... at the end the tunnel is a good way to summarize my month of January... Let me explain: back in June, I posted about our upcoming house renovation -- finishing our basement where we will make a bedroom for our oldest daughter and then redoing our kitchen -- which meant that I would be spending a lot of time clearing the basement where the reno is to be done and compressing my work space with all my fabric and assorted stuff into the only finished room in the basement. Well, while I did spend a fair amount of time down there on and off since then, I have to admit that I had a hard time staying motivated about this daunting task of mine given the sheer volume of clutter to be found there. You have to understand, that when I clean, organize, declutter, I do it at a snail's pace because I look at every single item (down to the last button!) and try to figure out where it should go. I do not prescribe to the cleaning method (my husband's) which involves sweeping it all up into a pile and basically chucking it...
So, since June, I have been trudging down to the basement, spending an hour here and there, slowly sorting and clearing, and it is only in the past week or so that I'm finally seeing the light after all the tunneling I've done. The photo above (where my daughter's bedroom will eventually be) was taken in the first half of January and most of the stuff you see has been sifted through and cleared since then. So, I am celebrating now because I feel like I have finally rid myself of the albatross that's been dragging me down for the last while and kept me away from my creative self and working on some new things that I've been dying to start on... Yippeeeeee!!! Of course, I shouldn't get too far ahead of myself because we still have the actual renovation to contend with and, well, if you've done one of those before, you know what that could be like... Nevertheless, I think it is still cause for me to celebrate and as some wise person once said: one step at a time! Now before I take leave of my basement, I just wanted to show you a point of interest in our basement which we inherited when we bought the house: the supporting column bedecked with beer caps from the 70s...
What do you think?! I wanted to share it with you because it is a contentious topic for our family -- some of us want to keep it as is and others are dead set against it featuring in our newly-renovated digs... Any thoughts or counsel?!...
'Just wanted to also show you a recent photo of my workspace... As you can see, the fabric is slowly finding its place in what I think are some of the best shelving units around (the one in the forefront which my sweet husband made for me) which I will definitely show you more of in future posts. There is still a lot of stuff to locate (a lot of my notions still need a proper home) and fabric lying on the floor to put away, but, bit by bit, I think it will get done...
January has also been sweet since my flower square pattern is featured in the ebook shown below published by Allfreecrochetafghanpatterns.com which has just come out this month (I can't help but also be excited that my photo of flower squares has been used as the background for the cover!). If you're interested, check it out here -- it offers a lovely selection of flower square patterns from beginner ones to a little more advanced and, great news... it's downloadable for free!
While I was writing about the ebook above, I realized that I hadn't shown you yet that one of my pillowcase pile photos (shown below) was featured in last October's issue of UK's Inside Crochet as part of an article on crochet edging... all very exciting to see one of your own photos included in such a lovely magazine as Inside Crochet! Anyhow -- enough of all my horn-tooting! -- I hope you will all have a fine start to the month of February (yes, it's February tomorrow!) and I hope to be back next week with some new goodies that I've been stitching up... Thanks for your visit and 'talk to you then!
You create such lovely work, it's not horn-tooting at all, I am pleased you have mentioned it otherwise I may not have otherwise known about the e-book. Well done on the sorting and arrangement of your fabrics, it's quite an impressive stash.
Posted by: Leanne | January 31, 2013 at 04:05 PM
You're getting there!! I am the exact same way...pondering, remembering....loving... I love my stuff. There is a whole lot of sorting that needs to be done around here too. But then I keep finding treasures...and thanks to people like you, I can't seem to leave a vintage linen in any second hand shop. They just have to come home with me....and I do not need them. ...but I like them.
I vote to keep the bottle caps. There's something neat about them. I suppose a compromise would be to take a nice photo of it and then frame it for your new space?
I just bought a vintage "studio sofa" today...like I needed it. See? xo
Posted by: leanne | January 31, 2013 at 04:13 PM
Congrats on your flower pattern!! It is so pretty!! I would keep the bottle caps! So fun!! Have a lovely weekend! xo Heather
Posted by: Heather | January 31, 2013 at 04:46 PM
Wow, here you have alot of nice things, have a wonderful weekend!
Posted by: hanne | January 31, 2013 at 11:41 PM
I suppose it depends where in the renovation that beer cap pillar is... in the daughter's room for example, shouldn't she have final say?
Love the sight of all your fabric, love the crochet work too. And living in an old house and having done renovations, I know just how daunting a prospect it can be. Good luck!
Posted by: Maggie | February 01, 2013 at 12:49 AM
I say, under all circumstances get rid of those ugly beer bottle caps.
Now, that stack of fabrics is a beauty to behold.
: )
Posted by: Annie | February 01, 2013 at 12:19 PM
How about a compromise with the beer caps? Could you somehow cover them with a panel so that they stay intact? That way they are kept but not on show. If you made the cover detachable you could display them on occasion if you wanted!
Posted by: jo | February 02, 2013 at 01:34 AM
Gosh that looks like quite a job!! I'm not sure about the beer cap column ... although I do kind of like keeping that sort of thing for posterity - if it's in your daugther's room maybe she should have the last say ... or maybe you could make a shell to cover it so you can change your mind at a later date ... btw I love how your work space is looking - I have a bad case of fabric envy!
x
Posted by: eskimo*rose | February 02, 2013 at 05:15 PM
Personally I don't like the beer caps, but as others have said, if it is to be in your daughter's room I'd give her the final say.
Posted by: INdia | February 02, 2013 at 09:09 PM
Congrats on the flower pattern! Lovely....I also love your fabrics and love how they are stacked beautifully in your shelves...You've come a long way on the basement..xoxo, May
Posted by: May | February 03, 2013 at 03:42 PM
Love your blog! Please check me out at hookyhookycrochet.blogspot.ca
I've just started out with it and would love some input ;)
Your work station looks amazing... Sooo jealous!
Posted by: Hookyhookycrochet | February 08, 2013 at 10:19 PM
I absolutely LOVE the left behind beer caps. Someone obviously put some time and effort into collecting all those and attaching them. I like the idea of disguising them so you don't have to dismantle it. Can't wait to get a better look at those shelves!!!
Posted by: Karen | February 10, 2013 at 02:09 PM
I've just stumbled across Rose Hip and am totally ghrilled! It's like Christmas in February to look through all these gorgeous photos - inspiration overload! Many thanks from a fellow vancouverite
Posted by: Carys | February 11, 2013 at 12:23 AM
Keep the bottle caps!!! To me, it's kinda like finding old newspapers stuffed in the wall during renos. I seriously love this blog. Thanks so much for the ebook, I'm going to add it to my list of cool stuff to try out :). Happy crocheting!
xo
-L
Posted by: Hookyhookycrochet | February 20, 2013 at 07:11 AM