I recently joined a fiber ‘destash’ group on facebook.  I was a bit hesitant to buy anything from Facebook but when I saw 2 oz of mixed fibers for $5 I thought I would give it a shot.  When the bags arrived I was amazed, everything from flashing, locks, silk, wool, etc.  The colors are beautiful and I love everything I received.  In the 6 bags I ordered there was 1 beautiful mini batt and a couple of rolags that I just had to spin up right away.

The pretty blacks, blues, and purples with the bits of flashing that are stuck to them wound up just beautiful.  There are a pair of beautiful little bits of colorful batts that I am going to spin on this same bobbin (since I only have 3 that spin well on the wheel).  The rolags, toward the top of the picture, had a bit of what I think of as ‘sticky wool’ and wound up a little bit chunky but it should be very pretty when finished.  I plan on plying these with some merino to let the blacks and other shades just pop out at you!

In addition to the rolags and bits of colored wool I received a lot of dyed locks.  When I separated out the materials from the bags 3 of them were filled with locks.  Little, tangled up locks that looked impossibly matted down.  I was dreading working with these little pieces.  All I could think about were the long silky locks that characterize ‘lock-spun’ yarn that is a big artisan movement in spinning.  (These were not those kind of locks).  I remembered something about ‘flicking locks’, looked on YouTube, and found a way to not only save these locks but make them a joy to work with!

Half a handful of locks, when flicked, created the beautiful cloud of fiber that can be found above.  I took a close up picture as they were sitting in an old serving bowl, so there is more fiber than it appears to be.  I am looking forward to flicking open all of the locks I received and discovering what beautiful colors they hold.  I have some personal debate about whether it would be better to card them with some merino to create a soft, light, lofty yarn with watered down color, or to spin the flicked locks up as a single and then ply it with some merino.  The merino ply should add some softness and bounce to the single colored fiber.  At this time I think I am going to flick open all of the locks and see how rich the colors seem.  If they are as pale as this green I will probably spin them up as a single and ply them with the merino since blending mutes the colors.  How very exciting to be spoiled with such beautiful choices!

Happy Crafting!