Majacraft Bobbin Color of the Year

Every year Majacraft has special edition colored plastic bobbin.  They decide the color with a voting system where they put up a few colors and then we get to vote on which color we would like to see used for special edition plastic bobbins for that year.  They do one color a year, except 2017 which was their 21st anniversary celebration, they did an additional special color for the celebration, which was lilac.  At this point it looks like the only colored plastic bobbins that are available from factory are Rosebright, Ocean Blue and Atoll.  They said they aren't doing a color for 2020, rather are coming out with a new plastic bobbin to replace the brown, and hope to do a color for 2021.  I will be sure to paste information on how you can cast your vote here when the time comes.  These were the colors for the past few years:

2019 – Atoll

2018 – Eastern blue

2017 – Rosebright (pink)

2016 – Lime green

2015 – Purple

Atoll - 2019

Eastern Blue- 2018

Rosebright - 2017

I had one client who purchased a couple to prepare for the Tour de Fleece.  I wasn't sure exactly what that was, so did a little research, here is the nutshell

• Originated by Star Athena, a knitter, 16 spinners in 2006, 10K+ at last count.
• Spin yarn on wheels as the cyclists spin their wheels
• You start on the starting day of the Tour De France, and spin every day that the cyclists ride.  This year is June 27th thru July 19th.
• Goal setting is part of it, on challenge days you can do a challenging spin, like an art yarn.  Commit to spin a certain amount of time or volume each active day

My guess is you need extra bobbins for the Tour de Fleece because as you spin so much volume you maybe don't make the time to ply it all, so the bobbin is used to store the singles.

Here is my source for the Tour de Fleece info: https://spinoffmagazine.com/tour-de-fleece-coming-ready/

And here is the ravelry group:  https://www.ravelry.com/groups/tour-de-fleece

I have Starlight Pink, Ocean Blue and Atoll in my Majacraft inventory - they are $29 each, plus shipping.  I have them listed in my Etsy shop, but can also ship direct if you send me an email with which colors and quantities you need and your zip code, and I can send you a paypal invoice with shipping cost.  I always send an assortment of flicked locks from fleeces I am working on for you to try with every order of bobbins.

They fit all wheels excluding the Aura.  Can withstand boiling water, so they can be placed in dye baths with the wool wound on the bobbin.  

I was watching a video on one of the wheels, and they said when you get your new plastic bobbin it can have little burrs from the mold around the edges of the holes where you mount onto the drive shaft.  They suggested that if you just mount it on the drive shaft and run it back and forth a few times, that helps to smooth them out.  I also have used sandpaper to remove any tiny burrs around the edge of the holes.

So that is my data dump on Majacraft special Edition colored plastic bobbins!  I am working my way through the Majacraft learning center, and as I do I am going to post summaries of what I learned here on my blog as a reference tool.  Always something new to learn!