handmade by stefanie

Happy Spinning and Weaving Week! I am celebrating by spinning as much as possible for Spinzilla in addition to working on my two knit-along projects for October.  So far, I have spun and plied 380 yards of yarn, not counting these singles I spun up last night: In the "totally complete" pile, I have 4oz. of natural black alpaca and the 4oz. Columbia/Rambouillet painted roving (bought last month in Kansas City at  The Studio ) which are both spun and plied. The black alpaca yarn is really giving me fits when it comes to photographing it - hopefully I'll have time to do a better job, but for now this is going to have to do: I'm using the Louet Victoria wheel to spin my singles, and then plying them on my Ladybug . It's proving to be a really efficient system, since I tend to spin my singles at night (which takes longer), then ply in the morning whilst feeding the cats (which is markedly speedier). Currently, I'm working on an alpaca/silk blend on the V...

Last night at midnight EST (which is 11pm my time), I started spinning some alpaca that's been in my fiber stash for a few years now. It only took an hour to fill up my first bobbin - and thus, Spinzilla has commenced! Natural black Alpaca single - so hard to photograph! Tomorrow I plan on finishing this alpaca and then starting on one of the many pretty handpainted rovings I've earmarked for this event; I believe I've neglected to mention two very recent acquisitions from last week when I succumbed to Cloudlover's special Spinzilla deal for 15% off orders. I couldn't resist this dyed Polwarth in special colors inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas. Since they're local, I also got my fiber super-fast - as in, the very next day! Cloudlover  Dyed Polwarth Roving in Sandy Claws & Zero. I'm quite excited to be the team captain for Team Louet during this first-ever event celebrating Spinning and Weaving Week . We have a fantastic team fill...

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. No...

I'm pretty excited to be the  Team Louet  captain for an inaugural spinning event this fall,  Spinzilla ! This new event is a fun way to see which team can collectively spin the most yarn during Spinning and Weaving Week (October 7-13, 2013). The time is now to choose your team and build your spinning fiber arsenal: there are a lot of prizes at stake, but we'll also be competing for a traveling trophy and the glory of it all! Registration opened this morning and costs $10*. You'll want to hurry, because space is limited to 25 spots for each team! Our only stipulations to be a part of  Team Louet (besides registering here ) are: 1. Team members should be using Louet spinning wheels . 2. While you are not limited to using only Louet spinning fiber , we do request that team members spin at least two singles of Louet fiber during the course of the event. Of course, I'll be keeping my captain's log right here on my blog in addition to the Team Loue...