The Stash Conundrum Solution and other Magic

Bear and his bunny

This week was a magical week…I was blessed with two amazing parcels : one with the cutest ceramic bunny and bunny fabric imaginable (a skirt in the making!) : Thank you so much Queen Juleen ! You are amazing !

 Stash bunny pack from Queen Juleen

The other came totally out of the blue and so awesome.
First I will explain to you this: I have been ooh'íng and aah’ing over the beautiful Bristlecone spindles on Ravelry for a long time now…they are amazingly beautifully hand turned and have a glass blown focal …it is not just a spindle to spin wool, they look magical..
I had given up hope I would ever hold one, let alone have one sent to me…this week the amazing Tara (Fiestywench on Ravelry) sent me Sir Lancelot as I call him…Still can't believe it!
It is a Russian type support spindle that is out of this world. Even when you are not a spinner you would say this one came straight from the magical Wand Shoppe from Harry Potter Land….it is gorgeous!! And believe it or not, it sends little tingles down my spine every time I hold it…and it spins like a dream !
Thank you so much ! I still do not know what I did to deserve all of this magic this week and I guess I never will..lol…but I would like to thank my dear friends and the universe ! Thank you !!!!

Bristlecone Support spindle Sir Lancelot on his bed of lovingly carded red fibre and an owl card from Tara…how magical is that ?!

a close up of the smoky swirls of the Bristlecone focal

I think I am on a slippery slope ….I now have a wonderful Malcolm Fielding Tibetan Support spindle in osage orange from Emma (Spun-Out who has the most amazing spindles in her shop!!!!) , a gold infused burl Russian support spindle I snaffled at the Bendigo Show also from Spun-Out ! and now this magical Bristlecone Sir Lancelot support spindle from Tara..swoon!…. I may have acquired an addiction: Support spindles…. So, there you go: you are not alone: you may have a fabric fetish, a fibre or yarn fetish, a spindle or even a spinning wheel fetish….don’t you worry!: This week I give you THE solution to your Stash Conundrum. Basically I would say, both the Tardis option (its much bigger on the inside) and The Stash Paradox need to be investigated on the same philosophical level. Well, at least I can have a stab at it in order to ease your minds and relieve you from the enormous pressure that your fibre/yarn/spindle stash is conjuring up in your mind: believe me it is not as bad as you think to have stash, better still: the bigger the stash , the better , but I digress. Let me explain.

Stash is good
Many have asked me to start a Fibre holics Anonymous Association or FAA for short. The pressure of family , friends and colleagues, who are blind to the fact that fibre stash is almost THE most important element in this world, becomes too much for some and they seem to succumb to a state of Delusional Destashing. We all know it is delusional, because of the same reason we cannot live without energy from the sun, we will perish if and when our stash will diminish too much.

Destashing is simply a temporary illusion of so called fibre stash insecurity. Truth of the matter is, the spot once held by the fibre now destashed, will almost immediately be filled with different stash. Look upon it as a sate of equilibrium in your fibre universe. And we all know it is not a wise thing to mess with that.

This is also where the Schrödingers cat Experiment comes in: once our amazing stash is in a container and for the untrained eye “organised”, it will not look as intimidating to the untrained non fibre fans’eye. The stash might not even exist ? The beauty of stash lies in the eye of the beholder. The Schrödingers Stash experiment can be interpreted to mean that while the box is closed, the system simultaneously exists in a superposition of the states "non existant stash or as Schrödinger put it “dead cat" and "Beautiful existing Stash or living cat": only when the box is opened and an in depth observation performed does the complexity of our stash collapse into one of the two states. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a live cat ..lol It is not the stash that has to change, it’s the observer .

So, in short: instead of actively feeling guilty about ones stash, we have to be wise and wear our fibre stash with pride, in plain view of all those non believers who get intimidated by the amount of fibre and yarns that, we, responsible fibre fans, stash in every nook, cranny, corner, under the bed, behind books, in the attic or basement and in those inaccessible places where our relatives will never look for it. And you will forget where you have left that extra special ball of yarn you so desperately need to finish that project you were working on! Believe me!

Fibre stash gets squished, confined in vacuum sealed bags where the oxygen is totally sucked out of so that any fibre or yarn resembles a pancake. I even heard of people hiding bags of yarn in pot plants! Even in shoes, boots, suitcases, empty handbags, yes even vases! We are treating our passion for fibre as if it was Frankensteins Monster that we have to keep hidden away. And so, I have come to the following conclusion:

Flaunt your stash & be proud!
Instead of secretly hiding away your fibre treasure, show it! Invest in storage boxes, glass cabinets, rooms, studios and display the magnitude of colours and textures with Pride! Not only will the guilt of having a fibre stash disappear , even one with proportions that will make Mt Everest look tiny!, but you will actually ENJOY it more and yes, I will say this because it is true: organising your stash be it in colour, or texture, or whatever your logic may be at the time, will make you USE IT and create a magical universe.

Believe me: even your staunchest critics will turn to you in awe and say “wow! This looks amazing! Here, get some more!” Now wouldn’t that make you feel much better than hiding it under the bed or at the back of the closet ? You will feel better and your stash will feel much better as well. It’s a win-win.

hiding yarn creatively ??? I don't think so...

Fibre Stash Installations
Even when you are not ready to commit to organised fibre just yet, you can, as I do, make your stash proud and create so called Fibre Art Installations: why not use the hand dyed tops or yarn as gorgeous curtains? Attach some cedar wood ornaments (so the moths wont get at them) and presto! Your stash has come out of the closet to play and looks fantastic !

Other things you can do is: display the yarn in bowls on the coffee table, hey , why not occasionally drape them over chairs or hang them from chandeliers? Anything goes in my book, just as long as the Stash can be visually enjoyed by all.

If worst comes to worse and your partner is a very practical person, just explain using physics, that the fibre is THE best and THE greenest insulation material on this planet and acquiring even more stash will actually SAVE money! Now that will get attention!

If, by chance, your stash has outgrown a room in your house, just say that you really think it is time for that investment property or a new shed (believe me , Men will LOVE that idea! And shhhh do not tell them you will need ¾ of the new shed) Presto! The space problem is solved. Ofcourse you can always open the first Stash Museum as well.

Dates to Remember:

The black and coloured Sheep breeders Associations of Victoria 2013
Sunday 29th-September 2013 from 9.30am to 3 pm

I will be there with heaps of new fluffy stuff !!

Cranbourne Public Hall (near KFC….),

Join me in all the fun ! There will be a huge amount of new blends and fibres to choose from. More info coming soon !!!

And now: drumroll!!!!

Here is the super special fibre update of this week ! Enjoy!

Hand dyed IxCHeL Angel Bunny Tops
100+grams     AU$24
a super pearlescent blend of Angora Rabbit , cashmere, Blue faced Leicester wool and Tencel
it has the handle of light fluffy silky smoothness that will make your mouth water and a pearlescent glamour that will that will make your yarn look absolutely DIVINE! Core spin it, spin it lace weight or use it to make your Art Yarns super Special ! Anything Goes!

UNIQUE to IxCHeL !
you will be hooked once you have tried spinning this silky blend!
a generous 100gram braid AU$24

Barbie finds Ken

Blue Whale-sold-

Brer Rabbit

Busy Bee

Dusk

Hobbiton

Jewels in the grass

Moss

Ocean

Rainbow Angel

Salmon River

Velveteen

Sunny Happy Day

Zombies and Mermaids

IxCHeL embroidered Aprons

A one size fits all 100% cotton apron, embroidered here at the farm! In some funny bunny designs. You can choose white, red or green embroidery on a red or black apron. The apron has two big pockets at the front aas well. A great gift for any lover of bunnies, alice in wonderland, spinning or knitting !
Rabbit on ! aprons AU$29.95
Alice in Wonderland themed aprons with an intricate embroidery design $39.95

Rabbit on! Apron

We are all mad here

if you don’t know where you are going…

follow the white rabbit…

Happy bunny patchwork kits

three gorgeous fabrics, a bunny button and pattern
only AU$9

Happy bunny kit

How To Order:

You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny. I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods. Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !

 

RABBIT ON !

((hugs))

Charly