The Postman Cometh.....again (how many times is that?)

The Postman always rings the bell, just as I'm putting the young fella down for a nap. I ran downstairs but by the time I got down there, he'd gone. But he's a strange thoughtful postman, and instead of leaving the usual, we called, you weren't in, come down and collect...note, he always leaves the parcels somewhere. It used to be in the porch, once in the car, and now has taken to putting them in an open window. I heard the swish of it falling through the window, so I knew what it was...

This package is from DT Craft and Design in the UK. I had posted a notice on Ravelry that I was looking for fibre, thought it would save me time trawling through the net, and Debbie kindly answered me..

From her, I got some lovely baby camel/silk sliver, some silk noil, superfine kid mohair tops, and not on the list of fibres but interesting like the seaweed one, I got some soy tops and milk tops....

Debbie stocks a dangerous range of goodies. Especially for folk who like dabbling in spinning and dyeing. A great range of dyes, equipment, undyed yarn and fibre....

www.dtcrafts.co.uk

The Postman Cometh again...with more fibre goodies!

The Postman Cometh again.... and he thought it was my birthday. I wish I'd get this many parcels on my birthday! I thought all my fibre orders would come slowly, but no, four on the same day! I had to put them away until later, as I could imagine the child being worse than the cat in terms of messing up my lovely fibres....Oh was I excited....

The first package was from Monike from www.softfibre.etsy.com. Based in Scotland, she has a lovely range of unusual fibres. From her I received some cashmere noil, angora, camel and alpaca tops. She also sent me little samples of cashmere tops and chinchilla. (A chinchilla is a type of rodent. One species of it became extinct through hunting, the fur was so valuable. Wiki for more info. Here's a totally useless wiki fact related to chinchilla's: Colonel K in Dangermouse, was a chinchilla not a walrus!)



The 2nd package came from World of Wool in the UK. I got a few metres of felt, which was going cheap, banana tops, and Seacell tops. Abaca is on the list of fibres to get, but I couldn't find a sample anywhere. It is also called Manilla Hemp, but I don't think manilla envelopes are made from it any more...It is also used in cigarette papers, money, and tea-bags! So, I thought if I can't get some I can always bring a tea-bag as a sample piece. I have plenty of those! It is a relative of the banana plant, and I thought well, I'd love to get some banana, and it would do as a sample of something similar to Abaca...The excuses we use to buy ourselves nice things.... The Seacell tops was not on the list, but it seemed like an interesting fibre, so I thought I better check it out. It's "A luxurious silky fibre made from Seaweed".


Also in the pile of parcels were some leaflets, posters, and stickers from Fairtrade Ireland. They sent some interesting factsheets on fairtrade cotton, one of the big campaigns they are running. An estimated 100 million households are involved in cotton production in 70 countries around the world. Those numbers are incredible, when you think this campaign will affect literally millions of people. Just by giving them a fair wage. (You can read more about it here on www.fairtrade.net/cotton) It's all demand and supply....and being seen to be green. Jeez, even Penny's and Tesco's stock fairtrade clothes now, but it is still hard to find fibres/yarn and fabric which is fairtrade. The only one I know of at the moment with a range of fairtrade cotton yarn is Debbie Bliss.

So, a lot of the fibres are now in, I think I have only one parcel left to get. But the preparation continues...I am currently working on my surprise display items....

The Postman Cometh....with yarn and fibre from The Yarn Room

I've pretty much blown my budget for EP09, on the fibres and wools I will have on display. I spent rather too much time online last week in search of the 15 fibres that are being promoted: Alpaca, Camel, Coir, Flax, Jute, Ramie, Sisal, Abaca, Angora, Cashmere, Cotton, Hemp, Mohair, Silk, Wool. I have finally sourced nearly all of them. Some I have to cheat on, such as getting a ball of jute twine instead of the raw material, because I just couldn't find any suppliers in its raw state. Over the next few weeks as The Postman Cometh! I will give you details of the fibres, and where I got them.

The first package to arrive is from The Yarn Room. I have to admit I am very biased towards this yarn shop. I recently admitted to a friend that I had a fear of yarn shops. A bit strange for one with such an addiction. I feel intimidated because I have 4 major factors going against me. I'm always on a budget, never know what I want, I crochet and I don't make clothes.

Stephanie, who runs The Yarn Room, is the type of yarnie all other yarnies like to meet, and the only yarn shop owner I've met that didn't scare me. I met her first at The Irish Green Gathering, in a rain soaked field, and I knew I'd like this woman. One of the things Stephanie does, which in my books, earns her a medal, is stock a quantity of Irish brands of yarn. So many needle, hook and spindle yielding tourists are amazed at the lack of Irish yarn and fibre that is actually produced in Ireland. Some of the fibre used in making the yarn may not be 100% Irish, it could be mixed with merino, or may not be Irish at all, eg the Craftspun Camel yarn, but it is 100% processed in Ireland. Which is, I think, the nature of things these days. At least the mills are still up and running. Since I will be promoting the The Woolly Way of Ireland blog at the EP festival, and it's purpose is to promote Irish textiles, I thought it would be great to have a selection of Irish Yarns on show a the stand. Another aspect is the whole carbon footprint ethos, Buy Local! So, straight onto The Yarn Room website, I ordered one of each of the brands she stocks. I would love to have ordered more, but a budget is so-called because its, well a budget!

So, The Postman Cometh! today with my first yarn and fibre package. One ball or skein from each of the following: Alpaca of Ireland, Cushendale, Kilcarra, and Craftspun. (I got a skein of Kerry Woollen Mills yarn from the mills itself). And Stephanie, the gem that she is, not only promptly delivered my measly order, she threw in a bag of goodies that I could also use on my stand!

Lovely soft brown Irish Alpaca fleece,a sample of mulberry silk, samples of a wool/silk mix, and a ball of De Witte Engel felting wool.

Thank you Stephanie!
www.the yarnroom.com