Hi everyone!!!! It's Carla with Phat Fiber :) Most of you know me as Carla or Curly C'ewes from my Facebook Fiber Business Page. I have been a fiber artist for around 10 years? I can't remember exactly when I started but it was at least a year or so after a close friend kept telling me about this "wool spinning" thing. It took a lot of prompting on her end, but she was relentless, and just knew that I would love it. When I did finally see her fiber studio I was hooked. I marveled at her wheel, the electric drum carder and all the fabulous fiber she had everywhere! She sent me home with a drop spindle and some wool and after trying for about a week I said forget it, I need a wheel! I was lucky enough to find a 1970 something Ashford Traditional single treadle for $150 on Craigslist so I rushed to Portland and brought my new little lady home. It was an adventurous learning curve for me. I watched every youtube video I could find and just kept at it. It wasn't too long after that that I decided I wanted to dye my own fiber too so you know how the rest goes, down the rabbit hole that all of us fiber artists eventually end up in. Not too soon after I found myself opening up an etsy store and selling my yarn and fiber at our local fiber event Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival.
Spinning was and still is a relaxing hobby for me. When I started my boys were much younger obviously and as a single parent it kept me from losing my mind :) I was already working full time & raising my boys solo but I couldn't wait until I got home from work, after dinner was served and chores were done where I would sit at my wheel and spin for at least an hour before bed. It was how I would unwind at night and I loved that time so much, still do! Back to fiber though, as a newbie I searched the internet for more info on spinning and I came across this new thing that people were talking about called "Phat Fiber." It was this gloriously new exciting monthly fiber and yarn sample box that would go on sale once a month and literally sell out in seconds or minutes. I became obsessed and knew I had to have one so I watched the clock on Saturday mornings and after hitting that buy button over and over I was finally was able to get my very first box! It was so exciting! When I got it in the mail I squealed with delight! So many wonderful little bits of fibers to try, notions to adore and yarns to sample. Soon after I joined the Yahoo group and became a Phat contributor myself every now and then. I couldn't do it as often as I would have liked because of my schedule but I sure did buy one whenever I could! I followed PF over the years and saved up all my yarn samples which I spun into a colorful skeins throughout the years. I knitted my first ever shawl with the gorgeous yarn and to this day I still adore it. I know we've all heard, "what can you do with just tiny samples?" and my answer is always, "EVERYTHING! You can do everything with them!"
So fast forward to last year when I had the opportunity to start working with Crys & Phat Fiber. Jessica, the original creator of PF had passed the torch to Crys a few years ago and since she was now looking for help I jumped at the chance. PF is a part of the reason I love the fiber community so much. It was created to bridge the gap between the online retailer and the consumer. As a consumer we are able to buy these samplers every month and try out so many different fibers, yarns, and notions. We get to touch, feel, spin or knit all these fantastic fibers and the way they are prepared from 20 different artists per month. We also get fun extras and coupon codes too! As a contributing artist we get to promote our shops through the first monthly fiber sampler box ever created & build friendships with other artists. We are celebrating 10 wonderful years and I so love that there are still some of the very first contributing artists still doing so to this day! Phat has helped so many small businesses grow and there's no stopping us! We've already made some new positive changes in the past year and will continue to do so over the next few months. It's such an exciting time to be a part of PF.
If you've stuck with me this long in the post, thank you :) . I just wanted to give you a little background on who I am and what Phat means to me. You will be hearing and seeing more from me in the future as my role with PF evolves. I'm truly thankful & excited to be part of a great group of fiber artists! Stay tuned for more with our monthly videos, newsletters & the blog! Oh and leave me a comment if you like, I'd love to see the first yarn or items you've made with the PF samples.
Happy Spinning!
Carla
P.S.
Here's a few coupon codes you can use for this month
FiberQuirks 20% off all fiber with code TAROTSERIES https://www.etsy.com/shop/FiberQuirks
Fairy Tale Wool FTW15 for 15% off http://www.etsy.com/shop/FairyTaleWool
The Spun Bunny: PHATTIE10 http://Thespunbunny.fibercrafty.com
Handmade Hollows: Phatbox for 20% off http://Handmadehollows.com