Tour de Fleece continues. I’m making steady progress on my second 4oz of fiber and will probably finish it up tonight.

I am currently spinning a hank of polwarth/silk from Into the Whirled. I’ve been a member of their fiber club for a few years now and am consistently impressed with their fiber prep and their colorways. Sometimes I think about switching to another fiber club, just to spread the love around. But then I would have to give up ITW…and that just can’t happen.

In thinking about what to blog about today, I pulled my travel spinning kit out of my purse. This kit has been extensively tested by me and I can report that the little zippy bag adequately protects my spindle and plastic travel bobbin. But the star of the show is that black lump to the right that holds my fiber. Yes folks, that’s an old dress sock.

That dress sock has traveled the US and the world with me and performs better as a fiber receptacle than it ever did as a sock. Notable features of this sock:

• Lightweight
• Flexible – lots of elastic – it can hold more than 2 oz of fiber, if I really cram it in.
• Compression – because of all that elastic, the size of the stuffed sock never gets too bulky.
• Cuff can be rolled down for easier access, or twisted and folded over to keep yarn from spilling out.
• Discrete – looks just like a random black sock, so it can hide in any purse or backpack.
• Cheap – I would never use a new sock for this job.
• Theoretically washable, although I never have. Probably should sometime.
• In a pinch, I can also use the sock to protect my spindle.
• If I lose it…oh well…it’s just an old black sock.

Every spinner should have a trusty black sock as part of their kit.