Notes from The Craft Dungeon

I started out the day with a plan to reorganize the sock yarn stash. (Well, the part of the sock yarn stash that isn't BMFA, because that's all set, kept in its own special bins.) It got overwhelming very quickly, which is an indication that perhaps I have...wait for it...too much sock yarn. Eventually the feeling passed, and I actually decided to tackle the whole stash. It's a good idea to go through it now and again, not only to check on its health and well-being, but to decide if perhaps I have grown apart from some of it. Because I catalog on Ravelry, I rarely have those "I had no idea I had that" moments. I did, however, have some "I'm not sure I love you anymore" moments, so look for some bargains coming soon to my stash page.

While stash tossing, I also simultaneously continued to experiment with kettle dyeing. Kettle dyeing is much less predictable than handpainting, I've discovered, especially when you use more than three dye solutions or solutions with unpredictable blending results. But mama, that's where the fun is. (Sorry, I may have just planted an earworm.) One experiment was to put three different yarn bases in the same batch. It was amazing to see how the dye take-up was different for each base. Pictures coming soon!

The other night I decided to finally do some sewing, and I started playing around with a bunch of(intentionally) felted sweaters. I got this crazy idea to make a sock shaped bag using the felted material. (Yeah, I own that I had Sock Summit Fever.) So, it's late, and the husband comes down to the craft dungeon to find out what I'm doing. I show him the sock bag and he tells me that I "officially have too much time on my hands."

Sadly, I must report that it is not going to be a good year for the tomatoes. Many of my starts did not do well when they were transplanted to the garden. The weather has been weird here, with big, booming thunderstorms and cold fronts assaulting them. They were all heirloom seedlings, and I just think that some of them aren't as hale and hearty as the more common varieties. Some may hang on, but I'm going to have to buy some replacement plants (horrors!)