the way. So I dug out a ball of DK yarn from the stash in a colour I find unpalatable and was never going to use for anything else (why did I buy it? No idea - bad shop lighting maybe?) and knit up a bag tidy.
Ugly but useful! It hold about 20 bags. If you know how to knit this is very quick and easy to make, so I'll quickly jot down the pattern here.
Materials
25g (approx) Double Knitting yarn (I used acrylic, any smooth yarn would do)
4mm straight needles
7.5mm straight needles (this doesn't matter too much so if you don't have 7.5mm use 7mm or 8mm instead)
(Optional - a 5mm or 5.5mm needled for casting off loosely)
Pattern
Using 4mm needles cast on 30 sts and work in 1 x 1 rib for 1 1/2 inches.
Change to the 7.5mm needles and work as follows:
Row 1: K1 *YO, K2TOG. Rep from * to last st, K1.
Row2: Purl
Repeat last two rows until work measures 14 inches.
Change back to 4mm needles and work in 1 x 1 rib for 1 1/2 inches.
Cast off loosely (otherwise you won't be able to fit any bags in!). It helps is you cast off using a 5mm or 5.5mm needle.
Sew (or crochet together) the back seam. To make a loop for hanging up the bag holder either crochet a short chain, cast on 30 sts and cast them off again or find a bit of ribbon. Attach the loop to the top and stuff with bags.
De-cluttering update:
29th June, papers on the dressing table = a goodly pile
30th June, DVDS = 7 that I havn't watched for at least a year and won't watch again.
1st July = A 12 inch stack of CDS
I also had a thorough tidy up yesterday and caught up with a few jobs around the house so I feel more comfortable than I did at the beginning of the week and I feel that I've made progress. I've been introducing good little habits like spending a few seconds wiping down the sink after doing the dishes and those things are stopping mess from building up again.
P.S - Dragonfly, welcome to my blog, I'm glad you're enjoying it!