Canning and dyeing

Here you see most of the jars of tomatoes I put up this past week. One jar didn't seal, so it's not pictured here. It's in the fridge, about to become some more tomatoe soup. I also had packed a jar full, then noticed that it had a big chip in the top. I wasn't sure where the chip was, so I threw it all out.

The greatest thing about this recipe is that it allows you to can by the jar, so if all I have is enough tomatoes for 2 jars, that's all I need to do. I love having a recipe that doesn't start with

"8 pounds of tomatoes."

I had/have a lot of cucumbers, so I put up more jalapeno-cucumber relish.

I was running low on some of my dye supplies, so I was unpacking the box and stepped away for just a moment. As you can see, Inspector Lily took it upon herself to check the contents for me.

My friend Shari recently suggested that I start compiling all the pictures of Lily for a book, entitled "Lily, Dammit!" I've posted a lot of pictures of her getting into things, and it does seem like a good idea. However, I've got too much on my plate right now, including a bunch of merino sliver and whole 'nother fleece that is at least cleaned, but needs carding or combing.

I'm thinking that Keith needs to learn how to card, comb or spin.

This past week I've been doing some immersion/kettle dyeing, and I've gotten some colors I really like. I'm not sure yet where I'll be selling them.

I'd been working on some ideas for my first knitwear designs, and I'm finding that it's more challenging that I anticipated. Of course, things won't work out as you expected when you change them in the middle. I've just kept knitting. I'll see how this hat turns out. I already see two changes so far I'd like to make, and even though I'm not wild about this one is knitting up, I'll have something I can donate this fall.

Have a great day! It's drizzly, humid and muggy here, but it's cloudy and under 90F, so I'm happy, really happy.