Knitting room tidy up, my biggest declutter challenge, and my most recent WIPs

February 04, 2025


Hello! I'm so glad you're here again today to see my knitting room, which is really a second guest room. We only need two guest rooms a few times a year so the rest of the year this is my knitting room; a much more practical use of space. The sofa makes out into a bed and I keep the closet half empty so guests have room for their things. But the rest of it is for knitting. I often sit in here and knit when the other TV has shoot-em-up movies on. This TV can only play Jane Austin type movies and Fruity Knitting episodes. No shoot-em-ups ever! Please read on as I have a few organization and declutter tips to share.



If you have a guest room that is only used a few times a year, why not give it the chance to be used every day and sneak in some beautiful yarn/craft/sewing organization. There are beautiful and inexpensive storage solutions available nowadays. The large unit at the top of the post is from Ikea and the sofa bed is from Costco. The bedroom is our son's former room, is tiny and when the bed is open it's a tight squeeze. But people are in here for sleeping only and no one seems to complain. The little foot stool is a combo foot stool/storage bin and stores a blanket for my legs on chilly nights. 

As for deep cleaning, I did go through the process even though I had cleaned it throughly before our Christmas guests arrived. It's still nice to give it a good clean again but it was a snap to do and gave me a chance to do a little decluttering. 

I store my circular needles in clear plastic zip up file folders that fit nicely into this tall basket.



This Mollie Ollie diaper caddy is perfect for my straight needles and all my knitting accessories.

The baskets on the shelves hold several projects I've put on hold for some reason or another, but because I've decluttered so much the last few years, most of the baskets are empty. 


It's raining hard today so my pictures look dark and moody, which I like!

I forgot to share yesterday that I had my biggest declutter challenge ever.  I give away ALL forty of my Rowan magazines that I had been collecting and hoarding for decades. All those magazines that you see in the photo above, gone. I also gave away all of my prized Kim Hargreaves magazines, and I had collected every one. This was something I thought I would never do. Never in a lifetime. But a few weeks ago, a friend mentioned in passing, "So yeah, I just gave away my Rowan magazines." Me: "You're kidding?" Friend, "No, not kidding. I never used them and didn't ever anticipate that I would in the future." The conversation ended there, but it made an impact on me because a few weeks later when it was my turn to declutter and deep clean my sewing room, I looked at my magazines and realized that I no longer needed to keep them either. I hadn't opened them in years and I don't buy them anymore. They no longer represent how and what I knit. I am not a knitting magazine archivist, so if I don't use them why should I keep them? Well, I thought of three reasons: 1) They were expensive. 2) They were important to me once upon a time. 3) Lastly, they are gorgeous. How could we ever part ways? But I have decluttered enough to know that those are not the reasons to keep things. I gulped and called a friend. Within hours she came to pick them up and distributed them to her large knitting group and all were happy! Even I was happy. I was worried that I would crumble when they were gone, but here I am, not feeling crumbled in the least and rather feel lighter and less burdened by the past, and mostly I'm thrilled that others are happy with their new magazines. Lesson learned. If I don't use it now, even if I once used and loved it the past, I know I can let go and still be happy.




I put the basic 12x12" bins sideways to display my yarn so I can see it at a glance and nothing gets lost. I had knit away a lot of my stash away but recently with Christmas gifts and January spending I started filling it up again. I'm actually better at NOT buying yarn than I've ever been. My stash may not look like it, but to me it's manageable. I think we all have a different comfort level concerning stash. I unfortunately continue to make yarn purchase mistakes and then they sit in my stash for a few years before I can finally let them go. I'm trying to remember what I like and experiment less.


The drawers in the tallboy above and below store the leftovers of projects and yarn that just didn't work out for what I originally had in mind. It stresses me out a little to hold onto yarn that doesn't have a plan, but I reconcile that I have the space to store it for now, and so here it stays. I do put my foot down however if I have more yarn then I can realistically store. I hate to open a jumbled drawer. I did gather a bag of yarn to take to the local Super Bowl Sunday yarn swap and that's in my car. 


I found felt baskets that fit perfectly into the steps of this step ladder that I think is purely decorative as I don't trust to use it for its original purpose. This is where I keep my wips, below.


I am so excited about this one. I purchased the yarn from the Les Garcons website and it's not in the Ravelry base because I think, not sure, it was a one-off yarn, perhaps a prototype or test yarn for future possible production. If that is the case, they should start production ASAP! It's non superwash which I love, and is 50/50 Falkland Merino and Bluefaced Leicester. It's gorgeous. So soft and beautiful to work with. The pattern is Night Groove by the darling Isabel Kraemer. At this point I've finished the colorwork on the yoke and now it's just stockinette all the way. As per pattern, I'm making short rows on the back to raise the neck then I'll separate the sleeves and body.

Here's a trusty scrap blanket that will one day be a queen size blanket. One stitch at a time. I'm using scraps and so far have at least 20 different yarns, all wool, a mix of non-superwash and superwash, but mostly non.

Another fun pattern by Isabel Kramer. Bergliebe has some great texture and fun stitch work on the yoke, sleeve and body hems. The yarn is phenomenal! I bought it on sale from Quince and Co and when it arrived I immediately cast on, loved the yarn, and then ordered two more sweater quantities. It's a great non superwash merino, lovely, bouncy, soft, just gorgeous in every way. Here's the direct link to American made Stone Wool Delaine Merino. They say it's sport but it knits to a DK weight for me. While a lot of the colors are sold out, the remaining colors are gorgeous too. My color is Birch. 

I haven't made socks in years and then when I finally did I succumbed to the second sock syndrome! I've got just the heel to go and I only have to put my mind to buckle down for an hour and then I can wear them.


The room has a teensy closet that acts as a linen closet. I like to keep a few shelves free for guests.




I wanted to end this post sharing these mementoes from my father who was 18 when he enlisted in WWII. He was a city kid from Chicago and had never driven a car as he rode his bike or took a bus wherever he needed to go. His father, my grandfather, Rangwald Hansen, was a milkman and drove the last horse drawn milk wagon in Chicago! I don't know when he finally agreed to give up his horse and drive a truck, but my father said that it was long long after every one else had given up their horse as transportation. Anyway, even though dad had never driven a car he was put into the pilot training program and at age 19 he was stationed in the Philippines and flying a P47 Thunderbolt. Every pilot named their plane and since they had a Disney cartoonist in their squadron, he painted fanciful names on each plane. The guys called my dad "The Swede" after his heritage, so that's how his plane got a name. He was in the 69th Bomber Squadron known as the Werewolves, (still active) and the Disney cartoonist also designed their "Werewolf" logo seen above. For decades the WWII veterans of the 69th squadron met yearly for a reunion. When the modern squadron heard that the older vets were meeting yearly, they hosted them at whatever air force base they were stationed at. These were trips that my father so looked forward to and one year he took my then 12 year old son for a full week of attention by our nations brightest and best.

The oil painting was painted by his mother, my Nana, Valborg Lynnea Hansen. During the war my grandparents and my father's younger siblings moved to Southern California and bought a small chicken ranch and that is the home I remember. They had animals of all sorts and always dogs and cats, but the supreme ruler, only second to my Papa, was King, a Norwegian Elkhound. I remember him as a proud dog, very business like and a dog who had a job on the ranch and took it very seriously. He was friendly enough with the dozen grandchildren, but the only person he listened to was Papa. He was at his side every minute of the day. Don't you just love dogs? My nana also made the charcoal drawing of King below. I honestly don't remember how I got this plumb picture because there are many grandchildren, but I'm so glad I have it.




I hope you enjoyed my post and found it helpful and will consider becoming a subscriber to the Knitionary blog. If yes, please click here. I won't sell your email so no need to worry about that sort of thing. I honestly wouldn't know how to do that if I did. I try to send out one post a week, usually about knitting but also about my other loves--gardening, crafts and entertaining. Sometimes I use affiliate links in my posts to help offset the costs of running a blog. If you click on an affiliate link and purchase an item, I may earn a little money. If you purchase the item using my affiliate link or not, the price will be the same. Purchasing from my affiliate links adds no cost to you but could put a little money in my pocket. Thank you for supporting the blog. If you'd like to make a comment, please scroll down. I reply to each comment and that response will appear directly below your comment. If you would like a personal reply, please know that I use the Blogger platform and they do not give me your contact information when you comment. If you would like a personal reply, you can contact me using the contact form on the right side at the very end of my website


You Might Also Like

5 Comments

  1. Sweet post. Thank you for sharing. I love your knitting room! I'm a long time reader and enjoy your blog so much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beginning, hesitantly, to give away so much stuff. Your posts here are so helpful. Love your Dad reminiscences! The Disney reference brings to mind my young artistically talented German cousin who I watched Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck flow directly out of his ball point pen Exactly as Disney created them. Walt must be in some international heaven. He created happiness across the globe. And even - indirectly - on WWII airplanes! Chloe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Doesn't that werewolf have a Disney-esque vibe? My dad shared many stories of WWII and loved meeting up with his buddies every year. It meant so much to him. Now that I'm older I realize that 19 is so so so very young to be responsible for such a big job. But he says all that responsibility made him the man he was and he was successful in his work and his life. They call his generation the greatest generation for a reason!

      Delete
  3. a few years ago I acquired many knitting books from someone who just gave them away. I don't even remember how many boxes there were. I shared them right away with my sister and daughter in law (who had recently taught herself to knit watching UTube). Everytime my sister comes to visit, she takes home more of the books for her knitting and quilting groups. The rejects she brings to the thrift shop. I thought I might post some on ebay but realize that it may not be worth the effort. Also I am really spreading good cheer.

    ReplyDelete

You make my day when you make a comment!

Labels

afghan Alana Dakos ally pally ambassador Amy Herzog Ankestrick Arte Italica baby Baby Cocktails bakelite baking berry picking Best Friday of the Month best of Ravelry Big Sur blue transferware book review books boutique brook cables California candy child children children's activities Christmas Christmas crafts Christmas knitting Clean-Along cleaning collections cookie cutters cookies cooking craft Crafts crochet cross-stitch day trip decluttering decorating deep cleaning designer spotlight discount diy dog dolls Easter eau de vie Elizabeth Bradley Elizabeth Zimmerman embroidery entertaining Facebook fall fall decorating fall garden family featured first car fit flower arranging flowers free pattern Friday night party group friends funny Fur garden gardening Giants Gifted Hostess give-away giveaway gluten free gourmet group Halloween herbs holiday home how to set up a party group jewelry Kaffe Fassett KAL Kim Hargreaves kitting Knit Picks knitting laundry Le Jacquard Francais Little French Knits Los Altos lunch Mailbu Making Things Marie Wallin Martin Storey menu minimalism money talk mosaic movies my house my patterns my town nails needlepoint needles October challenge Octoberfest ollalie organizing original design outdoor seating owl party prep pear peg dolls pies pomegranates poncho preview quilting recipe recycling redwork review roses Rowan San Francisco Sarah Hatton sewing sewing room tour shawl shopping shower social media softie spring spring garden stash Stitches West summer summer garden summer knitting Sunday Morning Swans Island table setting test test knit Thanksgiving Three Irish Girls TNNA tomatoes top 10 list toys travel tutorial twinning ufo Uncommon Threads vacation Valentine vegetable garden videos wedding winter garden wip Woolfolk yarn yarn for sale Ysolda