A fiber lover's guide to anniversary gifts

         My husband has long known that the last thing I want is for him to spend big sums to surprise me with diamonds. With my fiber equipment wish list, I can easily find a thing or two that would be the monetary equivalent of a bauble from Tiffany's and come in a much more substantial box.  By avoiding glittery extravagance, I've managed to collect a few wheels, four looms, enough knitting needles to employ a small army and stash enough to keep the hypothetical army busy for years to come.

 

        As my 20^th anniversary approached it was natural to start thinking of nice gifts. Tradition teaches china is the appropriate gift, but after 20 years, I had quite a few dishes.  At the time what I really wanted was some yak down--and not a few ounces but a few pounds. That was a couple of years ago, and now with all those wonderful fibers available like vicuna, and buffalo I got to thinking. Why couldn't our 25^th be cashmere instead of silver, our 50^th be vicuna instead of gold?

 

        For fun, I came up with the following list:

 

 

That's about as far as I got, because I figured that once my 50^th anniversary came around, every spare nook and cranny of my house would be stowed with fiber in various stages of production, and believe other spinners might share the same dilemma.

 

Naturally, since I am making this up and it is not set in stone, each of us can arrange the list as we see fit.  Those of us who aren't married can make them birthday gift years, or even celebrate the anniversary we started spinning. I find celebrating my spinning anniversary to be especially helpful to keeping my stash healthy and diverse.  For these, the list could be rearranged.  For instance Quiviut would be perfect for a 20^th spinning anniversary—especially since mine is coming up and I haven’t tried it yet.

 

Okay, you may be thinking, fine, my 25^th is coming up, so how do I get my husband (or significant other) to buy me cashmere instead of candy and the cordless screwdriver he bought me for my birthday? Good question, and as one who once received this very combination for her birthday, I have honed my hint giving techniques.

 

First, make it obvious. This is where catalogues, brochures and web pages come in handy. I clearly marked up what I wanted on a mailing from a favored supplier--read big red arrows and obvious clues like "great gift idea for (specify upcoming occasion)." This single page should also contain order information like phone number and quantity desired.

 

Don't confuse him. Only mark one item and one quantity that you know will fit your budget and needs. Trust me on this.

 

Put it where he'll see it. Yep, that means the bathroom.  It might be necessary to check on it and make sure his hobby magazine-of-choice hasn't hid it. Floating it to the top every couple of days will ensure he will notice.  If you are computer savy, you can also switch his computer’s home page for a page displaying the item you want.  For a month, my husband’s browser went straight to a Schacht Ladybug.

 

Photos: Above is a pile of spun yakdown awaiting a project.  Below, is my latest wheel, a Ladybug, which hubby was very supportive of my purchasing.  His browser now opens on Google.