Organizing is half the fun

When it comes to the issue of consumerism in the US, I hold a very nuanced view of the situation. Really. I could tell you all about it. It's thoughtful and interesting. It's political and quite heartfelt. But, I hope you'll understand and reserve judgement when I tell you that I also like shopping for my 94 hobbies. It's tricky, I realize. But these are tricky times we're living in, my friends. Tricky, tricky times.

So, I will humbly admit that I did just go out and buy a bunch of embroidery floss, silk ribbon, and other supplies for Hobby 94. (I think Hobby 94 will be the name of the horror movie I write where embroidery is a killer and Sam Jackson is trying to save everyone from the wrath of the floss. Don't steal my idea, now. You know it's good.)

Anyhoo, to completely honest, I think that even more than shopping for the hobbies, I like organizing them. Allow me to demonstrate.

This, for example, was this morning's stash of embroidery floss:


Fine. I mean, it was in a box and not all tangled. But, that's not organized.

Within a relatively short amount of time today, it became even better. It became this:



And then later (you can tell it's later because it's quite a bit darker), it became this:




ISN'T THAT SOOTHING??!!! (Sorry. My yelling isn't at all soothing, but jeez, that is a very calming and lovely sight to me.)

You know what else? See that cream-colored plastic thingie in the long compartment on the left? For the uninitiated, that's a floss winder that is only one of the greatest inventions ever, and costs all of a buck and a half. You stick it on the side of your little clear storage box there, load a plastic bobbin/card in it, then turn a little handle, and it wraps your ribbon/floss/whatever in no time at all! We learned about it from our embroidery instructor on Sunday. She pretty much rocked in every way.

So. Organizing! Great, right?

It would be pretty pathetic, though, if all I did was wind floss and number bobbins. Here are some shots of developments on the sampler. I think they show off the Brazilians nicely. (Did you chuckle? Did you?) The long burgandy-colored stitches at about 10:00 and 4:00 are bullions.


The lavender-ish multicolor stitches that look like little conches right at the bottom there are cast-on stitches.




No idea what this will eventually be, but so far, I like where it's headed. At a minimum, it gave me a chance to buy some items to organize.

Huh. I felt a little funny inside just then. Curious. I think that means it's working.