The SAL has officially begun and with spoiler images starting to appear on Ravelry I figured it was safe to share an image of the colourway created for this round of the ITW Spin Along…

Forgive me dear blog, I have not forgotten you or those who read you; but you know how it goes, works gets busy, the weather turns warm, the snow melts and then suddenly after months of not having anything to do your overwhelmed with the shear quantity if things you must accomplish…

Mar-Apr 2010 ITW Spin Along - 'Just Figs'

And here we are, just days away from the May-Jun of the Spin Along shipping and I never even showed you a hint of what the Mar-Apr round looked like! How can you ever forgive me?

'Just Figs' handspun yarn in two ply

I will not make a promise I cannot keep, but: I will try really, really hard to stay on top of things around here…

The May-Jun spin along fiber will be listed in the SHOP on Monday May 10th at 5pm EST! And as a reminder, here is the time line of events:

Fiber Sale dates: 5/10 – 5/14
International orders ship: 5/17
US orders ship: 5/20

SAL winner randomly chosen from shared images on: 6/28

And for those of you who may have missed all the details of the SAL  – everything can be found on the ITW Ravelry group

Just a quick reminder: In celebration of ITW’s birthday there will be a shop update today, Saturday May 1st at 8:00pm EST. And, as an expression of my sincere appreciation; ALL shipping fees have been disabled until 11:59pm tonight!

The Mar-Apr SAL fiber will be listed in the SHOP this evening at 7:00PM EST. As a reminder, here is the time-line of events:

Fiber Sale dates: 3/15 – 3/19
International orders ship: 3/22/2010
US orders ship: 3/25/2010
SAL winner randomly chosen from shared images on: 5/10

Colourway Note: The image for this month was chosen from this Ravelry entry with a specific request to focus on the colours within the figs only and exclude the background and plate. So, of course, I honored the winners request! See you tonight!!

Okay, I think that there have been enough spoilers released that it is finally safe to share some colour photos!

First up is the colourway revealed:

And since I was able to step out of the dye studio for a few hours one afternoon I was able to spin some up in a thick thin low twist single. And yes, it is as soft as it looks…

Now the tricky part – find the time to spin up the other four ounces of  ‘a warm return’ and then another four ounces in brown then ply the two!! I will keep you posted!

The ITW Jan-Feb spin along fiber has been listed in the SHOP

And as a reminder – Here is the time line of events:

Fiber Sale dates: 1/18 – 1/22
International orders ship: 1/25
US orders ship: 1/28
SAL winner randomly chosen from shared images on: 3/22

And for those of you who may have missed all the details of the SAL  – everything can be found on the ITW Ravelry group

For those who have not yet ventured over to the ITW Ravelry forum to partake in the call for inspiration images – you might want to wander over there and see what is going on.

With only one day left to vote for your favorite inspiration image I figured this to be the best time to share what this whole ITW-SAL idea has blossomed into…

So, tomorrow night, just after 10:00pm I will announce the winners. Yes, there is an ‘S’ on the end of that word. There will be a total of three winners chosen. The first place image will be the source of inspiration for the first spin along, the second place image will be the source of the next spin along, and yes, you guessed it, the third image will be the source of the third spin along! Let’s look at our new 2010 SAL schedule.

Jan-Feb Spin along Dates:
Sale dates: 1/18 – 1/22
International orders ship: 1/25
US orders ship: 1/28

Jan-Feb SAL winner randomly chosen on 3/22

Mar-Apr Spin along Dates:
Sale dates:  3/15 – 3/19
International orders ship:  3/22
US orders ship:  3/25

Mar-Apr SAL winner randomly chosen on 5/17

May-Jun Spin along Dates:
Sale dates:  5/10 – 5/14
International orders ship:  5/17
US orders ship:  5/20

May-Jun SAL winner randomly chosen on 7/12

So then, what happens after all of that? We start a new round! A new contest is opened in June for the second half of the year!! But, let’s not talk about those dates yet…

Happy New Year!!

So let’s talk about a fiber club.

I have been wracking my brain, asking people for their opinions, researching what is out there and I am still undecided on what is the “best” practice to run a club. When I commit to the club I want to be absolutely certain I am prepared for the responsibility that accompanies it.

So I had an idea, an idea that will help me to truly comprehend what is involved in releasing a large quantity of a single colourway on a single day to a large group of recipients…

Let’s have a spin along!!

The idea is simple, over the next two weeks I ask that each of you post an inspiration image on the ITW Ravelry Forum. And during that time, I ask that each of you vote (with a click of a (LOVE) button) for your favorite image – feel free to invite friends over to the board to cast their votes as well. At the end of two weeks I will review the votes and use the image with the most votes as an inspiration image for a colourway to be made available for sale the week of January 18^th-22^nd. The fiber will then ship the week of January 25^th-28^th.  Exact dates will be posted in the forum as things progress.

Like most fiber clubs and spin alongs, the final colourway will remain a surprise.  The fiber type will be decided and announced prior to the sale date.

Oh, and I failed to mention – the individual who posted the winning image will receive a 4oz braid of the spin along fiber as their prize free of charge!!

Let’s see, what other details are important. Oh, yes, the actual spin-along! Once the fiber has been shipped and received you will each have two months to spin up your fiber and share your results in the ITW Ravelry Forum. On March 22^nd I will randomly choose a winner to receive a yet to be decided prize!

Questions? Feel free to ask HERE, I am almost certain I missed some details…