Sunday stash {advent blog along day four}

One does not simply start a new hobby, or so the meme goes. One starts a new hobby. Then one follows instagrammers also involved in that hobby. Then one watches reels of the hobby. Then reels of the step before the hobby which is a whole different hobby and next minute you’re googling how much THAT hobby costs.

In case you couldn’t tell, your internet friend is in a crafty spiral.

Specifically, a yarn and fibre crafty spiral. Not content with merely losing myself in the current obsession that is spinning my own yarn (which still, a month on, feels like freakin magic), and all the fun toys that come with it, I’m now down the rabbit hole of what comes before that. Just like knitting & crochet got me interested in spinning, spinning has me interested in not only yarn dying, but also carding and blending. And I was going to behave, I swear. I have a packet of undyed merino sitting here ready to dye. That’s the normal starting point, isn’t it? I have dye. I have fibre. I don’t need much more than that. But nooo, I couldn’t stop there, could I? Today I’m googling blending boards because look what arrived this week:

That there on the right? Thats two little hanks of bamboo fibre, and in the little baggy is some metallic fibre. Aren’t they beautiful? I was first introduced to bamboo as a fibre when my eldest was born, and we used bamboo modern cloth nappies. It was as soft and delightful as you would want when you are a neurotic, overthinking, first time mum. In the intervening years, I’ve also experienced bamboo in commercial underwear, and in jersey fabric I’ve sewn t-shirts from. For softness and drape, there’s nothing quite like it. Bamboo fibre, thought I, sounds novel and pleasant and I need me some of that. And yet, I was not at all prepared for exactly how soft and silky the unspun fibres felt.

They are pure bliss to touch. I’ll blend them with some of my natural merino, which should make for an absolutely sensational sock yarn. Bamboo + merino + sparkles, what could be better?

The papers to the left in the photo above, I picked up yesterday while Christmas shopping. I’ve been eyeing them off at our local art shop for months now, these mixed packs of handmade papers. I can see at least three sheets in there that will be perfect for one of my 12 days projects, that I hope to make serious progress on tomorrow. The rest will be added to my stash for…I don’t know what. A rainy day or an inspo strike maybe?

Is there anything quite like new supplies to get the mojo pumping? Now all I need to do is find a blending board in stock somewhere, so I can blend up those fibres. You know, in all my spare time.