are you sayin' I'm phat? oh, thanks!

This is my second month participating in the Phat Fiber Sampler Box, and this month I got a box of my own.



Holy cow, treats delivered right to your mailbox--who could ask for more?

First of all, there was a lot of chocolate tucked away throughout. This I consumed immediately for the protection of the wool. I'm noble like that.

There was even homemade fudge from J. D. Melaine! Unfortunately, by the time it got to me, it had absorbed a lot of the scent from my sample of Happy Hands Goat's Milk and Shea Butter hand creme, which might have been cool if I had gotten the citrus sample, but I got tea and roses. It was kind of like opening the Washington Post on Sunday morning and trying to eat your Golden Grahams despite the perfume samples. I'm hoping the fudge will be restored to its glory by a few days' airing out; when I had a nibble, I could tell it was excellent fudge, even through the tea and roses.

The hand creme also rocks. I just tried some, and even though my hands were a complete dried out nightmare, the hand creme did not sting, and now my skin looks nearly normal. It officially beats my former favorite hand creme, and I've tried my share. Get your own at Local Gringos.

The box included way too much awesome stuff to go into detail about everything, but here are my top picks. It was going to be just the top five, but a few extras snuck in. There is a ton of seriously great stuff!

My absolute favorite of the box is this incredible confection of spinning fiber.



It's superwash wool and angelina from Extreme Spinning. This is an incredibly generous sample, it is super soft and absolutely gorgeous, and it's colors I wouldn't have put together myself, which makes it an even bigger treat. This just knocked my socks off.

A very close second is this sweet little sample of handspun yarn from Wooly Hands.



It contains merino, mohair, Angelina, and silk noil, a fiber blend from Hobbledehoy. I love the colors and the textures in this yarn. It's a fun, lofty treat that makes me want more.

Next is a very nice, soft and sophisticated sample from The Twice Sheared Sheep. The yarn is gorgeous lace weight merino in a rich, fabulous wine color, and if that wasn't enough, it came with a pretty pearl stitch marker! I've seen her stuff around the internet, and it's every bit as good as it looks.




Then we have a trio of sweet little samples from Jags Funky Fibers.




I love yarn that is different and interesting, and that seems to be Jag's specialty. I'll definitely be lurking in her shop.

Next up is some really intriguing fiber. It's hand-painted BFL locks from Polyartgirl Designs.


Is that not totally luscious? Can I go back and change which sample I said is my favorite? I've never attempted spinning locks like this, except on the day of my first lesson when Merike encouraged us all to play with the locks. I added parts of one blue lock to my crazy first yarn, but it kind of fell out some time before the plying was done. Now that I've had some practice, I'm psyched to revisit this.

Then we have the cutest little puffy treat from We Love Thor.


This is corriedale wool in "chocolate strawberry cookies." It looks like a great spin--can't wait to try it. And seriously, chocolate? check. Strawberries? check. Cookies? check. Any one would be great, but put them all together and you've got something that also satisfies my delight in excess. Bring it on!

Next up is a truly glorious treat.



This is a whole ounce of 50/50 merino/tencel from Natural Obsessions in Black Nightie. Wasn't I just saying I want to play with shiny things? Oh yes, we have shiny. Love love love it! I can't wait to see how this spins up.

And last but not least, we have some really sweet handspun camel down yarn from Hedgehog Fibers.



This yarn is super soft, and the color is gorgeous. Very nice.

I could go on and on--it's like Christmas!--but dudes, I am so behind schedule. I need to get my house cleaned up and ready for real estate action, and I thought I had tonight too, but I just remembered there's a thing at my church tonight! That will probably occupy the whole evening. Thus it's now or never. Will I ever get it together to the point where I'm not rushing from one last-minute freakout to the next? On top of that, I need to send in my goodies for next month's Phat Fiber Sampler. Now that I've experienced it for myself, I'm even more proud to be phat.