drowning in a sea of—

—yarn, threads, fibre and fabric. There has been much written about a weaver’s stash but when you not only weave but spin, dye, stitch and knit the stash becomes unmanageable. It’s in the studio, guest room, bedroom, living room and even the kitchen.

Mostly handspun, silk, cotton, wool and blends. All natural dyes. Most of  the commercial yarns I purchase are either white, natural or black. I no longer dye very often with chemical dyes, they look harsh beside the natural dyes.

Besides, I need to slow down my production rate.  Finer threads, closer setts in my weaving, at least 50% handspun and hand dyed. More complex and time-consuming techniques. And still the stash grows.

I maintain a 30 gallon indigo vat in my unheated greenhouse. It has a fish tank heater to keep it warm. Sometimes it works brilliantly–and sometimes it doesn’t. I talk to it , plead with it, bribe it but never sing to it as that would be the end!

Unlike most other crafts weaving does not produce an end product–it is just fabric. Then the work begins.

I don’t lack for ideas or inspiration. Thirty years have given me yet another stash–of clippings, samples and techniques to try–when there is time!

The stitched pieces I started this past year were designed to use some of the smaller scraps of handwoven and dyed fabric and thrums. But it doesn’t seem to be reducing the piles.

I had planned to start winding a warp today. Think I’ll take a long walk, instead.