Spin-along

Hey everybody,

I am thinking of doing a spin-along. I've never done one before, but they look like lots of fun. Basically the way it works is everyone gets a batt set that's designed just for the spin-along, and everyone receives their batts at the same time. With your batts, you'll also receive a link to our Ravelry thread, so we can all chat and post pictures of our progress as we spin. The goal is to finish up your spinning by a certain date (usually a month from when you receive your fiber), and there is generally something cool for folks who finish.

Sometimes it's a coupon to use in the shop, sometimes it's an entry into a drawing for a free batt set, and some spin-alongs even have prizes for various categories like "most creative" or "most evenly spun," etc.

There are a lot of variations on spin-alongs, and I've seen some really cool and creative ones out there. With some, everyone gets fiber that's exactly the same, and it's fun to see how different it looks when it's spun up by different people using different styles & spinning techniques. One person might do a thick & thin single, one person might do 3-ply laceweight, and one person might do a crazy art yarn filled with beehives. At the end, we all stand back and are amazed at the variety that came from one simple colorway.

Other spin-alongs send a different batt set to each participant, with all the colorways fitting a theme. They might all be inspired by different world cities, famous paintings, or characters from a book or TV series.

I have a lot of ideas for series that I've been wanting to do. So I really like the idea of having a spin-along where I get to do lots of different batt sets along a theme & whisk them off to happy homes across the world.

Because this is my first spin-along, I'd like to keep it pretty simple. So how about this: Everyone's batts will be inspired by a different semiprecious stone. This way there are lots of different color options, and you can let me know if you prefer pastels, bright colors, dark colors, or neutrals (white, browns, grays, black). You can let me know if you like your batts all one color, or made up of several colors. Or you can tell me you like surprises. (Which means you can't think of ANY color combo I could possibly send you that would make you anything short of gleeful.)

I think 50/50 merino-tencel blends lend themselves especially well to semi-precious stones. So that's what most colorways will be made up of. A few colorways might also have extra fiber in them, like tussah silk, bamboo, firestar, angelina, or bamboo noil, if I think those things go well with the texture or color patterns of that particular stone.

The default option will be 4 oz. of smoothly-textured batts plus a small specimen of the stone they're based on, for $24. If you want more or less fiber, or prefer chunky art-style batts, that can be easily arranged. Shipping will be 1st Class, so it'll be $3 for US orders, $4 to Canada, and $6 to everywhere else in the world.

Tenative timeline: I'll keep sign-ups open for a week or two, then order fiber based on how many people we have signed up. Once it gets here, the dyeing and carding will commence, & batts will ship out about a month from now.

So... what do you think? Love the theme? Hate the theme? Too long of a wait? Had your heart set on different fibers? Tell me in the comments!