Two new hats.

The first thing I finished over break was the "Sockhead" hat. This is from Bohoknits and is designed to be knit of sock-weight yarn - it takes maybe 3/4 of a 400 yard skein of sockyarn. I used a hand-painted sockyarn (I forget the dyer's name and I don't think she is selling yarn any more) but I remember that the colorway was called "Drama Queen."

I anticipated that the hat would come out looking something like a Phrygian cap, but really, it reminds me a lot more of the old Voyageur caps (well, not the color, certainly, though I suppose members of Lewis and Clark's expedition would not have wound up getting accidentally shot in the buttocks* if they were wearing a brightly colored hat).



(*If I remember rightly, there was an injury of a man being accidentally shot in the buttocks during that expedition...)

Maybe a little silly, but I like it. And with the double brim (you knit in rib for something like three inches, and then knit the rest in stockinette, and then turn up the ribbed part, so that area is a double thickness), it's pretty warm.

The second hat is one of the things I got for Christmas.



How I wish I had more occasions on which to wear a hat. I think this looks surprisingly well on me. (I wasn't sure, when I pulled it out of the box - it was bigger and "pouffier" than I expected). And I think the brim does do something for my face. (Well, also, I bothered to put lipstick on for that second photo.)

***

I was nattering the other day about New Year's Resolutions. It turns out, I may actually have found one - or more likely, it found me. Yesterday, while waiting for the broth to get hot enough for me to be able to drop the dumplings in it (I was making chicken and dumplings for lunch), I idly looked up at one of the higher shelves in my kitchen cabinet, and realized, "The tea that's up there...some of it is 10 years old, all of it is varieties I decided I didn't care that much for. If I got rid of all of it, it would open up a bunch of space." And then I realized I could move the olive oil and vinegar and baking powder and all the stuff that was cluttering up part of the kitchen counter to that shelf - it is a bit of a stretch for me to reach it, but I carefully planned it out so the stuff I use most often (rice wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, baking soda, baking powder) were towards the front, and while I will have to climb on a step-stool for stuff like the Worcestershire sauce and molasses, still - it frees up a big swath of counter space, and better yet, space right next to the stove, so it's easier for me, for example, to chop onions or something. And there's enough space there now to roll out tortillas (I know; I made tortillas and beans for dinner last night) and probably enough space there to knead bread.

Then I got going, and realized that the high cabinets over my stove were empty - because they're high up and I have to climb to get stuff out of them (My kitchen is not built for someone under 6' 4" or so. Well, the counters are - they're low enough for me to knead bread comfortably at them. But much of the storage is up close to the ceiling). But I realized that I could take the canned goods I keep multiples of on hand (the big cans of San Marzano tomatoes, cans of beets, refried beans, jars of red cabbage...) and store them up there in ranks...I could see what I have almost better than how I had it arranged before (on a wire shelving unit, with overflow on the floor).

So I did that. Then I went through the spices and got rid of the really old crappy ones (I bought some when I moved down here, long before I discovered Penzey's, and simply through inertia managed never to get rid of them) and reorganized the spice shelf. (And again, I THOUGHT about it - so the stuff I use all the time is right at the front, the stuff I use less frequently is up on risers where I can see it, but will probably have to mount the step-stool to get it).

I think I'll continue. I have some old boxed goods (stuff like dry potatoes) that are probably far, far past their expiration date and should be dumped. (My hope is, with moving stuff, getting rid of old expired stuff, and consolidating stuff, that I can use that metal shelving unit for my teas and have a shelf for "grab and go" lunch stuff, like dried fruit and granola bars and things).

A lot of it is, as I said, simple inertia - when I'm busy it's not super appealing to undertake the not-very-rewarding task of rearranging a shelf. But maybe if I do it shelf-by-shelf, rather than telling myself "You WILL do ALL of this this weekend" I can get it done.

Having more open counter space is going to be a great thing, and I think will provide an added incentive to want to cook - if everything you need is well-organized, and you have enough space to work, that makes it a lot easier than having to make sure that one of the burners is off and cool so you can set the cutting board on it because you've got bread rising or a pot of beans cooling on the only open counter space.

Also, there is something sort of exhilarating to it - part of it is the lightness that comes from getting rid of junk (that's why, even though I have a lot of stuff and my house is on the "cluttered" side of normalcy, I don't think I'm a hoarder - it's easy to part with stuff that I don't want or realize is useless, if I can just make the time to do it. And I feel happier for having done it). But part of it is the order. It makes me happy out of all proportion that it should to open up the cupboard now and see the row of canned beets, the row of tomatoes, the row of canned corn, and the row of refried beans and know that (a) I know where the stuff is when I want to cook with it, (b) I know exactly how much I have, so I'm not likely to buy a can of beets and then smack my forehead upon realizing I already have five, and (c) if we have an ice storm, or a trucker's strike, or who knows what, I've got stuff ahead I can cook.

But part of it is just the orderliness.

So, some time in the coming week, I'm going to go through the wire shelving unit and another cabinet I have that I've not really plumbed the depths of for a year or two, and see if I can make more space for stuff, and get my kitchen that much more ship-shape.

And I've promised myself a reward for doing this: I'm going to get a set of new glass canisters, big ones if I can find them, with good sealing lids, and replace the old plastic canisters I've had for a dozen years. (Like a lot of stuff I owned from first moving here, they were a quick desperation buy - I needed something, the only thing in town was the smallish wal-mart, and so I bought what I could. Now I want something better - I can afford something better - and something better will make me happy and be more functional.). I also want to try to find a tall glass canister tall enough to hold spaghetti stood on its end. (If I can't find something on my McKinney journey next weekend, I bet Amazon would have something).

So maybe this year, if I can keep up with it, will be a year of looking at the stuff I have, re-evaluating it, giving away stuff I can't use that's still got use in it, throwing away stuff that's worn out or gone bad, and judiciously replacing some of the old stuff with nicer new stuff.

And also, I now have time to understand my habits - how I use stuff, what's the best way to store certain things, where to put stuff I don't use frequently. When I first moved here I just wanted to get stuff in the house, and I kind of just put stuff anywhere. Now I can think more about things - like, for example, arranging the spices based on how frequently I use them. It's a small thing but it makes life easier and more pleasant. (No more rooting around in the back of the cabinet and cursing because you *know* you have cumin, you use it ALL THE TIME, but it's not where it "should" be.)

I think also I've got out of the "scarcity" mindset I developed when I first moved here - previous to this, I had lived in larger metropolitan areas. (Even the town where I grew up, though it may not have been much larger in population at the time, it seemed "larger" by virtue of having more businesses). When I first moved down here, there was the Winn-Dixie and a wal-mart that didn't even have a grocery section...and I felt like every trip to Sherman was such an ordeal and a journey that I had to stock up on stuff that I might not be able to find in town. (At one point I wound up with three jars of hoisin sauce because of this). Well, now even the Green Spray stocks hoisin...so I think I'll be okay. (And I've gotten more used to doing things like ordering stuff online). I've finally tapered off from acting like I'm going on some Antarctic expedition every time I find myself in a larger fancier grocery store than what I have locally.