A Knitalong, A Winner, and the Stash That Ate Suburbia

Today's Random Really Important Things:

1.    Some clever beasties over on Ravelry have decided to test whether I have invented the wheel or not!  They are going to knit my new "Dogwood" sock pattern together, beginning on June 1.  In case you missed it, I recently discovered the magic of the toe-up sock.  Even though everybody else in the whole world already knows how fabulous toe-up socks are, I went ahead and posted about how much I love them and how they have changed my thoughts about socks forever.  I made mine with gussets and heel flaps, just to see if I could do it.  I could, and so can anybody.  If you've never tried a toe-up sock before, give it a whirl.  If you have, smile indulgently at the rest of us, and make a pair of these, too.  The KAL thread is HERE, and the pattern is HERE.

2.    Gentle Reader Nancy G. is the randomly-chosen winner of a shiny new autographed copy of my new book!  Thank you to all who entered, and stay tuned for another chance.  Thanks for telling me a story!

3.    I work from home.  Specifically, I work from my desk in the foyer, and a chair in my living room.  The living room, even if it were totally empty, would only measure 12' x 14'.  That's not a big space when filled with 3 bookcases, 2 overstuffed armchairs, a full-size sofa, 2 end-tables and a coffee table.  Oh, and there's also a console table that holds all my winding equipment, in addition to a spinning wheel and its chair. 

Last week, I started to feel like the walls were closing in on me.  It was a truly claustrophobic episode, so intense that even knitting could not help me deny the problem.  A wild fit of Tidy-up-etude took over.  Before my family knew what hit them, I had gutted the living room, rearranged the furniture, washed all the slipcovers, hung different draperies, and reorganized the entire family book collection.  Well, the entire ground-floor book collection:

All the knitting books are grouped together by subject. And on the same floor.  Win.

Campbell was my right-hand man, and Paisley supervised:

Paisley got trapped behind the Literary Barricade for a time.  Book Pile = Tall.  Scottish Terrier Inseam = Short.  FYI - the wire rack (upper right) holds my circular needle containment system.  It's the only organized thing in my life: each size has its own zippered case, sorted by diameter, in mm.  Hear me Roar.  Then ask me to remember what my zip code is.

And while I was doing that, I began to understand the real problem:  THE STASH has been reproducing.  I emptied no fewer than 15 project bags, baskets, and other containers (there may have been a half-knit sock in a tuna can.  I deny all knowledge).  I jettisoned an uncountable number of ill-conceived notions,  returning them to the wild to be with their own kind.  I hooked up the ballwinder to 3 failures, recycling the yarn for another day.  It was SO cathartic.  Here's the new Work In Progress strategy:

Okay, the WIP's are contained in the green bins on the tower.  The steaming pile of, um, BAGS, is my actual stash.  On payday, I am getting some more bins.  Really.

Here's the spinning fiber.  Hmmmmm...where did all the negative space in my living room go?

Who has this much fiber in baskets in the living room?  Sicko-Weirdy-String-Playing Freaks, that's who.  And my family, God bless them, never even noticed.  I'm taking their pulses later.

Looky!  I made a cozy Spinning Nook:

Doesn't it just shriek at you "Hey! You! Come over here and make some string for a while!  Cause you clearly need more string!"?

And here's where you come in:  If you have the guts, tell me where your Stash lives.  Hangar? Bins? Boxes? Tuna Cans?.  I need to know your solution, Friends.  Where do you keep it all, and can I do the same?  If you don't give me some ideas soon, the bathtub and the oven are next.  Help a girl out won't you?