Phat Fiber Box - I got mine!

As I posted recently, I was a contributor to the April Phat Fiber sample box. The theme was green, so I sent in about 50 samples of my bronze green colorway and they are popping up all over the blogoshere in other peoples' box reports. It has been super fun and interesting to see how other folks interpreted the Green theme, by both color and eco-friendly fiber.

I opened my box to find a lovely fabric bag, perfect for storing goodies, though I have not put it to work just yet. Delightfully hand made, It may well be pressed into service to carry the kind of small project that can fit in a brief case - socks, perhaps? Inside were a number of goodies - a stitch marker in a great sock size, a sweet sheepy tag, a PhatFiber Button and a number of business card with tempting offers!

The fiber was really fun to examine. From the braid of 'mint julep' tencel (www.naturalobsessions.etsy.com], the 'Green Eire' merino-silk-firestar hank of roving from Corgi Hill Farm (with candy treats!) to the Hydra colorway dollop of merino/bamboo roving (www.lotusjulie.etsy.com) these are fibers that I don't spin regularly, so I will need to spin these with some attention. Now the blue and green mini-batts from www.infinity.etsy.com and the sweet Peeps roving from www.natchwoolie.etsy.com are the kind of wool and mohair that I have plenty of practice on, though I will still spin them with a project in mind. Let't not forget Cinderella Salad from www.enchantedyarn.etsy.com - A sweet pink carded mini-batt on its way to becoming tweed.

Perhaps I was the most charmed by the Merino/seacell top from knit.etsy.com. The colorway English Garden is lovely and the little box it camed packed in is pretty sweet in it's own right. Another fiber I don't spin a lot of, this is just the thing!

The yarns were interesting as well. Giffordables sent a very generous hank of handspun wool/silk in shades of green - destined to become a stripe in a BoyFriend hat. From Katsara Yarns I found a mini-skein of organically grown cotton dyed in muted shades of greens and rose. Rachel, aka my8kidsmom contributed a space-dyed skein of wool in greens and reds. More fabulous dyeing from TheUniqueSheep.com in a blue/green sport weight yarn. TwiceShearedSheep contributed a mini skein of laceweight merino in a paleblue that coordinated nicely with the sport weight. Hmmmm....How many strands of the laceweight will I need to make them work together? CoolClimates sent a bit of yarn in her Lilac Festival colorway - just the thing as my lilacs are in full bloom.

The box smelled great, thanks to a sample bar of Peppermint soap from SmokyMtnsApothecary. Finally, a mini-KIP bag from ruddawg - one of her sock KIP bags will soon be mine.

Just one more thing - a mix of fibers that FarmGirlChic calls 'Ticking' -wool and mohair locks in cream, grey and pale blue mixed with bits of cotton fabric and thread. I'll be interested in seeing what other 'phatties' do with it.

Last comment - This was fun! The small amounts of fibers that I don't regularly spin will be good for my intentional spinning resolution for 2009. As I spin these sample fibers and knit the yarns, I'll share my progrss right here.