That is what I did all day.
And before I actually started on my cleaning day, that is what I dreamed about — if by dreamed, you mean, “woke up in the middle of the night without ever quite getting back to sleep.”
I have lived in the house I am downsizing from for over eleven years.
The result has been that over the years, a number of things have gotten lost in the shuffle, and it had become a very large shuffle.
And it was in that shuffle that I found myself in what has become know as the “yarn annex,” an area of unfinished attic space that is about the size of a small room.
My youngest son had managed to conquer a mass of yarn he referred to as a “yarn slug,” and which had taken over much of the available floor space. I was in there to do the final clean up.
After sorting through dozens of skeins of yearn and finding a box of ephemera that was not yarn related, I turned to what was finally the very last box in the room. It was cardboard, and when I last put it away, I had taken the time to cross the flaps so that the top was held securely down. I could see that it had yarn in it, but the box and the visible colors did not bring back any specific memories.
When I opened it, I found (to my delight) that there were four messy skeins of Red Heart Super Saver pinta:
I was shocked — but in a good way. I thought that I had given the yarn away when I had been frustrated with my efforts to make the colors work in a way that they were not designed to, and while I had tried making this textured crochet circle motif (to questionable effect):
and these textured crochet squares:
Neither effort had captivated me, but in the intervening years, I made more of an effort to learn how to crochet with variegated yarns, and I used what I thought was one of the last bits of pinata that I had to design this crochet purse:
I don’t really know what the full effects of this downsizing adventure will be, but when the last box is packed, I will get out my hooks and sit down and contemplate what awaits, one stitch at a time.
You so have my congratulations and sympathy! My life has been extremely downsized now that I live in Puerto Rico, but there will always be a place for too much yarn!
Apparently Scandinavians feel it wise to declutter and downsize (per AARP latest magazine) so family and friends don’t have the job after they pass! I think it is a great idea and I’m working towards that end too! Good luck ??