De-cluttering de-life

For some time I've been trying to quietly rid myself of some of the excess baggage in my life. It's not just my yarn stash which is out of control. I have at least an entire room of stuff I don't need and which is weighing me down.

I decided at the start of this year to try and work through this using the incremental "baby steps" method. It would be way too easy to throw up my hands in the air and declare "it's all too much" but that doesn't solve the problem. So I set myself little achievable goals. Like trying to fill one supermarket shopping bag with stuff I don't need and getting it to the Op Shop.

I tried the "if I haven't worn it in 2 years, it's going" method of going through my wardrobe, and while this wasn't entirely successful, it was a start. Then there was the "if it's too worn out to wear to work and not comfortable enough to garden in, it's going" method. Another few garments hit the road. My wardrobe began to breathe. Enough space to fit in the new autumn clothes.

I still have a way to go with the clothes.

I then turned to my books. It kills me to get rid of a book but even I have to admit there are some which don't deserve a second read. And there are some which I never started, cannot recall buying and on multiple occasions have picked up, couldn't get into and put down. Out, out, ye damn space wasters. Life's too short to be surrounded by crappy books. I still have more books than most other people I know (excluding my husband) but now at least I'm confident most are worth reading. And I have nearly enough bookshelf space for them.

This morning it was the hats. No I haven't got rid of the excess knitted beanies. At least not yet. But I had three straw hats, only one of which was good enough to wear in public. The other two are gone. Then there was the cloth sunhat too small for my head. Bye-bye.

This evening I turned to my knitting needles. This is really embarrassing. How I managed to accumulate no less than six pairs of size 4.5mm needles is beyond me. Especially as it is a size I can recall only ever using once. I didn't want to overdo it, so I just cleared out all the excess needles above two pairs of each size. A huge handful now gone and I can close the extra-large toolbox that houses my knitting needles.

I really hope that a new knitter picks up those needles at the Op Shop. I think I picked up some of them at the Op Shop originally. But I am learning. Just because it is a bargain, doesn't mean I need to buy it. I can't knit with more than one set of needles at a time. And cheap plastic needles make knitting a chore and are not worth buying.

I've been really good not buying more yarn this year as I can and will knit my way through my stash. I'm almost at the point of being able to say "If I'm never going to use a particular ball of yarn, it's going". No matter how much money I foolishly wasted on it two years ago.

Because once I rid myself of all this unnecessary stuff encroaching on my life I will have the space and time to fill it with what I want. Which will probably include a few skeins of possum merino yarn.