S.A.B.L.E.

I’m a fairly crafty chick, or at least I thought I was until now.

This morning, I read about a term thrown around in knitting groups—S.A.B.L.E. Have any of you heard about this? It stands for Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy!

There are evidently millions of women who collect yarn “for comfort,” like folks who survived the Great Depression might hoard bits of twine “just in case.”

These ladies talk of being invited to a baby shower and not having enough time to run to the yarn store, but HAVING enough time to make an entire baby sweater before the event. So they MUST have that baby yarn stored in their home! I’m thinking when the invite comes, it provides another reason to add to their SABLE. What do you think?

I’ve got my own Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy, but it’s not yarn. It’s quilt fabric. Doug gave me a new sewing machine some ten years ago (to replace the one Dad gave Mom, which I’d been using since the 5th grade). The first thing I did, upon acquiring the machine, was scope out a thousand sales of quilt fabric. I bought several books on rotary cutting, and thought I’d teach myself how to do the piecing on the machine.

I’ve made a number of quilts, but I’ve done everything completely by hand. And while I imagined myself making the transition to the sewing machine, it hasn’t happened. Sheesh. I ain’t getting any younger here, and as my life expectancy shortens, my pile of fabric looks that much bigger.

Here’s the deal: When my crafty grandma died, she left behind a SABLE. I inherited her SABLE, because I’m the only one of her grandkids who’s much into needlework. She died when I was 19 (you do the math!), and I’ve STILL GOT HER SABLE!! I am the possesser of her embroidery floss, button box, needlepoint yarn, cotton crochet thread (she did fantastic filet crochet bedspreads and tablecloths), unfinished quilt tops, and etc.

I feel WAY more sentimental about her SABLE than my own. I feel like the Keeper of the SABLE, the one girl in the world given this responsibility, this sacred trust.

It’s completely nutty. When I die, my kids won’t know the difference between my SABLE and my grandmother’s. They never knew my grandma, so her SABLE will definitely get pitched. And I’ll be sitting up there in heaven, wondering why I held onto it all those years, when it was going to end up in the trash bin anyway.

And what about my own SABLE? What exactly is the POINT of having more craft supplies (or anything else…) than you can reasonably expect to use in a lifetime? What will my kids do with all that fabric? I sure don’t want them to feel like they have to keep it because they love me.

I JUST LAST WEEK got rid of some of my mother-in-law’s SABLE—several long lengths of cute-printed corderoy she’d purchased when her girls were young, with the intention of making them pants or jumpers. She gave me the SABLE when I got married to her son, 30 years ago. My own daughter is now 25, and her SABLE didn’t get used by her, her daughters, me, or my daughter. Time to pass it on!

I can’t dispense of any of my fabric SABLE yet. I still feel guilty for over-purchasing and not using it. And God forbid that I should EVER walk into the bedroom where it’s stored and not feel guilty!

SABLE isn’t just about craft supplies, I’m sure you realize. It’s about ANYTHING you’re hanging onto in quantities which respresent an obvious belief that you don’t ever intend to exit this world.

Got any SABLE in your life?

Posted by Katy on 11/03/07 at 07:43 AM

Fallible Comments...

Atkins bars, mascara and novels. You never know when you'll need some extra protein, made up eyes and a good book!! Good to have extra on hand!

Seriously, I collect sunglasses and containers. I have way too many pairs of sunglasses. I can't seem to stop buying cute little containers, thinking I will use them for storage. 99% of them are empty, but I still keep collecting....Don't even get me near The Container Store. ..

LOL
:-)
Posted by Suzan on 11/03/07 at 10:18 AM
My wife has a laundry basket full of yarn to make "afghans" for our daughters - the blanket things, not the dogs or for that matter the people I suppose - She started that project during one of her hospital stays. Amy hasn't been in the hospital in three years. We have a friend who can whip out an afghan in about the time it takes me to drink a vente latte. On at least 4 or 5 occasions we have gotten that laundry basket "almost" in the car, to take it to her...but it's back in our bedroom now. It's like it's sewn to our house.

We've got more half done, will one day be done, we forgot what we were going to do with this stuff, project materials in our home than I count.

I bought some cheap tile at the dollar store...self stick, not too ugly linoleum. I wanted to replace the tile in our bathroom...about 9 square feet.

Amy one day started the project by ripping up 3 or 4 squares of the old linoleum....then stopped. I still have the "new linoleum" in boxes right by the bathroom...but put back the pieces Amy removed "until I have time" to do the job right.

I suspect that will be when I have "money to pay someone to do it."

I had to work a booth at a "Home & Garden Show" once and Amy went with me to look at the stuff we didn't need. She came home with these hard plastic things - I'm not even sure how to describe them..they're the width of a normal window and have circles all interconnected. Somehow you are supposed to be able to take sheets...sheets that you find cheap that match your decor (do they sheets that match cluttered nouveau?) weave them in and out of the circles, and they make it REALLY simple to create window dressings.

I think she bought 4 of them...we have at 5 windows they'd fit so I'm not sure why she bought four. Anyway, I think at least 2 or 3 are still in the house. I haven't worked a home show in at least 10 years. We've never even attempted to use the things, much less find sheets that match our decor, and we long ago lost the instructions on how to use them...or why.

Amy was out of town last week, and I was throwing stuff out like a mad man. Stuff I know we've had for years that she won't miss. I'm still fearful of tossing out those plastic things.

My list could go on and on...from store shelves "that were a steal" to a pair of old shutters, to beanie babies.

Our garage - even overlooking the stuff from 4 or 5 families who have lived her and decided to "decluttered" before they left, leaving us with THEIR clutter- looks like an eclectic warehouse of good intentions, and no common sense :)

My suggestion for your SABLE?

Donate it to someone who will use it, instead of letting it turn into a pile of sentimental guilt. My friend Erin, God bless her, is an organizer by profession on occasion. When she lived with us she took me aside and said, "All this stuff that has so much 'meaning' for you or Amy that you can't get rid of...you can keep forever...by taking a photo of it." Then she advised we sell it, trash it, or donate it :)

I hung onto that advice...but like everything else I hang onto, I haven't really gotten around to using it :)
Posted by Michael Main on 11/04/07 at 01:42 PM
Suzan--Your items are hilarious, especially combined!! I have more unread novels right now that I'll be able to read in several years. And several tubes of unopened mascara, just in case. Whey protein powder is my hoard of choice. It has a long shelf life, and I wouldn't live long without my protein....

The sunglasses don't do anything for me. I've truly never owned a pair. Weird, huh? I feel like I look silly in them, like I do in hats. And the containers? I think those empty containers must be a symptom of some crazy disorder, don't you??? ;)

Michael--Your last line made me LOL! Erin is wise. I wish she'd come and stay with me for a month or so. Make sense out of this mess. It IS getting better since we got the upstairs back under control after Kevin's exit. We did the attic at the same time.

Although I haven't dealt very successfully with my SABLE, I am ULTRA sensitive to it because of the Priceless Treasure our mothers have collected on our behalf. Now that they're in small places, they are somewhat limited in their collections, thank the Dear Lord in Heaven Above. But I REALLY don't want to freak my kids out with my junk.

I can't BELIEVE that you ended up with the clutter of the folks you've taken into your home!!!!! NOOOooooooo!!
Posted by Katy on 11/04/07 at 02:15 PM
I'm sure you've heard of FreeCycle, right??

My mother has my grandmother's SABLE, along with her own massive amounts. In fact, she has hung onto stuff that I tried to get rid of when I was a girl and knew I outgrew it. I'm a packrat myself, but I DO realize when I outgrow things. She still has almost all of my childhood on her screened-in porch (she's moved a few times since I left home) ... and not just the nice things that could be passed on to my niece.

For me, I do get a lot of craft supplies that I have not managed to use, but part of that is because I don't tend to buy in complete sets (so there's always at least one more item I need in order to complete a craft --- like those plastic sheet-holder things of Michael's). Due to my financial limitations and my simultaneous hatred for my own packrat tendencies, I have not yet gotten to SABLE levels with my own stuff... plus, I think all my moves have helped a lot. While I'm in a place, I can aquire rediculous amounts, but when I move I don't want to have to pack it all up.

My mother's SABLE does freak me out, Katy... but I learned a long time ago that I can love her just as much by keeping a few very special items, trashing the unusable, and putting the rest up for adoption. I'm sure your kids have that same gen-? (whatever we're a part of) wisdom...
Posted by Pattyt on 11/10/07 at 04:53 AM

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Personal blog of christian writer & fallible mom Katy McKenna Raymond in Kansas City, Missouri Katy is represented by Greg Johnson at WordServe Literary Read more Katy at LateBoomer.net Follow Katy on Twitter Follow Katy on Facebook 123 Recent Posts Try Becoming Brenda Starr Off Beat Scattered That’s It So I’ve Finally Signed With An Agent. Now What? The Spoon Sciatica Sweetheart A Woman’s Train of Thought Has No Caboose However much we own, we are all still living on borrowed time After all, when restaurants shrink portions, they don’t shrink prices. As with everything in life, balance is key. Slow down, you move too fast… Yeah, I know. I have issues. Search Advanced Search Syndicate Login E me at katy @ ngenius.com	S.A.B.L.E. I’m a fairly crafty chick, or at least I thought I was until now. This morning, I read about a term thrown around in knitting groups—S.A.B.L.E. Have any of you heard about this? It stands for Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy! There are evidently millions of women who collect yarn “for comfort,” like folks who survived the Great Depression might hoard bits of twine “just in case.” These ladies talk of being invited to a baby shower and not having enough time to run to the yarn store, but HAVING enough time to make an entire baby sweater before the event. So they MUST have that baby yarn stored in their home! I’m thinking when the invite comes, it provides another reason to add to their SABLE. What do you think? I’ve got my own Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy, but it’s not yarn. It’s quilt fabric. Doug gave me a new sewing machine some ten years ago (to replace the one Dad gave Mom, which I’d been using since the 5th grade). The first thing I did, upon acquiring the machine, was scope out a thousand sales of quilt fabric. I bought several books on rotary cutting, and thought I’d teach myself how to do the piecing on the machine. I’ve made a number of quilts, but I’ve done everything completely by hand. And while I imagined myself making the transition to the sewing machine, it hasn’t happened. Sheesh. I ain’t getting any younger here, and as my life expectancy shortens, my pile of fabric looks that much bigger. Here’s the deal: When my crafty grandma died, she left behind a SABLE. I inherited her SABLE, because I’m the only one of her grandkids who’s much into needlework. She died when I was 19 (you do the math!), and I’ve STILL GOT HER SABLE!! I am the possesser of her embroidery floss, button box, needlepoint yarn, cotton crochet thread (she did fantastic filet crochet bedspreads and tablecloths), unfinished quilt tops, and etc. I feel WAY more sentimental about her SABLE than my own. I feel like the Keeper of the SABLE, the one girl in the world given this responsibility, this sacred trust. It’s completely nutty. When I die, my kids won’t know the difference between my SABLE and my grandmother’s. They never knew my grandma, so her SABLE will definitely get pitched. And I’ll be sitting up there in heaven, wondering why I held onto it all those years, when it was going to end up in the trash bin anyway. And what about my own SABLE? What exactly is the POINT of having more craft supplies (or anything else…) than you can reasonably expect to use in a lifetime? What will my kids do with all that fabric? I sure don’t want them to feel like they have to keep it because they love me. I JUST LAST WEEK got rid of some of my mother-in-law’s SABLE—several long lengths of cute-printed corderoy she’d purchased when her girls were young, with the intention of making them pants or jumpers. She gave me the SABLE when I got married to her son, 30 years ago. My own daughter is now 25, and her SABLE didn’t get used by her, her daughters, me, or my daughter. Time to pass it on! I can’t dispense of any of my fabric SABLE yet. I still feel guilty for over-purchasing and not using it. And God forbid that I should EVER walk into the bedroom where it’s stored and not feel guilty! SABLE isn’t just about craft supplies, I’m sure you realize. It’s about ANYTHING you’re hanging onto in quantities which respresent an obvious belief that you don’t ever intend to exit this world. Got any SABLE in your life? Posted by Katy on 11/03/07 at 07:43 AM Fallible Comments... Atkins bars, mascara and novels. You never know when you'll need some extra protein, made up eyes and a good book!! Good to have extra on hand! Seriously, I collect sunglasses and containers. I have way too many pairs of sunglasses. I can't seem to stop buying cute little containers, thinking I will use them for storage. 99% of them are empty, but I still keep collecting....Don't even get me near The Container Store. .. LOL :-) Posted by Suzan on 11/03/07 at 10:18 AM My wife has a laundry basket full of yarn to make "afghans" for our daughters - the blanket things, not the dogs or for that matter the people I suppose - She started that project during one of her hospital stays. Amy hasn't been in the hospital in three years. We have a friend who can whip out an afghan in about the time it takes me to drink a vente latte. On at least 4 or 5 occasions we have gotten that laundry basket "almost" in the car, to take it to her...but it's back in our bedroom now. It's like it's sewn to our house. We've got more half done, will one day be done, we forgot what we were going to do with this stuff, project materials in our home than I count. I bought some cheap tile at the dollar store...self stick, not too ugly linoleum. I wanted to replace the tile in our bathroom...about 9 square feet. Amy one day started the project by ripping up 3 or 4 squares of the old linoleum....then stopped. I still have the "new linoleum" in boxes right by the bathroom...but put back the pieces Amy removed "until I have time" to do the job right. I suspect that will be when I have "money to pay someone to do it." I had to work a booth at a "Home & Garden Show" once and Amy went with me to look at the stuff we didn't need. She came home with these hard plastic things - I'm not even sure how to describe them..they're the width of a normal window and have circles all interconnected. Somehow you are supposed to be able to take sheets...sheets that you find cheap that match your decor (do they sheets that match cluttered nouveau?) weave them in and out of the circles, and they make it REALLY simple to create window dressings. I think she bought 4 of them...we have at 5 windows they'd fit so I'm not sure why she bought four. Anyway, I think at least 2 or 3 are still in the house. I haven't worked a home show in at least 10 years. We've never even attempted to use the things, much less find sheets that match our decor, and we long ago lost the instructions on how to use them...or why. Amy was out of town last week, and I was throwing stuff out like a mad man. Stuff I know we've had for years that she won't miss. I'm still fearful of tossing out those plastic things. My list could go on and on...from store shelves "that were a steal" to a pair of old shutters, to beanie babies. Our garage - even overlooking the stuff from 4 or 5 families who have lived her and decided to "decluttered" before they left, leaving us with THEIR clutter- looks like an eclectic warehouse of good intentions, and no common sense :) My suggestion for your SABLE? Donate it to someone who will use it, instead of letting it turn into a pile of sentimental guilt. My friend Erin, God bless her, is an organizer by profession on occasion. When she lived with us she took me aside and said, "All this stuff that has so much 'meaning' for you or Amy that you can't get rid of...you can keep forever...by taking a photo of it." Then she advised we sell it, trash it, or donate it :) I hung onto that advice...but like everything else I hang onto, I haven't really gotten around to using it :) Posted by Michael Main on 11/04/07 at 01:42 PM Suzan--Your items are hilarious, especially combined!! I have more unread novels right now that I'll be able to read in several years. And several tubes of unopened mascara, just in case. Whey protein powder is my hoard of choice. It has a long shelf life, and I wouldn't live long without my protein.... The sunglasses don't do anything for me. I've truly never owned a pair. Weird, huh? I feel like I look silly in them, like I do in hats. And the containers? I think those empty containers must be a symptom of some crazy disorder, don't you??? ;) Michael--Your last line made me LOL! Erin is wise. I wish she'd come and stay with me for a month or so. Make sense out of this mess. It IS getting better since we got the upstairs back under control after Kevin's exit. We did the attic at the same time. Although I haven't dealt very successfully with my SABLE, I am ULTRA sensitive to it because of the Priceless Treasure our mothers have collected on our behalf. Now that they're in small places, they are somewhat limited in their collections, thank the Dear Lord in Heaven Above. But I REALLY don't want to freak my kids out with my junk. I can't BELIEVE that you ended up with the clutter of the folks you've taken into your home!!!!! NOOOooooooo!! Posted by Katy on 11/04/07 at 02:15 PM I'm sure you've heard of FreeCycle, right?? My mother has my grandmother's SABLE, along with her own massive amounts. In fact, she has hung onto stuff that I tried to get rid of when I was a girl and knew I outgrew it. I'm a packrat myself, but I DO realize when I outgrow things. She still has almost all of my childhood on her screened-in porch (she's moved a few times since I left home) ... and not just the nice things that could be passed on to my niece. For me, I do get a lot of craft supplies that I have not managed to use, but part of that is because I don't tend to buy in complete sets (so there's always at least one more item I need in order to complete a craft --- like those plastic sheet-holder things of Michael's). Due to my financial limitations and my simultaneous hatred for my own packrat tendencies, I have not yet gotten to SABLE levels with my own stuff... plus, I think all my moves have helped a lot. While I'm in a place, I can aquire rediculous amounts, but when I move I don't want to have to pack it all up. My mother's SABLE does freak me out, Katy... but I learned a long time ago that I can love her just as much by keeping a few very special items, trashing the unusable, and putting the rest up for adoption. I'm sure your kids have that same gen-? (whatever we're a part of) wisdom... Posted by Pattyt on 11/10/07 at 04:53 AM Page 1 of 1 pages Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Next entry: Leaving Time Previous entry: You're Kidding, Right? << Back to main


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Personal blog of christianwriter & fallible momKaty McKenna Raymondin Kansas City, Missouri

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S.A.B.L.E.

Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri