SABLE

The online cross stitch community uses "SABLE" as an acronym for Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy.  I think I'm still at a point where I could do all of my current cross stitch patterns if I actually sat down and did them (and maybe stopped trying to leave the house or work).  There might be some colors of floss I might not use again, but there are certain colors that I go through pretty frequently.  And while my floss collection can be a pain in the butt to deal with sometimes, it still could all fit in a reusable grocery bag.

Yarn takes up a lot of space.  And sometimes you end up with a little extra that's too much to throw away, but god only knows what you could actually do with it.  And if you get into crochet for the amigurumi, well, you totally *need* certain colors, and it's cheaper to buy the whole thing of Red Heart that you'll only use a tiny fraction of, and seriously, some day I am going to make that wool blazer I bought all the damn yarn for.  So, I am no longer buying yarn (except for the times I do) and only looking for projects that will let me use up all the damn yarn I already have.

My grandparents are moving into a retirement home (This may seem completely unrelated, but just go with it).  They've been slowly giving their possessions away for years, but my grandfather's 95th birthday was a hobbit celebration: guests were offered whatever they wanted to haul away.  Such as liquor purchased in New York state.  Which seems perfectly fine unless you know that my grandparents haven't lived in NY since the mid-80's.  Some of the things poured down the sink were probably older than my sister.

My grandmother knits and crochets.  She is no longer able to go up and down stairs, so it's difficult to date her yarn stash in the basement.  As a devoted descendant (inspired by my mother's nagging), I have hauled away at least two bags of yarn.  This picture is just what made it into the house, and what I haven't already started using.

Having recently tried to figure out how vintage/potentially poisonous old booze is, I have decided that "not having a website on the packaging" is a bad sign.  For the yarn that's still labeled, the term "Machine Launderable" suggests some distant era as does the price tag--68¢.  

I'd make some "Depression Era at Work" comment about all the tiny little yarn scraps, but this is the Hoarders gene.  This is why I was already Code SABLE before taking in somebody else's stash.

Having grabbed some slightly larger stray balls (hurr hurr), some of them don't appear to be the same type or weight as the others.  Which I suspect will make even scrap afghans or shelter Snuggles difficult.

Solution: cat toys.  Lion Brand has a free pattern for a fortune cookie, but that's just stupid.  And I would've had to walk all the way upstairs to get some fortune cookie colored yarn.  Which is part of my Too Much Fucking Yarn Collection, not What the Hell Am I Going to Do With Grandma's Yarn? Collection.  

Making Pac-Man combined using up some of my yarn inheritance and my love of blatant copyright violations.  Crochet a circle, fold it in half, and crochet the edges together.

Once you've gone a little over halfway, add some stuffing and catnip.  You'll need to add a little more stuffing as you finish it.  I'd also say more catnip, but that's because I like my cat to get completely stoned.

A smart person would've remembered that Zoot is 6 (old, fat, and lazy in puss years) and that the little foster kitten upstairs would probably enjoy beating up Pac-Man more.  Zoot deigned to swat at Pac-Man and chew on him for a bit, but this completely exhausted her.