Christmas in October

I think this might be unprecedented.  It's October 29th.  Not even Halloween.  My washcloth Christmas plan is done.  That's right, DONE.  That's approximately 20 washcloths all worked up and the ends woven in.

While in Rhinebeck, I stopped into a little homemade soap booth along the way.  I knew I needed soaps, and I knew I wanted them homemade, but I really wanted them to come from a local vendor.  Not that Rhinebeck is incredibly far, but it's not exactly local.

I decided that local wasn't the most important part.  That it was better to support any small, local vendor.  Afterall, this vendor was local to somewhere as opposed to being big-box.  I chose a variety of colors and scents and the names were simply charming.

I figured the variety would match the rainbow of washcloths perfectly and the price was just right.  As I  grabbed all the soaps I thought I would need, I happened to actually read the business cards I grabbed to include with the gifts.  As it turns out, this local soap vendor is, in fact, local to ME. 

Simpler Thyme is located in Branchville, NJ.  All of her soaps are handcrafted, cold processed, and made with olive oil, coconut and palm oils, water, and lye.  The scents come from various essential oils, herbs, spices, and grains.  And have I mentioned how lovely they are?

Storage Solutions

I have a lot of yarn.  It's hidden in every room of my tiny little apartment.  There's some in my crock pot because I rarely use it and it's mostly just a covered storage bowl under my sink.  Most of my yarn is in my bedroom.  I have a huge closet and exactly half of it contains almost all of my stash.  

I knew I needed to improve my yarn storage, and the impending trip to Rhinebeck seemed like the best time so I don't have to leave the yarn on the table while Jack tries to do his homework like I did last year.  I decided to take all my yarn out of my closet to really see what I was dealing with.  I wanted to sort, organize, take an inventory, and know exactly what I wanted to purchase next weekend.

This is what all of my yarn in my bedroom looks like.

Admittedly, it was more than I thought.

I anticipated needing a better storage solution and I happen to know someone very skilled in woodwork who offered to make me a shelving unit to combat my ever growing stash.

See that?  That's 56 cozy little cubbies for my yarn.  I was able to donate almost 2 garbage bags to charity causes and this is the yarn that I know I will eventually knit through.  The best of the best, if you will.  Now everything is organized and sorted and neat and it makes my OCD jump with joy.  

And now I have 9 single cubbies and 1 double cubby to fill with Rhinebeck yarn.

For anyone doing the math, I know there are 10 empty single spaces.  See that little guy down there on the left?  Third up from the bottom?  He might already be full...