I had the same problem with watercolors as a kid, sooner or later the entire sodden mass was a muddy brown from intermingled color.
Dubbing dispensers have rattled around my tying area with similar issue – the top layer becomes a blend of everything I’ve tied in the last couple of weeks. Dander and feather duff mixed with the original color, whose self-sealing lid no longer keeps adjacent colors at bay.
The idea of a “dubbing divan” is appealing. A couple of shades purring contentedly close to hand, allowing the tyer to wrench a handful whenever it’s needed.
No drifting dustbunnies to aggravate family allergies, no mess other than an occasional coughed-up furball, and your source is mobile allowing you to change colors at a whim.
Technically speaking, it might be preferable to “snip” the dubbing material rather than “wrench” it from living tissue. A disturbed and wary cat is the last thing you need in possession of the tying table.
“Comb” if it’s your cat, “Snip” if it’s your spouse’s cat, and “wrench” if it’s the neighbor’s feline?
Speaking on behalf of cat lovers everywhere, I must – in the strongest possible terms – object to your unethical treatment of cats (or land-kittens as we’re calling them these days).
To treat them as mobile material dispensers is a horrifying abuse of the human/feline compact – a relationship born of thousands of years of mutual respect and admiration.
On a personal note, how do you think my cat – Mr. Buttons – felt after coming upon your post while surfing the Internet for kitty porn?
The same way you’d feel if someone posted an article describing the systematic torture of brownliners for no good reason (which frankly seems like a pretty good idea).
In fact, I’m so huffy right now, I could just arch my back and hiss.
Die, brownliner. Die.
“Mr. Buttons?” That SOB hasn’t moved off the pillow in two years. Dip his arse in Olive dye and call him “Zonker strip.”
Might motivate him to breath a couple times.