Email and Dyeing

Yet again, I'm getting further and further behind on responding to emails.  This is a problem for me because one of the main reasons I blog is the interaction with you...I like responding to comments.  While being busy is certainly a valid excuse for why I get behind, probably the bigger problem is just email management. Which I'm finally accepting I am horrible at.  I only have one email that I use for work and personal and in retrospect that was probably a mistake.  I get so many emails a day (some days a couple hundred) that things get lost and forgotten quite easily (this is a problem for work as well unfortunately).  I've tried to set up task folders and do the whole mega-organization thing but it's simply not working.  Emails come in too fast for me to even do that.  I've also thought about setting up another email just for personal use but even that isn't the ideal solution for reasons I won't go into right now.  I, unfortunately, don't have a clear separation between work and personal in any aspects of my life.  I have one computer (a personal one that I use for work), one email, one mail reading program, and pretty much work around the clock so when you do see posts or comments or replies, they come during breaks from work...I am in the same place, using the same tools.

This has led me to the first step in trying to approach email management a different way.  I often have that quote "The definition of insanity..." in my head as I try yet again something that never worked in the past.  So...let's take the sane route this time and try something different.  I'm going to start replying to comments in the comments.  For a long time I didn't like it when others did it.  Because to see their reply I'd either have to go back to their blog over and over again (which I rarely did) or I'd have to subscribe to the comment feed via email which just gives me even more email...do we need to discuss again why that is a problem?  But here's the thing...I starting subscribing to the feeds and while it does give me more email, it's the kind that can be dealt with quickly (mostly it is open, skim, delete).  I also find it sort of interesting to read comments of others...maybe it is the voyeur tendencies being online brings out in each of us.  So...let's see where this goes.  If I feel like a more private comment is warranted, then I'll respond via email.  The advantage of this approach is that every few days I can go to one place and respond instead of having to track down messages and find email addresses etc which in my unorganized email world is very time-consuming.  My hesitation with this approach is that often a reply to a comment then leads to several back and forth emails that I so enjoy.  So who knows...it may not last.  I've gone back to the past few posts and replied in the comment section so take a look if you want.  And please -- if you have any other suggestions for email management that I haven't already mentioned don't work for me...I'd love to hear them!

Now...how about some pretty pictures and less words?  I dyed a bit this weekend to hold up my end of a swap of sorts.  Like spinning, I kept wanting to get back to the dye pot ever since coming out of the field but didn't make the time.  This weekend I made the time and dyed up 2 skeins.  Both are slightly variegated using the same color...just different saturation levels.  The first picture is skeined up directly from the dye pot so you can see the different sections of color and the second picture is after the yarn was skeined using a different diameter so the different colors are mixed together (more like what you would see if you knit it up).  These are for Jacey...both fingering weight.

The purple skein was my first to try and match a color to a picture.  Below was my inspiration.  I used a mix of 5 different dye colors ... I didn't quite get the depth of color that I wanted but I'm pretty pleased with the result.  So Jessi...I'm getting closer to being able to meet your request! ;)

Have a great weekend everybody.

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Now playing:  Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen


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