12 Days of Christmas 2019

After the success of last years idea to create a 12 Days of Christmas spinners pack, the woman who runs the online shop where I buy most of my spinning fibre and who also runs the monthly fibre club that I have, announced this years options much earlier this year, clearly she is now aware of their popularity and needs to be organised much earlier to avoid disappointment coupled with the worry of any issues regarding Customs & Duty should the UK crash out of the EU on 31st October.  No one knows what is going to happen as this countries politics is in total chaotic mess.

Once again, we have three options.  All of them will include a 100g hand dyed braid of a luxury blend fibre that works with the colours she has chosen for each option, so the main braid for each option will a different colour.  The main braid will be 60% 18.5 micron Merino, 20% Yak, 20% Tussah Silk, which is the same blend that most of us had last year, although I was one of the spinners who had a different blend.  The eleven small packets to be opened one each day thereafter will be different fibres.  They will all be packed into a hand printed cotton bag like they were last year, although the design for the bag will be different than last years.

Sleigh Ride has little parcels containing 10g of Mulberry Silk in a set colour palette and everyone gets the same colours each day.  This is the inspiration photo.

Frost Fair has little parcels containing 20g of 14.5 micron Merino in a set colour palette and everyone gets the same colours each day.  This is the inspiration photo.  This is the one that I chose to get.  My reason for getting this one was because I haven't had the courage to spin last year's yet as I am not comfortable spinning pure silk, it scares me because its so fine and can clump into a nasty mess very easily and I don't want to ruin it.  I will spin a small amount of silk from a sample pack first before risking this beautiful pack.

Nutracker has little parcels of 20g of Tussah Silk and everyone will get a slightly different selection but all colours will work together.  With this one you have to be OK with getting surprises as they will be all sorts of colours in lots of combinations and could be jewels, brights, pastels, neutrals etc.  This is the inspiration photo.

My parcel arrived this morning, 21st October, but I will add the photos of it once I have my Christmas Tree and decorations up as I want a Christmassy photo of it like last year.  Another cardboard drinks coaster inside the package and that matches the bag and is a different design to last year. 

And just like magic, here is the photo.

12 Days of Christmas 2018

As soon as my regular fibre supplier announced her idea that she had for a special Christmas parcel bundle of fluff I was all ears.  Her idea was for one main braid of fibre that we all open on Christmas Day and then 11 small packets of fibre to be opened one a day for the following 11 days and all this would be parcelled up in a hand-printed fair-trade cotton bag that she designed and printed herself.

She came up with 3 options originally and every time she released a new batch they sold out in minutes so due to high demand she came up with a 4th option using fibre she had in stock to replace one of the colourways that sold out after 2 batches.

These are the inspiration photos that she released, from left to right top row: Northern Lights, Ski Lodge, Christmas Cake and the large photo is Pine Forest.  Northern Lights was put together and released for the last batch.

Some of the fibre bases changed as they sold out and was replaced with the same colour on a different base, such was their popularity.  I decided to go for Pine Forest, which I managed to get from the third batch because I either missed the release time or I just wasn't fast enough and it already sold out before I could checkout.  They literally sold out that fast.  It was crazy!

These are the descriptions that she wrote for each colourway.  The main braid is 100g of luxury hand dyed fibre and then we have eleven 20g parcels of Tussah Silk that have numbers on them so we all open them on the correct days.  A different colour main brand and different colour range of Tussah Silk for each colourway.

Christmas Cake
Warm rich tones, think Spices, Candied Peel, Dried Peel, Dried Fruit. (Spoiler: pick this one if you're not a fan of blue, this really is the contents of your spice rack, the citrus fruit bowl, raisins, sultanas, with a small amount of green.)
Batch 1: 60% 18.5 micron Merino, 20% Yak, 20% Tussah Silk
Batch 2: 60% 18.5 micron Merino, 20% Yak, 20% Tussah Silk
Batch 3: 100% BFL

Pine Forest
An early morning walk in a pine forest, snow on the ground, frost sparkling on branches, dark shadows. (Spoiler: there is green... but not in huge quantities.  It's focusing on the interesting things light does as it filters through branches.  This one is filled with cool colours and interesting neutrals).
Batch 1: 60% 18.5 micron Merino, 20% Yak, 20% Tussah Silk
Batch 2: 60% 18.5 micron Merino, 20% Yak, 20% Tussah Silk
Batch 3: 50% Corriedale, 25% Yak, 25% Rose Rayon.  This is the one I managed to get.

Ski Lodge
A mug of hot chocolate, classic skiing knitwear, a midnight view of a snowy mountain. (Spoiler: this one has a real mixture of colours.  Very few of what I describe as "warm" tones, and the ones that are included aren't bright and in your face.  They're designed to set off the other colours.) 
Batch 1: 60% 18.5 micron Merino, 20% Yak, 20% Tussah Silk
Batch 2: 50% Corriedale, 25% Yak, 25% Rose Rayon.
Batch 3: None produced - replaced with Northern Lights colourway

Northern Lights
Bright colours dancing across a dark sky
Batch 3: Superfine Shetland

So, my parcel arrived this morning and I couldn't wait to take photos and a little peep inside, knowing that they were all in little sealed paper bags so that I couldn't really peep at what was in store.  I found a little round cardboard thing inside the bag with a pretty design on it, turns out to be a coaster but I've not taken a photo of it. Really excited for Christmas now to see what I've got.