Last week the urge to purge came over me like a roaring tornado and I turned my attention to the Craft Room. I was tired of having an unused floor loom taking up so much floor space. I was sure the cupboards were full of tools and materials I didn’t use or need. And I wanted to make it a sanctuary for making art. 

My easel and painting stuff have been in Paul’s studio for some years now. They’ve moved from one end to the other, but aside from a few sessions and the Art Nights I used to hold, mostly it was just a convenient place to stow my art class paraphernalia. 

When Paul expressed relief at the end of Art Nights I was surprised. It seemed he resented a little the intrusion into his space. I thought my urge to bring the art stuff inside had to do with it being winter and not wanting to heat the studio to use it. But to be honest, I didn’t feel like it was my space. And when I considered how I’d feel if I had a studio and Paul wanted a corner… I wouldn’t like it but I’d tolerate it. 

So the loom and the art stuff exchanged locations. Hopefully the loom will find an owner once the lockdown is over, and Paul can have all the studio to himself. 

The big bookcase went into the office and then the purging began. I went through almost everything, including some containers I hadn’t cleaned out since we moved. Most of what I purged went into the rubbish or recycling. I have such a habit of collecting little containers and other junk that “might come in handy one day”. I also had an old laptop I thought I might put Fibreworks on, but when I charged the battery the hard drive made an awful groan and died. 

In the end, I didn’t get rid of as much as I thought I would. I really ought to get rid of two mini sewing machines, the Passap knitting machine, the Lincraft circular knitting machine, a cutting machine, some books and lots of decorative paper. But I have the space so they’re staying for now. It’s reassuring to know I could cut back more if, say, my Dad had to live with us or Paul wanted all the cupboards in the laundry for his photo processing gear. 

And as an inevitable side effect… I’ve now got the urge to do a bit of jewellery-making. And calligraphy. And bookbinding. And machine knitting…