Finder of lost jewelry

It has suddenly become the Month of Lost Earrings around here. I tend to prefer earrings without fancy clasps -- just beads on a U-wire -- and that means that I lose them fairly regularly. Over the last year I lost two that Ali made for me, ones that were just to my taste, too. I search for them in my clothes and bedding and so forth (sometimes I wake up in the morning with only one earring on, having forgotten to take them off the night before), and when they don't turn up I resign myself to their loss.

But since I am a packrat, I never get rid of the other half of the pair. As of two weeks ago, I consolidated all the single earrings in my collection into one pocket in my hanging jewelry holder, having grown tired of seeing them all hanging out one by one in their own pockets, forlornly -- or perhaps accusingly -- reminding me of my negligence.

And then as soon as I did that, the lost earrings started turning up. First up was one that Ali made me out of beads Dave brought back from Peru. I was standing at the receptionist's desk in the department when I suddenly glanced down and saw the other earring. Who knows how long it had been sitting there? I lost it months ago, and somebody found it -- either then or much later -- and turned it in at the office. Bingo -- one pair reunited.

Then tonight I was clearing off the sofa after the kids went to bed, and I overturned a teacup that Cady Gray had filled with loose change ("cat food"). Digging change out of the cushions, I came up with an earring I lost even longer ago -- maybe as much as a year. Time to pluck its mate from the Pocket of Mismatched Baubles and restore the pair to dignity.

I hope the other three still languishing there benefit from this run of luck. A couple of my favorites are in there -- the elegant antiqued silver and red beads that Libby got me a few Christmases ago, the wooden blocks I brought back from Korea. Probably what triggered the wayward sheep to return to the fold, though, is that I finally broke down and bought earrings from awesome Etsy seller 579 Jewelry (co-owner Sarah knitblogs here) to replenish my stash. They share my taste for non-ostentatious pendant-style beaded earrings (even if a lot of theirs are a bit too long for me), and man, the price is right (everything's $5, $7, or $9 -- shipping included!).

Having received my three pair last week ($11!), and reunited another two pair (both gifts -- free!), it's almost like I doubled my earring inventory without even trying. Easy to do at these prices.