I Would Like to Try a Fibre Advent Calendar Someday

“Not this, but maybe next year,” I said to my partner when I showed him the World of Wool (WoW) fibre advent calendar online. I thought I wasn’t ready yet and that I’d need a drum carder and wool combs to fully enjoy the calendar (you know, when your brain kind of thinks that you have to have everything to start).

This was shortly after I’d blended some merino and bamboo fibres on my brand-new blending board and spun my very first fibre blend. It was also just a month after my first dyeing experience, and of course, I was longing for some colour in my spinning!

The excitement and the fear

It wasn’t even a week later that I ordered the fibre advent calendar from WoW to bring some colour into my spinning as soon as possible. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive. It arrived a day early – and on the very same day, my partner surprised me with another advent calendar: twenty-five scented candles! Imagine lighting one each day, the gentle aroma and cozy glow filling the room while spinning under fairy lights. I couldn’t wait for December to come!

As excited as I was, I was also scared of feeling pressured to spin and finish the yarn every single day for twenty-five days straight – even though it was pretty clear that this wouldn’t be possible anyway, given the amount of fibre each day (about 50 grams). I was worried that I would still try to push through. I was trying to mentally prepare myself for falling “behind schedule” by reminding myself that it’s okay not to spin if I don’t feel like it. I was struggling to convince my brain that it’s okay to break "the rule" and not spin the fibres on the exact date.

And it spins!

It was a rainy, gloomy day, one week before December 1st. I wasn’t having the best day, and I’d just hit a wall when I thought: “Wait, I have all the lovely candles and fibres! Setting up the cozy vibe I’ve been dreaming of would certainly help!” I knew I would need to break "the rule" at some point, so why not do it early? That way, I wouldn’t have to dread the moment when I eventually would – and I’d be done with it. And so I started spinning in the candlelight from the advent calendar – and the day turned out magical.