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Captain's Blog: One Week Til Spinzilla!

By now, if you're participating in next week's Spinzilla event, you already know what team you're on. Whether you're joining me on Team Louet or competing on any other the other many teams, here are some quick tips to help you get ready for a monster of a spinning week!

1. Clear those bobbins! If you're going to be spinning up your fiber stash, be sure to have plenty of empty bobbins to get the job done.

2. Perform routine maintenance. Check your spinning wheel's manual to make sure your wheel is in peak performing form. If you are using a Louet wheel, there is a handy online support center where you can troubleshoot various issues and download PDF versions of wheel manuals.

3. Wax on! Put the perfect finishing touch on your wheel with a nice coat of wheel wax to clean and condition the wood and any leather parts, too. I'm a fan of the wonderful-smelling herbal organic wax from Heavenly Spinning.

4. Take inventory of your fiber stash. Now is a great time to plan which fibers you'd like to spin up, how you'd like to ply them, and what weights or other techniques you'd like to use throughout the week. Again, this is a good time to take into account how many bobbins you'll have at your disposal so that you can maximize your spinning/plying time for maximum output!

5. Figure out your Method for Measuring Yarn. If you're new to spinning, you might not have a preferred method of measuring the yarns you spin. Here are a few suggestions from the Spinzilla FAQ:
My Spinzilla to-do list!
  • Wind onto a skien winder or swift where you know the circumference and count turns
  • Use a niddy noddy
  • Use a yardage counter
  • Using a McMorran yarn balance, or the new Yarn to Yards balance
  • If you don't want to take your yarn off your bobbins, weigh your bobbins before you spin, then weight them after and use a balance to calculate yardage.
If you are planning to ply your yarn during the course of the event, remember that you'll need to submit your yardage in singles. We recommend measuring your plied yarn, then multiplying the yardage by the number of plies (chain ply counts as 3-ply).

We'll begin spinning at midnight EST on Monday, October 7. For more details on how to submit your finished yarn and yardage, check out the Spinzilla FAQ or the Spinzilla Ravelry group.  

Happy spinning!

Comments

  1. Hi Stephanie
    I am hoping I can submit my results with a photo of the balls of singles. I have worked out the average bobbin full of the Merino I'll spin and the other types of wool in my stash (In case I run through all the Merino).
    I have a problem puttting the photos on the Ravelry site. Can I send the final picture to you? I can post it on my facebook page or ?
    You can contact me as Carol Edwards on facebook and I am jerushae on Ravelry. The em addr is jerushae at compmore dot net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Carol! I just sent you an email with more details about Team Louet. You can absolutely send me the photos and details via email and I can get them posted for you! Thanks for spinning with us!

      Delete

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