knitternicky's knitty knits: Sorting Out Bones Of Contention!

For quite a few years now there has been a few full scale rows, no wait a minute that's very strong, how about heated discussions??? hhhmmm nope still a little strong, shall we settle on hubby's little bone of contention? Yup I think that would sum it up on my husband's attitude about how my downstairs stash/immediate WIP's/knitting magazine library and knitting bags threaten to overtake the living room. At one time they were small enough to confine to a single cupboard (can you believe at one time my whole stash, pattern collection and needles would fit in this single cupboard and non knitters who caught a glimpse inside would comment on "what was I going to do with all that wool??")

Then it sort of spread to behind one of the settee's, (the larger of the two settee' if I'm owning up and I'm not taking a photo behind there as it's still shameful). Then it started spilling out from behind the settee to a medium sized basket either side, several magazine holders (full) and a project caddy. Still behind the settee in between the overspill were knitting bags, needle bags and rolls, bags of yarn (though 95% of it is now under the bed) and plastic baskets containing more magazines (I have four on monthly subscription, if I had to buy them in a shop I'd never have any as nowhere local well within walking distance seem to sell them with any sort of consistency) that seem to multiply on their own!
Hubby like most people (including myself I hasten to add) has the annoying (I tried to think of a suitable super hero descriptive here but annoying works best) ability to ignore his own crap that he has discarded and abandoned (check out the breakfast bar in the kitchen, any time, day or night, Monday to Sunday he has stuff there in varying degrees of useful! from "been used for a job earlier but I can't be bothered to put it away right now when I can do it in an hour or two", to "might come in handy someday so I'll leave it here where I can find it until then!!!!! So his bone of contention as you can guess wasn't the same as my breakfast bar one, no, his was my knitting collective of stash,magazines and knitty tools that bulged behind and that spilled out the sides of the sofa.
I have to confess that I didn't intend for and I didn't enjoy my knitting stuff stored in this way, it wasn't practical. For a start it was all stored behind the sofa he prefers to sit on when he's chilling out in the evening to watch TV. So picture it....if he was settled and comfy watching for instance Ross Kemp on Gangs or some true crime programme that he enjoys to sit through etc and I suddenly needed a different size pair of needles and I had forgotten (I am very very forgetful) to get out at some earlier part of the evening before he has sat down, maybe putting the boys to bed took longer than anticipated, anyways because or whatever I have to get up to go digging round the back of the sofa (with him still on it) and I'm rustling and cursing cos it's dark behind there and I'm trying to feel for the right needle bag or roll and then cos I'm leaning precariously I'm hoping if I'm going to fall flat into the pile of useful utensils that I fall onto a soft bag of yarn and manage not take my eye out with a 10mm chunky plastic glittery needle that fell sticking pointy end up out the knitting roll I'm looking for. So you get I'm being loud and annoying and disturbing (I apparently do this a lot) and my hubby bless him was not granted with a huge amount of patience so will not stand up and offer to move the sofa so I can indeed take a safer, better look for what I'm looking for (and no I'm not about to ask as I KNOW what the answer would be)!! No don't be daft I'm more likely to get a reel of f's and b's and other expletives at what the hell am I doing and to buzz off as he is trying to watch Ross Kemp and why can he not watch anything HE wants to in peace! I have to confess if it were the other way round I would not be a happy hunny bunny either!
So in the interest of sorting the mess that is behind the sofa and with a lot of ~~good intentions~~ outright blatant lies that somewhere to keep my magazines would be i) a good start to tidy the whole area up, and, ii) an end to above style domestic disputes. After a whole lot of ~~nagging and whinging~~ convincing hubby finally made me this, a bookcase just for me to go at the top of the stairs. Funny that I don't seem to have as many magazines and books when they are all put together.....