Advent Calendar 2024 Day 6 - Jack Frost

So, Jack Frost is today's character and when I think of Jack Frost I think of two things.  The first being the pretty icy patterns left on single pane glass on a really cold day in Winter.  I saw plenty of this on my bedroom window growing up as a child but you don't see this as much these days with all the double glazing and central heating.  I have seen it on the bonnet of my car though.

The second thing that springs to mind is Martin Short as Jack Frost in The Santa Clause 2: The Escape Clause. I love this series of films. All the information can be found in the first photo and if you click on the photo you can zoom in if you need to.

I really do like the designs on the little packets although I am not seeing anything particularly frost about this design.

I have undone the tightly wrapped little bundles and made them into braids to take any pressures off the fibres and also so that I can see the colours properly and feel the texture too.  I have to say that I am slightly disappointed in the lack of blue tones in this one but I still like it.

Advent Calendar 2024 Day 2 - Zuzu's Petals

The second one is Zuzu's Petals.  This is to do with the old black and white film "A Wonderful Life", which I think I saw as a kid in the late 1970's/early 1980's and I actually went out of my way last year to watch this for the first time as an adult.  I don't think I need to write anything up as all the information can be found in the first photo and if you click on the photo you can zoom in if you need to.

I do like the designs on the little packets though.  Each one is different.  I think the designs on the packets might be loosely based on the character or the theme of the yarn as this one features flowers, although not roses.

I have undone the tightly wrapped little bundles and made them into braids to take any pressures off the fibres and also so that I can see the colours properly and feel the texture too.  Although this one is pink, which is definitely not my favourite colour, I do like this one, probably because it's not bright and gaudy like the hot pinks and Barbie girly girly pinks in the world.

Advent Calendar 2023 Day 13

The Tradition

Day 13 is called Sinterklaas and the tradition comes from The Netherlands. Based on Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children, who was a Greek bishop in Turkey.  He is depicted as an elderly, stately man with white hair and a long white beard and wears a traditional white bishops alb with a long red cape over the top and a red mitre on his head. When he died stories of the goodness he did were told and eventually these became celebrated in the middle ages. Sinterklaas carries a big red book which records whether each child has been good or naughty in the past year. The feast of Sinterklaas is celebrated in the Netherlands on St Nicholas' Eve, 5th December, with the giving of gifts. The feast is also celebrated in other nearby countries on 6th December.

The Fibre

The actual fibre content is 60% Bio-Nylon (Rosso), 24% South American Wool, 7% Merino, 6% Viscose, 3% Stellina (Gold). Saint Nicholas has been dressed in red and white and that is what this blend is focussing on.  A blend of bio-nylon, wool, viscose and Stellina,  The red in this is the bio-nylon, chosen because it is biodegradable and even though Sinterklaas is dressed in red we really wanted to focus on the glitteryness and also on some of the textures that you see like ruffles around his hood and his collar and cuffs.  We have the lovely red and the glittery Stellina and you can see the really nice nepps running through this.  The great thing about this, it's got a very very large amount of Stellina in it, more than we normally put in which means it will show throughout all of the work you're doing but because this Stellina is quite soft it's not going to give you an itchy or scratchy feel. If you're spinning with it you probably want to draft it out in advance of spinning so that you can make sure you get a bit of everything in every ply and this really is quite a fun blend, there is a lot going on.

My Thoughts

I took a sharp in-take of breath when I opened this one and then squealed excitedly.  It's gorgeous! I can't wait to spin this one and I might spin it along with a white blend from last year's advent calendar that was pure white but very much similar to the white parts of this blend.  I'm not sure yet but that might be what I do with it.

The information that has been printed on the bags is not always correct and there are no fibre content percentages, these have been provided on the chat boards.  The percentages that they gave on the chat boards were not correct.  What they originally gave us was 60% Bio Nylon (Rosso), 30% Natural Tweed,  10% Glitter White/Gold.  They state that it is a high Stellina content blend, and it does look like there is a lot of it.  After discussion, the Natural Tweed is actually 80% South American Wool, 20% Viscose and the Glitter White/Gold is 70% Merino, 30% Stellina so this means that the final fibre content is actually 60% Bio Nylon, 24% South American Wool, 7% Merino, 6% Viscose and 3% Gold Stellina.  I can't believe that there is only 3% Stellina in the blend, it certainly looks like there is far more than that in the blend! 

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, pretty much the only thing that will show up on black are the metallic gel pens.  This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags.

Advent Calendar 2023 Day 10

The Tradition

Day 10 is called Red Candle and the tradition comes from Ireland and dates back to the 17th century. During the 17th and 18th centuries there were oppressive laws put in place by the British Government to try to restrict the practice of Catholicism in Ireland and churches were not allowed, forcing Catholic priests into hiding.  During the night, Priests would sneak back into towns to say mass in people's homes.  A lit candle in the window would signify that it was a safe place for the priest to go but it also drew the attention of British Soldiers who wanted to know what the reason for all the candles were so the innocent story that they were placing candles in the window to light the way for the safe passage of Mary & Joseph began. On Christmas Eve large red candles are lit and put in windows to mark the arrival of Christmas and also to welcome home friends and family.  Many also use the candles in the window to remember departed loved ones or to pray for the safe return of a loved one who was away from the home at that time.

The Fibre

The actual fibre content is 55% Merino (Crimson), 30% Bamboo (Harrietta), 10% Flax (Carmine), 5% Stellina (Gold).   We have blended Merino, Bamboo, Flax and Stellina for this blend, you've got to have a bit of glitter when you're talking about candles. The Merino is what holds all of this together, this is 23 micron Merino so is soft but not super soft and the flax adds a bit of texture. The bamboo in it will just give a very very light sheen and we've balanced the Stellina with a little bit of white as well so its not too heavy in the red department.  This is a really really versatile blend. In terms of spinning and weaving this will do that all day long if you draft out and pull it into sections you can make sure you get a bit of sparkle in every single bit of yarn.

My Thoughts

I love this one, it's red and sparkly and I love me some sparkles! The phone on my camera didn't do too bad this time.  This should make a soft yarn and it shouldn't be too difficult to spin as the flax and Stellina will give a bit of grip to the other fibres. My immediate thought is to put this with the other red that we've already had this year on Day 3, the KFC related tradition. We will see in the future.

The information that has been printed on the bags is not always correct and there are no fibre content percentages, these have been provided on the chat boards.  The percentages that they gave on the chat boards seem to be correct.  

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, pretty much the only thing that will show up on black are the metallic gel pens.  This is why I have not taken "new" photos of the bags.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 19

The Cycling: Stage 19 is 173km of a flat route that starts in Moans-en-Montagne and ends in Poligny, France.

The Daily Challenge: Little and large.  Using a versatile fibre, spin the thickest yarn you are able to and then the finest.  You'll be surprised at the difference.

Suggested Fibre: Wensleydale

What I did

I spun up the rest of the Worth Melting For fibre and I now have two skeins of the same, slightly barberpoled, pale blue sparkly yarn.  I also have a small skein that is made up of the left-overs from each spin

The finished yarns are 94% Merino / 6% Stellina, fingering weight and the first skein is 397m/97g, the second skein is 372m/102g and the little skein is 24m/5g .

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 18

The Cycling: Stage 18 is 186km of a hilly route that starts in Moutiers and ends in Bourg-en-Bresse, France.

The Daily Challenge: Pick something cool coloured and/or shimmery to work with.

Suggested Fibre: Worth Melting For

What I did

I continued with what I started spinning yesterday, which is Worth Melting For from WoW Fairytale Range and it is made up of 5 other fibres: 20% each of Merino in colours Spearmint, Sky, Lightning, Dream and then 20% of another fibre called Glitter, in the White/Silver colourway, which itself is 70% white Merino / 30% Silver Stellina.  Overall this fibre is 94% Merino / 6% Stellina.

Today I spun up another 50g and plied it with yesterdays spin.  I then made a start on the second skein.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 17

The Cycling: Stage 17 is 166km of a mountain route that starts in Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc and ends in Courchevel, France.

The Daily Challenge: Spin outside your comfort zone; you can do this physically, or with fibres you've not used before.

Suggested Fibre: Fawn UK Alpaca

What I did

Actually, I have spun pure Alpaca before but I don't want to do today's challenge.  I know what tomorrow's challenge is and its about a specific braid of fibre, Worth Melting For from WoW Fairytale range, which I have 200g of, so I will be making an early start on that instead.

The fibre braids were bought at different times.  The first one I bought in 2019 and the second one was part of the 2021 Advent Calendar.  There is a slight difference between the two so rather than have two skeins that will be like having two different dye lots of yarn I will split each braid into two and swap one of the lengths so both skeins will be made of 50% of each braid.

I pre-drafted the fibre, this is just 50g.

I only got 50g spun today so will need to play catch-up as much as I can tomorrow..

Advent Calendar 2022 Day 19

OMG this is beautiful. Silver bells, silver bells, it's Christmas time in the city, ring-a-ling, hear them ring, soon it will be Christmas day, city sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style, in the air there's a feeling of Christmas, children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile, and on every street corner you hear, silver bells, silver bells... If you haven't guessed by now, this one is called Silver Bells and is a blend of 50% Superwash Merino, 25% Stellina, 25% Tweed wool.

After Christmas, in the New Year, WoW made additional 100g braids of fibre of all of the Advent Calendar Fibres available to purchase to those who had purchased the Advent Calendar.  There were limited stocks of each one available, it was on a first-come-first served basis and there was a short time frame of priority before the remaining stock was made available to general purchase.  This was one of 7 fibres that I bought an extra 100g of.

Advent Calendar 2022 Day 9

Ha ha ha ha ha OMG I can't believe what they've called this one, hilarious!  Let me introduce you to Reindeer Poop, a blend of 80% Zwartbles and 20% Stellina.  Well, of course Reindeer Poop would be slightly sparkly from eating the sparkly magical hay that Dudley Moore, aka Pip, fed them in Santa Claus the Movie.

After Christmas, in the New Year, WoW made additional 100g braids of fibre of all of the Advent Calendar Fibres available to purchase to those who had purchased the Advent Calendar.  There were limited stocks of each one available, it was on a first-come-first served basis and there was a short time frame of priority before the remaining stock was made available to general purchase.  This was one of 7 fibres that I bought an extra 100g of.

Advent Calendar 2022 Day 2

OMG this is gorrrrrgeous!  This one is called Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh and it's 62.5% Merino, 25% Stellina and 12.5% Red Eri Silk (Peace Silk).  I would sit and stroke this one but better not, it might turn to felt if I did that too much.

After Christmas, in the New Year, WOW made additional 100g braids of fibre of all of the Advent Calendar Fibres available to purchase to those who had purchased the Advent Calendar.  There were limited stocks of each one available, it was on a first-come-first-served basis and there was a short time frame of priority before the remaining stock was made available to general purchase.  This was one of 7 fibres that I bought an extra 100g of.

Advent Calendar Day 11

Day 11 and it's another one that I recognise and I'm a happy girl today because I love this one, it's sparkly and it means that I have 200g of this one to play with now.  It's from their Fairy Tale range and called "Worth Melting For".  The fibre content on their info slip is wrong though, whoops, someone's been on the sherry already, never mind though because I know what this should be.  It should read 94% Merino, 6% Stellina as its made up of 5 equal parts of other fibres, 4 x 20% of Merino in colourways Spearmint, Sky, Lightning and Dream and then the last 20%  is Glitter White/Silver which itself is 70% Merino, 30% Stellina.  Todays little saying is "Walking in a winter wonderland".  How appropriate today.

Spinning up Gold

I'm getting on spinning my way through some of the mass of spinning fibre that I have building up around me.  This time I have chosen one from last year, the February 2019 monthly fibre called "Gold".  I really like this one as its pretty much a single colour, with varying shades, and sparkle.  I do like a bit of sparkle as it adds interest and makes for pretty lace shawls.

There's not a lot to say about how this spun up really as I didn't encounter any problems with it so I'll just get on and show it off.  I spun it to fingering weight and I got 364m out of it.  To re-cap the fibre content from the linked post about the fibre it is 58.% Merino, 25% BFL, 12.5% Mulberry Silk, 4% Stellina.

Spinning up the Texture Sparkle blend

Last year I bought some spinning fibre using money/vouchers that I had for my birthday.  I've just spun up one braid from that purchase.  It was a bit of a challenge for me as it is so textured, lots of bumps of sari silk, and I am a little OCD with wanting to create a nice smooth even yarn but I am trying to get out of my comfort zone from time to time and push my own boundaries of creativity a bit.

Its 28% Manx Loaghtan, 28% BFL, 28% Sari Silk, 10% Merino, 6% Stellina.  I've spun it at sport weight and I have 246m of lovely squishy to play with.  Its not super super soft but it is really nice.

I've bought more spinning fibre

What am I like, I've only gone and bought more spinning fibre to go with the vast amount I already have.  To be fair I've had gift vouchers for my favourite fibre seller and money for my birthday so I went and ordered some lovely stuff that she's just put in the shop.

The first braid is this 50% Romney Wool, 25% Silk, 25% Linen.  The description is that it gives and unusual texture but beautiful stitch definition. Romney is a long stapled British wool of 28-29  microns and by blending it with silk it softens the blend and increases shine and it can worn around the neck.  I love the colour, a pale blue-green colour.

The second braid is this 28% BFL, 28% Manx Loaghtan, 28% Sari Silk, 10% Merino, 6% Stellina.  The description is that this is a gorgeous fluffy textured blend that is not super soft but will have lovely bounce form the Manx Loaghtan, and ancient breed from the Isle of Man with a micron count of 29-31 with fantastic crimp. This won't spin smoothly so embrace the joy of sari silk and add some bling.  I was totally attracted to it by the colour, sparkle and texture.

February's Fibre is here - Gold

I've been anticipating this one ever since I got the letter come through which said it is very much similar to Illuminated Manuscript.  Really beautiful, sparkly and soft.  Its 58.5% Merino, 25% BFL, 12.5% Mulberry Silk, 4% Stellina. I do love a little bit of sparkle.

Spinning up Iron Age

Next to be spun is Iron Age, which is the fibre from the month fibre club for October.  When this arrived and I blogged about it, I commented that I had an amount of samples which matched exactly.  Well, they appeared to match exactly, almost exactly, but not quite as it turned out.

I split the main braid down the middle and spun it from the end, worsted style, adding in the samples on the end.  It wasn't until I plied it and wound it off that I noticed that the end where the samples were spun was much browner than the main part.  I wound off the darker section separately so that these could potentially be used on the same project but maybe the darker section kept for an edging or used with another yarn to create stripes.

The fibre content is 58.5% Merino Wool, 25% Bluefaced Leicester Wool, 12.5% Mulberry Silk, 4% Stellina.  The large skein is 85g/267m and the smaller skein is 38g/127m.

I've been shopping online at World of Wool

Oh gees, all these special offers and sales on at places that sell spinning fibre and such.  I've bought more fibre.  I need to find room to put all this stuff!

First we have a mixed back of 25g of each colour of Northern Lights.  They sell these as full size braids but I chose to have just the sample packs as I want to use them as ingredients on my hackle.  100% Merino wool in colours, from left to right from top to bottom: Bliss, Harmony, Tempest, Calm, Whisper, Passion, Heavenly, Typhoon, Tranquil, Blaze, Rainbow

100g of Worth Melting For, 94% Merino Wool, 6% Stellina

500g of Botany Lap Waste, a mixed bag of all sorts of stuff, nothing labelled, all mixed in together so unfortunately some of the fibres were stuck to each other and I've had to sit and clean them all off by picking off lots and lots of stray fibres etc.  Some are small amounts like 1g or 2g and then others are huge amounts like the purple merino/sari silk blend on the top row that is 71g.

October's Fibre has arrived - Iron Age

I was excited to receive this one, its gorgeous whilst being unusual.  Really soft with a slight sheep smell.  I do miss the sheep smell that you get with raw natural fleece straight from the animal and I've not bought any for a while, other than the Llanwenog.  After reading the letter with the hints I was right about it having some greeny-blue!

The fibre content is 58.5% Merino, 25% BFL, 12.5% Mulberry Silk and 4% Stellina and its called "Bronze".

I love this one and it looked familiar so I got out my bag of samples from the recently purchased goody bag and it matches perfectly with 4 small samples that weigh 24g so I now have 124g to spin, bonus!

Spinning up Mardi Gras

Oooh I just couldn't wait to spin this one up, its just sitting there looking at me, pleading with me to make it into beautiful yarn.  I've never spun anything up so quickly after receiving it but its just so pretty and so soft I have to do it. This is May's Fibre Club package.

It only took me a couple of days to make two singles and ply them together.  I was hoping that I had spun it finer than I discovered I had when I finished.  I'm a little out of practice as I've not done all that much spinning these past 18 months, well, not compared to in the past at least so my judgement of fineness when spinning is a little "off".

Never mind though, it's beautiful, it's soft and squishy, having to prise it away from my kids who just want to cuddle it and keep touching it.  This is 102g/350m of fingering weight yarn.

It's here!!!! May 2018's Fibre Club - Mardi Gras

Since receiving the letter and being notified of dispatch I have been watching out for the postman and happy to say that my fibre club parcel has now arrived.

I'm really excited as its absolutely gorgeous, mostly purple with just a hint of green but lots of sparkle and it is oooohhhhhhh soooooooo soft as it is 71% Superfine Merino, 13% Merino and 16% Stellina (sparkle) and it looks like there are two colours of Stellina, gold and green.  I was a little disappointed that it didn't come as a braid but I soon rectified that to show it off to its true potential.  I can't wait to get spinning.