These are new stash additions – from JulieSpins and Hedgehog Fibres – to make up for the ones I plan to use up for Tour de Fleece, an annual spinning event that mimics the Tour de France. It’ll be my first time being part of the Tour and I’ve joined two teams – one for JulieSpins and another just for Rookies. Both teams don’t really have any rules save to use JulieSpins’ fibers for the Tour (which makes sense). So at the end of the day, it’s up to us to set our own goals and strive to achieve them. Some people take the opportunity to work on their spinning and spin up sweater quantities. Others opt for spinning challenging fibers or fibers that they have never worked with.

I haven’t really thought about what I’d like to do except spin these braids up into the following weights:

• JulieSpins Roving: 60% SW Merino, 30% Bamboo, 10% Nylon (Blue-Eyed Susan in 3 ply fingering)
• JulieSpins Roving: 85% Humbug BFL, 15% Silk (Whole Grains in 2 ply laceweight)
• JulieSpins Roving: Wensleydale (Raisin in either 2 ply or single ply laceweight)

If I have extra time, I might add another braid or two to the list – I seriously need to destash and make room for more yummy goodies. No, selling them is not an option! In the meantime, let me continue on a roll with my knitting and start working on possible first birthday invitations – if we ever get around to having a party. Heh.

I decided to give myself a little treat and join an unclub spree over at JulieSpins. She organizes a spree every month dedicated to those of us who don’t have the energy or finances to be part of a fiber club. One other advantage this spree has over fiber clubs is that we have a general idea of what to expect so we can opt out, if the colours or items are not particularly attractive.

This month’s unclub featured merino-cashmere-nylon bleed rovings and a humbug-silk. I wanted to bulk up my stash with some rovings meant for lace so I’ve been stashing up on silk-blends, and Julie’s colours have been very vibrant and rich. My pretties arrived on Monday but because my postbox can’t take anything thicker than the usual bank bills and such, I got a delivery notice instead, which meant that I’d have to wait till the weekend to get them.

The wait was definitely more excruciating than trying to figure out how to install a home theatre system but definitely worth it. As you can see, they are very pretty and I can’t wait to get started on them…once I finish my Ivy sweater, of course!!!

…excluding a fibre club shipment that’s on the way, the practice stash (about 400 gms of mixed wools and etc), the WIP stash (another 400 odd grams) and naturally, the shop’s stock of undyed goodies…

In a nutshell, there are all sorts of wool fibres in there (Gotland, Falkland, Corriedale, Merino, etc), blends like merino/bamboo, merino/seacell, BFL/cashmere, Shetland/silk and then lovely soft stuff like alpaca. To find out more about them, click on the pictures and check out the notes!

And like Nil said, this isn’t junk…it’s money and I’m not kidding.

Despite the snow, I thought it best to whip up the camera and snap some pictures anyway. The keyword, if you will ignore the mention of snow, is SOME.

Yes, my fiber stash is overflowing and right now, it’s for a good reason. But rest assured that unlike my knitting, I spin up stuff relatively quickly.

I thought this blog might be in need of some colour-related cheerfulness. Over the course of a few weeks, I’ve caved and purchased OR handdyed some fibers to spin up for either keeps or the shop. So my fiber stash has grown somewhat considerably, even more than the stock for the shop, dare I say. What’s worse is that I haven’t had the time to photograph them all. ARGH!

On the list of To-Take-A-Snapshot are…

• Romney in Creme Brulee (8 oz) from ironjohn04
• Seawool in Delight (4 oz) from Dyeing For Colour
• Seawool in Scottish Heather (4 oz) from Dyeing For Colour
• Seawool in SR25 (8 oz) from Creatively Dyed
• 60/40 Merino-Bamboo in Evening Shade (4 oz) (FatCatKnits) from a trade on Rav
• 50/50 Merino-Tencel in Green Tea (4 oz) (Pigeon Roof Studios) from a trade on Rav

Of course, I shouldn’t forget the fibers that are supposed to be on their way or will be on their way over the next few months!

On the list of Items-To-Be-Received are…

• A fiber club installment of 4 oz of merino-silk from JulieSpins
• Next year’s 3-month fiber club installment from Ewe Give Me The Knits!

There is a perfectly good explanation for this stash enhancement…

Unfortunately, I can’t say it. You’ll find out soon enough.