Mmmmmmail!

I have been getting some fantastic mail recently!

First up, some *fantastic* fiber I bought with a gift certificate to Tactile Fiber Arts that I won from the fantastic Y Knit podcast:

This is three lovely fiber blends (merino-silk, merino-yak, and merino-tencel) in the Thunderstorm colourway, naturally dyed with *indigo*, among other things! (Well, I assume the grey was made with something else.) The merino-silk blend is actually a "sorry, we couldn't find the merino-bamboo you ordered, so here's something to keep you busy while we dye a new batch up" gift! (Had I known that before she mailed it, I would have told her I don't mind waiting. I *love* getting free fiber, but I feel for the indie dyers who are probably not making a huge amount even when the economy isn't in the toilet.) However, now I can *rave* about the wonderfully nice lady behind the business! ;)

Next up, my order from Spunky Eclectic:

I was ordering from Spunky in order to get some natural grey roving for a pair of thrummed mittens for a friend... and I might as well get my money's worth if I'm paying for shipping. ;) Mmmm... look at all that pretty roving! I've been lusting after a Grafton Fibers batt ever since I saw them at Rhinebeck. The grey roving is Shetland, and the brown is BFL (I haven't seen brown BFL before!). The pink/peach is by Abby Franquemont, and with Abby's experience, I had to try something she blended. :) I was a bit confused about the braid of roving... the photo on the website had been wrong, so it was a completely different colour than I expected. However, I ordered it because it was superwash BFL in the colour "Winnipeg", and I love the colour that it is, so I'm sticking with it. ;) And the spindle... what a pretty spindle! (My first top-whorl spindle.) Here's a close-up:

The spalted maple is *gorgeous*! It came with a bit of partially spun fiber that someone had tested it with, so I finished spinning that up to try it out. It spins great! It's a St Helens model by Cascade.