Treasure trove

I have a lot of buttons. Jars of them. And they are all sorted into colors. They've come from many, many different sources.

The other day I was given a grocery bag half-full of a friend's no longer needed stash. Oh, what fun! I filled up my jars and gave over half away to the thrift shop.



There were even some still on cards.



I'm always looking for enough of the same button when finishing a garment. If you want one special button - I'm your gal. But expecting to find more than two alike has been akin to seeking a matched pair of Barbie shoes. Yeah, I know I could go buy some. It just seems wrong when there's jars sitting in their little box waiting for a chance to shine.


Pink and purple buttons for Becky...

Hidden assets

Finally, there are doors on this cupboard. It all started in August with a sight-seeing trip to IKEA : before I knew it all my rug-hooking wool was nestled happily in large wire baskets. My quilt fabric stash was tidily put away and my workroom was so-o serene. But it still looked very cosy and colorful because there were no doors on the storage unit. They were back-ordered. After waiting patiently for a phone call, we became fearful that the doors had gone out of production or something. But, the truth was worse: they'd cancelled our order! Policy after 30 days - no one told us.

Cut to the chase: we found the doors, had them delivered and hung them on Saturday morning. They do a great job of hiding everything but are not nearly as soft and warm-looking as the baskets of wool. I will get used to the look - eventually.

Stash trick

You know how when you have a stash of knitting yarn - or anything else - it can grow beyond the one basket you were planning to keep all your yarn in? Well, I passed that stage about 30 years ago but...I had this great idea. The order-out-of-chaos part of my brain thought that maybe Ravelry had potential as a yarn inventory manager. What if I took photos of my stash yarns (probably grouped by type or fiber) and the quantities of each yarn in the group. Then I could put them away in their various hiding places. Before closing the lid, I would indicate in the Ravelry notes where I had put this group of yarns, ie. in the ginger jar or under the bed.

Could it work? Or would it just jam up the stash lists for everyone else?