Skip to main content

One Week til Spinzilla!

Spinzilla is almost here! In just one week, I'll be spinning with my excellent teammates on Team Louet North America. This is my third time spinning with Team Louet (and also serving as the team captain), and I think we are definitely in contention for unseating Team Fancy Tiger Craft for first place.
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I have been prepping a LOT of rolags for Spinzilla using my new Louet Blending board. Part of this is because the blending board is just so incredibly fun & addicting to use - but the other part is because I am going to be traveling for the second half of the event, and I want to make sure that I have plenty of fiber that is easy to use while on-the-go. Small, portable rolags seem tailor-made for travel spinning!

This year, I am going to take a totally different approach to my Spinzilla spinning: I don't plan on plying ANY of my projects til after the event. I have plied in years past, and I just want to try something new, especially since I don't see myself plying while traveling. Of course, that poses some challenges: first, I only have so many bobbins for each wheel. Second, I'll need a way to measure the yardage of my singles which doesn't involve using my niddy noddy (winding my singles off on a niddy noddy will add another step later down the road, because I will have to transfer the singles back onto a bobbin to ply).
The solution came to me one day out of the blue: why not use my ball winder to wind the singles into center-pull balls which I can use to easily ply from later on? From there, I can use a yarn balance to calculate the yardage of each single. I'll just have to take care to label each ball and keep everything well-organized until it's time to ply. I think I can handle that!
I plan to take my travel-friendly Louet Victoria wheel with me, along with my 3-D printed Turkish spindle from Turtlemade. Here's hoping I'm able to keep up with everyone else on my team, we've got some pretty prolific spinners amongst us!
Labels:

Comments

  1. AliciaSeptember 28, 2015 at 4:19 PM

    Wooohoo! So I totally forgot to sign up for Spinzilla and it looks like Team Louet is all full on the registration... do you know if that's true? Can I sneak on somehow? If not, it's fine, I just figured I'd ask as I enjoyed spinning along on the team last year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Handmade by StefanieSeptember 30, 2015 at 8:19 AM

      Hey Alicia! It is indeed true - our team filled up within the first week of signups, pretty crazy, right? Alas, I can't sneak you on unless someone else bows out before October 2. We'll totally miss you, but I hope you will spin along in spirit as a rogue or on one of the teams that needs a few more members to compete - found here: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/spinzilla/3277944/101-125#102

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Easy DIY: Beaded Vintage Snowflake Ornament Kits from Solid Oak Inc.

I was really excited to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new as part of my "Christmas in July" theme this month. The kind folks at Solid Oak Inc offered me a chance to review one of their Nostalgic Christmas beaded crystal ornament kits I couldn't resist. My tree is already full of ornaments I've inherited or been gifted from other family members and friends,  so these pretty crystal beaded ornaments will fit right in I think! I was super impressed with  this compact little kit , which includes everything needed to create three gorgeous vintage-style ornaments - just add a pair of round nose pliers (I found mine on Amazon for less than ten bucks).  The instructions had some fabulous tips for newbies like me; for example, it recommended sorting the beads and laying them out in order on a towel or beading mat to prevent them from rolling away. That may seem obvious, but I was totally ready to start beading on my kitchen table without a
1 comment
Read more

What If I Didn't Add Heels?

Last weekend, I finished the first sock with my Waterlilies yarn , and just for yuks, I tried it on even though it was basically just a tube sock. Much to my surprise, it fit really well, even without a heel. Who knew? So, that got me thinking: what if I just didn't add the heels?  I never thought a tube sock would actually fit nicely, but I genuinely like the fit, so...why spend time to add the heels? As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.... Let's say I decide not to add heels once the second sock is done - there will still be placeholder yarn for the afterthought heels, as you can see above, so should I leave it in and just weave in the ends? Or should I remove it, put the live stitches back on needles and at least graft them together using more of the Waterlilies yarn? I plan on mulling all of this over as I knit the second sock, and I'd love to hear your opinions of what you think would look best (or if you think this whole "n
3 comments
Read more

Overdyeing A Finished Knit

Even after just a few years of knitting or crocheting, you're bound to have some finished projects lying around that never get worn or used. After 10+ years of crafting, I have more than just "some" or "a few"....and with my ongoing quest to declutter my house this year, I've become obsessed with going through these forlorn projects and making some Big Decisions. Sometimes, they are perfectly fine and just need a new and loving home. Other projects may have not turned out quite right: there might have been some mistakes in the knitting that I thought I could live with, or the yarn was gorgeous but not well-matched to the pattern, or my  taste has drastically changed since I finished making the project...in any case, why on earth did I keep knitting?! Who knows, but I don't feel good about gifting anything that falls into this category to someone else. These projects have been relegated to the "frog pile" (or should I say, frog pond?), to b
Post a Comment
Read more