The KonMarie method

PollyWollyDoodle

Had a bit of a light-bulb moment earlier, and I just wanted to share it. I bought (thanks to MSE's local eBay mapper) a box of dress/knitting patterns recently. This was before I'd read The Book, wouldn't dream of it now, honest!

I collected them from a lovely lady who was clearing her parents' house. I lugged this box home and went through it, and frankly I wasted my money (it was only £2.00 though). There were a few knitting patterns I might use but an awful lot of it was patterns cut out of magazines or sent away for as 'free' patterns.

I was thinking about this box which still needs emptying, and suddenly had a horrid vision of myself in the future - a bit like Scrooge and Christmas-yet-to-be. This lady's mum was obviously a keen knitter and sewer and yet, like me, her reach exceeded her grasp. I doubt if one tenth of these had ever been used, several had 'died in storage' and they are all 20 years out of date. Almost all the contents apart from a few printed patterns will end up in paper recycling, it's not even good enough for the CS.

I love sewing, knitting, crochet and making things and I have a thousand and one projects that I'm going to get round to one day. In reality however I haven't yet managed to turn up the pair of trousers that have been in the wardrobe since last year ... what on earth do I need new patterns for?

I am going to try to be more realistic in future about what I think I can really achieve. Having loads of UFOs doesn't bring me joy, it makes me feel guilty! I will not be buying any more eBay bargains, and no more craft magazines. You can find most craft projects on the internet these days anyway.

GreyQueen

Polly, have you come across the term SABLE? Stands for Stash Acquired Beyond Lifetime Expectancy.

Which is basically more supplies for your hobby/ life in general than you have a hope in hell of ever using. One day, it will be my lot to deal my mother's SABLE. Which includes 3 knitting machines, two sewing machines, a woodturning lathe, bandsaw, more tools than I have names for and a loft-full of yarn. I feel exhausted just thinking about it.

I emptied a middling-sized drawer at my Nan's last weekend, at her direction, which has taken the yarn from her household. She had a stroke 12 months ago and can no longer knit. I think it pleases her that she saw me start to incorporate that stuff right away into the charity blanket which I am knitting.

Igamogam

iQueen wrote: »

Probably not! But a commune was set up outside the town in the 1970s, on land belonging to a sympathetic owner, who eventually gave it to them.

They moved forward growing their own food, and living according to sustainable principles.

Now it is the Centre for Alternative Technology and, I believe a plc (Alternative! It doesn't pay dividends!) :rotfl:

So, with new generations having grown up there, the hippie ethos is strong in the area. Wales as a whole is very much in tune. probably because other hippies were also drawn to the country, where alternative living was possible. Suits me, as an old hippie, too! Wales recycles more waste than any other part of the UK, beating the UK target, at 52%. :T[QUOTE

I think it must be a converted few doing sterling work. So many people I know still haven't got the hang of it........and we have a really easy system here so no excuses IMO. I get very odd looks when I suggest one thing that can be done is not create the waste in the first place........packaging my pet hate:mad:

mrs-moneypenny

Polly if there are any retro baby patterns or 40s/50s ladies dress patterns I would buy them off you for a friend she loves retro clothes and goes to jive and dance weekends so always needs a new frock. Also she knits vintage baby clothes just for friends and family she doesn't make money out of it.
Let me know if you think anything you don't want sounds like her sort of thing.

mavvymoo

Evening all :rotfl:Sounds like z cars showing my age now

I love that poem thanks Mrs MP for sharing.
I want to know how exciting it is when you burn that pink Rose candle I am going to look for some and give one to everyone for Christmas along with the poem They just might learn something from it

Might just upset a few people but hey ho

Ironing all done takes about a tenth of the time it used to take as I now sort everything as it comes off the line rather than leaving in the basket for a week or two so it creased so badly it took ages to iron.:rotfl:Hail our leader for that one


My house is still the same tidy everything away in its place so much so a lady knocked who drops a local magazine in once a month asked it we were moving :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:I was so chuffed I could have hugged her. What I should have said is yes in about 2 hours time as thats how long it will take me to pack

DH and I have been for a 4.5 mile walk along the beach this afternoon and now he is asleep on the sofa Just cant handle it !!! It was stunning really warm with a lovely Sea breeze and I thought 'Thank you Marie Kondo ' and all the lovely fellow Kondites on here.As my life is so much more enjoyable now I have more time to do what I want to do

On that note going to make a cup of tea and put my feet up Sounds like a plan.

Well done to everyone and I hope you are reaping the rewards or will do very soon

Mav x

Edited to say another 25 items of clothes bagged up to take to gentleman I met at the bootsale. Still no joy sparked so more to go !

iQueen

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

Had a bit of a light-bulb moment earlier, and I just wanted to share it. I bought (thanks to MSE's local eBay mapper) a box of dress/knitting patterns recently. This was before I'd read The Book, wouldn't dream of it now, honest!

I collected them from a lovely lady who was clearing her parents' house. I lugged this box home and went through it, and frankly I wasted my money (it was only £2.00 though). There were a few knitting patterns I might use but an awful lot of it was patterns cut out of magazines or sent away for as 'free' patterns.

I was thinking about this box which still needs emptying, and suddenly had a horrid vision of myself in the future - a bit like Scrooge and Christmas-yet-to-be. This lady's mum was obviously a keen knitter and sewer and yet, like me, her reach exceeded her grasp. I doubt if one tenth of these had ever been used, several had 'died in storage' and they are all 20 years out of date. Almost all the contents apart from a few printed patterns will end up in paper recycling, it's not even good enough for the CS.

I love sewing, knitting, crochet and making things and I have a thousand and one projects that I'm going to get round to one day. In reality however I haven't yet managed to turn up the pair of trousers that have been in the wardrobe since last year ... what on earth do I need new patterns for?

I am going to try to be more realistic in future about what I think I can really achieve. Having loads of UFOs doesn't bring me joy, it makes me feel guilty! I will not be buying any more eBay bargains, and no more craft magazines. You can find most craft projects on the internet these days anyway.

Ha ha! I've been there! In the early days, I picked up a few 'bargains' on eBay - absolute trash, until I got smarter. Most of it was binned.

Five years ago, I made a rule for myself: I finished my UFO's and now only work on one project at a time, until it is completely finished! So. the only UFO I now have, is one I cannot find, somewhere in the house! It will no doubt surface at some point, during kondoing! Still, I'm guilt free, as that UFO was for a baby that is 25 now! :rotfl:

Then, there is the Stash! My reach obviously 'exceeded my grasp', too! So, I am not buying any more supplies until I have used up all of the stash. My grandmother had it right. She was always knitting, but she only ever had the yarn for her current project! :T

Igamogam wrote: »

iQueen wrote: »

Probably not! But a commune was set up outside the town in the 1970s, on land belonging to a sympathetic owner, who eventually gave it to them.

They moved forward growing their own food, and living according to sustainable principles.

Now it is the Centre for Alternative Technology and, I believe a plc (Alternative! It doesn't pay dividends!) :rotfl:

So, with new generations having grown up there, the hippie ethos is strong in the area. Wales as a whole is very much in tune. probably because other hippies were also drawn to the country, where alternative living was possible. Suits me, as an old hippie, too! Wales recycles more waste than any other part of the UK, beating the UK target, at 52%. :T[QUOTE

I think it must be a converted few doing sterling work. So many people I know still haven't got the hang of it........and we have a really easy system here so no excuses IMO. I get very odd looks when I suggest one thing that can be done is not create the waste in the first place........packaging my pet hate:mad:

In my area, the majority of people are zealots! They are very keen. Very few people would dare to buck the trend, although the amount of stuff some put out each week is shameful.

Pre-kondo, I was putting out one recycling bag every 4-6 weeks and household waste every 8 weeks. They both go out a bit more often at the moment! That reminds me, my plastic crate of glass needs to go to the bottle bank!

I try to avoid packaging whenever possible, but most of it can be recycled here.

mavvymoo wrote: »

Evening all :rotfl:Sounds like z cars showing my age now

I love that poem thanks Mrs MP for sharing.
I want to know how exciting it is when you burn that pink Rose candle I am going to look for some and give one to everyone for Christmas along with the poem They just might learn something from it

Might just upset a few people but hey ho

Ironing all done takes about a tenth of the time it used to take as I now sort everything as it comes off the line rather than leaving in the basket for a week or two so it creased so badly it took ages to iron.:rotfl:Hail our leader for that one


My house is still the same tidy everything away in its place so much so a lady knocked who drops a local magazine in once a month asked it we were moving :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:I was so chuffed I could have hugged her. What I should have said is yes in about 2 hours time as thats how long it will take me to pack

DH and I have been for a 4.5 mile walk along the beach this afternoon and now he is asleep on the sofa Just cant handle it !!! It was stunning really warm with a lovely Sea breeze and I thought 'Thank you Marie Kondo ' and all the lovely fellow Kondites on here.As my life is so much more enjoyable now I have more time to do what I want to do

On that note going to make a cup of tea and put my feet up Sounds like a plan.

Well done to everyone and I hope you are reaping the rewards or will do very soon

Mav x

Edited to say another 25 items of clothes bagged up to take to gentleman I met at the bootsale. Still no joy sparked so more to go !

You sound like you have just about reached your perfect level of contentment, Mav. I'm really happy for you!

I'm very close, just have to get my house kondoed and I will be perfectly happy and content, too. :dance:

BTW, my life is far from perfect, but a major key to my new happiness has been the LB recognition that I had to accept that some things are not in my power to change: so I have accepted them the way they are. Actually, I suppose I kondoed them, because the burden has lifted!

Susan1962

Having a week off work has made a huge difference to this process. Monday I cleared 7 big donation bags. Today I got another two filled and a third started. My clothes have room to breathe in the wardrobe and I've Kondoed four big dresser drawers and three little ones. The folding is wonderful!! Very relaxing. Can't wait for the book to arrive from the library!

PollyWollyDoodle

Oh, GreyQueen thank you - I have never heard of SABLE before but immediately recognised it as my sister has a bad case of this. I think - especially if I get on and actually use some of it!

IQueen, my ambition is to only have one UFO at a time. I think the current count is about seven but one of them is something I'm seriously thinking of Kondoing to the CS in its unfinished state as I don't even like it much. In fact, why am I even thinking about spending precious time on making something I don't want? Decision made!

norfolkdream

My car is FULL to the bril with 6 huge bags of clothes to go.
My DS and I were sitting on my bed folding his clothes, bless him he tried but he and my DD drew the line at folding pants and socks. I'll let them do them there own way.
It is such a great feeling knowing that I know where all their pairs of socks are you wouldnt believe. It was nice this morning to just go in my sock drawer and get a pair of socks out without having to search my 'pants and socks' basket. How did I live like that.
It really does feel relaxing folding tshirts and putting them in tidy piles, I dont know what has happened to me!!

Igamogam

Recycling - that's just it iQueen - the amount of stuff that people put out Just dont bring it in in the first place. We have very little in recycle bins/boxes. General none recycle stuff goes in large green wheelie and if we put it out once month I would be surprised. Food waste: again very little everything compostable goes to compost bins in garden. We eat everything on our plates and I only put out chicken carcasses out after they have been used to make stock/soup...........I have been known to chuck bones on the solid fuel Ag* but sadly that has been kondoed so have to use food waste bin every now an then:D

Paperwork kondo yielded stuff for burning on log burner at some point and plenty for paper recycle. Havent found what I was looking for and I suspect it will be found amongst OH's paperwork mountain.:mad: However I really need to organise my occupational pension and AVC stuff a little better as it is definitely a bit muddled:o