Wishing you a wonderful Christmas season! The recent snow and cold here on Vancouver Island reminds us of our years living in climates where a real Canadian winter brought days of crystal gleaming snow before slush and banks of melting ice relieved us of our winter reveries. In the meantime, it feels more like Christmas with snow around us. We hope you have a memorable time over the busy weeks ahead!
Our second annual studio sale on November 19th and 20th was a great success. Thank you to all who ventured to our home studio for this event. This year’s door prize was won by JoAnne L. Have fun with that eclectic collection of fibres, JoAnne!
It’s time to stock up again and we are waiting for a few new items that are already sparking some interest with Chaotic customers. Have you tried using Silk Hankies? The patience required for creating these 25cm square bits of silk splendor is amazing. Silk cocoons are carefully soaked and spread on a frame then dried to become a sheet of gossamer thin silk that is ready for spinning, felting or knitting. Acid dyes take nicely if you dye them yourself, but we are about to receive seven colours, including black, for those of you who prefer to have hankies already dyed.
Also coming to our Online Store soon is luxurious Cashmere Top in both Natural Grey and Natural White. Our superfine Cashmere (13 micron) is perfect for spinning and felting. Blend it with some silk and fine merino and watch this low lustre beauty add exceptional character to your work!
Speaking of soft, another new fibre coming is viscose. We’ll be offering both Viscose Fibre, in both white and black for spinners and felters, and Viscose Crepe Voile, a 140cm wide fabric for felters. Produced from wood fibre, viscose was seen as a replacement for silk when it was first developed 100 years ago. It’s a strong but soft and light fibre.
Our next fibre event is set for Saturday, February 18th here in Victoria. This one day event, Spin In, is sponsored by the Victoria Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild (VHWSG) and will take place at the Saanich Fairgrounds. This will be our third time attending and, as in previous years, the vendors’ area is open to the public and separate from the spinning rooms. Come and see us!
We are also scheduled for Fibres West in Cloverdale on Friday, March 17th and Saturday the 18th, once again, this time with a double booth. If you’ve never attended this event, have a look at the list of classes, instructors and lectures and consider making this a highlight of your year!
Don’t forget to get your tickets for the door prizes! Sharon has just carded these beauties – seven raging batts each with a blend of at least five luxury fibres, including merino, silk, ramie, alpaca and more!
With lots of new products included in recent shipments, it’s hard to pick out the favourites or most interesting. We hope felters will go wild over our 
A new wool to us is the 