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Trust me on this one, none of you ever want to have to drink barium. Ever. It may not be the worst thing that has touched my tongue, but the amount that I had to drink today definitely makes barium number one on my “Grossest Things I Have Eaten or Drank” list. Ew, ew, ew.

Now knitters I must forewarn you - this post, like many of my recent ones, is solely about spinning. It’s not that I haven’t knit. I have, truly! It’s more than my knitting doesn’t need pictures taken because it is the same stuff you saw last time. Do we really need endless pictures of the Mad Colour Weave Socks? Or shots of the miles of stockinette I am knitting with the Buttony Sweater?

I do have lots of pictures, though. And despite what it looks like I have not bought anything. All of the fibre I am about to show you either came from the fibre clubs that I am part of, or it was free.

The fibre clubs were pretty awesome this month. Adrian’s “Toxic” is a superwash corriedale that I think needs to be socks. I am so excited to have made it into her club for this quarter. Her colour saturation is out of the world.

And Amy’s selection, “Pies for Everyone” is a fun holiday mix.

While I love getting bits of fibre to try out, I am not sure how much more I need to 2-4 oz. samples. I may, soon-ish, opt out of the Spunky Club. Not because I don’t like it, but more because I don’t need it. I have so many small amounts of things and enough fibre from Rhinebeck to choke a herd of sheep. It may be time to actually be responsible with my hobby purchases.

I know you are still wondering about the free fibre I mentioned. Years ago I used to teach at a yarn store. All sorts of weird stuff happens that you would never suspect in yarn stores, the strangest of which might have been finding out that some yarn suppliers like to take ends of roving and stuff the boxes with them. It’s a way to fill them up, I suppose. Who was I to complain about crap loads of free fibre? I have had all sorts of weird stuff over the years, and this one bag had been sitting in storage for far too long. Most of it is some weird blend of brown, black, and a really lustrous white. The brown and black feel like some bland wool to me, the white feels like a type of mohair. See?

Odd stuff. I had about three pounds of it and split it with Blogless Heidi, who also spins. There was some plain back thrown in (that got slight white hairs all over it, I am sure) and that was also given away for karma and to rid me of my black clothing obsession. I did keep the plain brown that was shoved into the bag, and you can see how the white hairs have gotten all over it.

Now, I am not one to turn down free anything, but this stuff is not the best. I would not pay for it. But I will spin it, and use it.

Before I head out to compulsively spin more yarn I should let you know that I am done spinning the Romney but still have to measure my last hank. I believe I should have enough for the sweater and I am now spinning up the gotland. Weird stuff, the gotland. More on that (and hopefully some finished socks!) next time.