So, following the arrival of the Advent Calendar about a week and a half ago, I have since decided to throw the fibre packaging away as it really isn't worth the hassle of trying to do anything with it.
This year's advent calendar is themed on different "Holiday Traditions" from around the world. I will say "Holiday" because there are numerous religions and faiths that celebrate at this time of year and it's not necessarily called "Christmas", there are many other names for many different celebrations.
The Tradition
Day 1 is called Gävle Goat and the tradition comes from Sweden where a huge goat is made of straw every year and erected in the town of Gävle at Slottstorget (Castle Square). It is basically a giant version of the traditional Yule Goat decoration. This tradition started in 1966 when an advertising consultant by the name of Stig Gavlén (1927-2018) came up with the idea of placing a giant version of the traditional decoration in the square and the giant goat has been subject to all sorts of vandalism and destruction since then, usually by human hand but sometimes by nature. As of December 2023, 42 out of 58 goats have been destroyed by burning or some other cause. It is now illegal to destroy the goat and if you get caught doing so it is a 3 month prison term for you. The first one built in 1966 stood at around 13 metres tall and the height has varied over the years, with one year it being just 2 metres tall and then this year it stands at around 12 metres tall.
The Fibre
The fibre is 80% Mohair, 20% Flax and represents the Goat and the Straw element of the tradition. The flax brings a little bit of texture to the blend and the blend has a fantastic sheen to it. Anything you knit with the spun yarn will have a little bit of texture and colour running through it.
My Thoughts
It's not a fibre that I am particularly familiar with so this will be interesting. As usual I will wait until I have opened all of the packets before I decide what I will do with it. I am hoping to create great pairings with other packets of fibre from either this year or last year, as I have used very little of last year's advent calendar.
As what I often do, due to a busy life, I am writing up these blog posts some time after the event so the first photos are what I took on the day of opening using my mobile phone and the early December natural light, which isn't always the best, and the next photos have been taken some time after using my proper camera and my little lit pop up studio and the colours are more true to life. I am also including a close up photo of each of the pattern strips that are on the packets, each one is different, and some are of a different clarity/quality, that is not my photography skills but rather the printed design and this must be down to the original image source.
The information that has been printed on the bags is not necessarily correct and there are no fibre content percentages. This information has been provided in the online chat boards for this advent calendar and in some instances, where they have used amounts of other blends that they produce along with other fibres to make this new blend, we have collectively asked for further clarification and then the fibre content has changed quite considerably. What I have done with my bags is to write the actual fibre content on the bag using a gold gel pen in the gap immediately below the printed details and before "World of Wool". Petty much the only thing that will show up on the black packaging are the metallic gel pens. This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags, they all have my scribble on them.
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