ROC Day 2011

ROC Day is on January 7th each year, the day after the feast of the Epiphany. It is also known as Saint Distaff’s Day and was not really a holiday at all. In many European cultural traditions, ROC Day was the day that women resumed their household work after the twelve days of Christmas. The distaff, or rock, used in spinning was the medieval symbol of women’s work.  Some modern craft groups have taken up the celebration of Distaff day as part of their new year celebrations.  This year, I'm celebrating ROC Day by participating in Moonwood Farm's Ravelry Group Spin-Along.  The 14 of us each sent in a goodie bag of fibers that we thought the others may not have had a chance to try and spin before.  On ROC Day (or the weekend following), we'll all spin up our goodies and post pics on the Moonwood Farm Ravelry Group forum thread. 

My contribution included black diamond (carbonized bamboo), hemp, ingeo (corn fiber), Tibetan yak fiber, raffia, (and candy - gotta keep up your strength when you're spinning!).  I carry all of these fibers (except the raffia) in my shop if you're interested in trying any of them out.

Here are all of the other goodie bags full of fun and interesting stuff!

Goodie Bag contents from:

Moonwood Farm - recycled sari silk ribbon, a batt containing dryer lint, throwster silk, carded/pulled sari silk fiber, pima cotton, and dyed/drafted cotton balls

Desert Garden Farms and Counting Coup - hot pink plastic cording, dyed silk hankie, drum carder gleanings, nylon, ecospun, angelina, metallic thread, icicle, and cotton neps

Natchwoolie - a roll of toilet paper, carded/pulled sari silk, hay netting, firestar, and flax

Fiber Charmer - Falkland wool top

Faeryl - neon green crinkled paper confetti, camel/tussah blend, soysilk, sari thrums, and a mini batt containing Swalesdale, merino, possum, donkey hair, and bison

Storied Yarns - dyed Middle TN Huyaca Alpaca fleece, tinsel, and fabric scraps

Winemakerssister - Michigan angora, Michigan Shetland in the grease, dryer lint, shredded plastic bags, antique corset laces, and a spinning wheel cell phone charm

The Dizzy Dragonfly - Meowpaca batt (cat hair + alpaca)

Comfed Out Kaiser - Belle Snow's cria fleece

Moonlight and Laughter - local Cotswold roving, local Jacob locks, local alpaca, dyed firestar, Irish linen shreds, sparkly ribbons, a stitch marker, tea (yay!), and candy (yum!)

Dawning Dreams - green sari silk threads, brown Wensleydale, Karakul sheep roving, and wolf fur (my pugs totally FREAKED when they got a whiff of it!)

naomi608 - raw Huacaya, white Shetland wool, oreo Shetland wool, llama fiber, and a totally yummy smelling little spice sachet ball.

I'll be celebrating ROC Day by spinning up my samples at Loop's Spin-In at her studio on this Saturday, Jan. 8th.  Hopefully Dizzy Dragonfly will be there with her goodie bags too!  I haven't exactly decided how I'm going to spin everything up yet, but I've got a few ideas.  Tomorrow I'll formulate my plan of attack.  I'm thinking that I may have to hit the drumcarder with some of these!