Dollar Store Find

I needed something to stir the dye pots. I've been using whatever I could get my hands on, which sometimes meant the slotted spoon from the kitchen, now relegated to dyeing, or a stray dowel, which always caught the fiber. Yesterday I stopped in the dollar store and found a set of three long, about 20", plastic utensils for $3.00 (I know, this wasn't the dollar store where EVERYTHING is ONE DOLLAR!). So I bought two sets. I am now the proud owner of 2 each of a pancake turner, spoon, and ladle and they are strong enough to lift up a wet 400 yd (9 oz) skein of cotton. (If the thing broke I was going back to school a bespeckled mess)

These are the last 6 skeins of cotton. I used dark navy, mustard gold, and bordeaux, all MX dyes from ProChem. I'm phasing these out and building up a core supply of Sabracon after using them last summer at Claudia's Dye Day.

As you can see, my batching room is a bathroom. There's a little baseboard heater that I can turn on to keep the room at a toasty 72. I'm seriously considering taking that shower out and putting a big laundry sink in. No one uses it since Dan moved out and I doubt we will again (there are two upstairs). It's convenient having a bathroom down there (especially when I've been drinking mucho coffee), but the vanity sink is too small to do much with. I have to pour out very slowly or I end up wearing it.