Tag Archives: spinzilla

A Win, A Dream, and A Frogging

Carbon Fiber Needles, Handspun Yarn, Knitting, Spinning

This week has been a busy one, but here are the highlights….. A Win, a Dream, and a Frogging!

Before I go on to explain the win, dream, and frogging I want to THANK everyone for the nice complements on my Spinzilla spinning.  I had wanted to reply to each one of you, but then I saw how that was going to muddy up the numbering for the drawing.  Besides thanking the kind writers there were also a few questions I’d like to answer.  Roxie wanted to know if my Hansen needed a rest… My little Miss Mini is a trooper and kept up with me the whole time!  Vicky asked when did I sleep……Let’s just say I don’t sleep a whole lot:)  Ashley thought I should do something rewarding for myself…..my reward is that I have all the yarn I need for Christmas gift knitting!…..now to find the time to get the knitting done..lol.

Now on to the Win, the Dream, and the Frogging

The Win was most yards spun by an individual during  Spinzilla.  Team Fancy Tiger was the first place team, and Team Storey Publishing (which I was a member of) came in 3rd place.  You can check out all the winners and prizes on the Spinzilla blog post My award, A Yarn to Yards Balance with the Spinzilla  plaque   arrived in the mail from the Woolery.

Spinzilla,sweater,High Tide
Spinzilla Award, Sweater yarn, and High Tide prize skein.

There are still a few days left for you to enter to win the High Tide skein of Bam Huey Handspun Yarn pictured above.  To enter for your chance to win,  leave a comment on the  Spinzilla: It’s all over but the Awards  Post  by Midnight October 31st!

Now for my Dream……

It is about the Spinzilla competition next year.  Those who know me, and put up with me, know I have done long marathon spinning sessions many times.  Spinning all day for weeks at a time  is what I love to do.  Some people run marathons, some climb mountains, and others swim the English Channel…. me, I  spin.  My dream is to spend the week of Spinzilla next year in a hotel.  This would be a fund raising spin in.  I would have a room at the hotel, and the spin in would be in one of the meeting rooms that would be open 24 hours a day.  Spinners could make a donations for the opportunity to spin along.   When I dream, I dream big, so in my dream there would be a fiber supplier/mill that  would donate the fiber, and all the spun yarn would be sold to benefit the Spinzilla education program, oh yeah…and my room and room service would be paid for:)  It’s a big dream and I know I don’t have the skill to organize it, but boy do I want to do it!

Last but not least….the Frogging. …

I started a sweater from some of the yarn I spun for Spinzilla. I chose Anne Hanson’s Aztec Mazes This is my first sweater and I am a bit worried that it won’t fit.  I’m knitting this as a surprise for Mr X.    I don’t have exact measurements for Mr. X , and I am working with a different size yarn and needle than the pattern calls for.  This means I have to work a bit of math to figure out gauge and which size to knit.

Mr x's too big sweater
Mr. X’s sweater…Pre Frogging

One does start to wonder if the sweater is too big when it doesn’t fit in the photo box…. Yikes! it was WAY TOO BIG!  Turns out I rounded up when I should have been rounding down…lol…to the Frog Pile!  There were a few tears among the Ripppp- it Rippppp-it noises, but all is well now.  I’ve started over in a size smaller and will have some progress pictures of it next posting on November 1st  when I announce the winner of the skein of Bam Huey yarn in High Tide.  I will also have some pictures of a new needle style I made for sweater knitting.

until next time,  Happy Spinning and Knitting!

Cheryl <^..^>

 

 

Spinzilla: It’s All Over But The Awards!

Fiber, Handspun Yarn, Home Life, Spinning
The Spinzilla group on Ravelry  has been buzzing with numbers.  Teams are checking in with the group totals.  The final tally will be announced on Friday, just a few more hours before we know which team spun the most yards.  It is so nice to read about handspun yarns being talked about in the number of MILES spun!

 

I am on  Team Storey Publishing, and have loved every minute of getting to know some of the spinners on the team.  Not only was I lucky enough to make some new friends, but I also lucked out on one of the daily drawing for prizes on our team.  Henry , Team Captain Bonnie’s  sweet little birdy ,who with out a doubt rules the house, pecked my name from the ticket bowl!  I found my lovely prize in this morning’s mail.    I had to immediately  fill this beautiful  wood yarn bowl with my latest project on the needles, Anne Hanson’s Sugarfrost from FIFC 2012.

Wood yarn bowl
Ash wood yarn bowl by Carl Tubbs

This yarn bowl is made by Carl Tubbs.  The wood is  Ash and has such a warm smooth feel to it.  I love the swirls of grain and the glow that emanates from them.  Hand made tools always make my work so much more enjoyable, and I am looking forward to spending hours knitting with this bowl holding my yarn:)

I am still trying to find where Carl and Christine Tubbs sell their bowls, and I will add a link just as soon as I get that info! UPDATE…I now have the Info!!! Carl also has a full time job so not a lot of bowl listed right now but go check out the beauties he has listed HERE The only complaint I have is that Carl has not signed his work of art.  If I am ever lucky enough to meet them in real life, I will be begging Carl to sign my bowl!

I have to toot my own horn a little, sorry, but I just can’t help myself.  This post was made by the Spinzilla moderators  in the Yardage total discussion thread for Spinzilla…..

We’ll be posting updates as our count begins here:

We have over 300 spinners accounted for and more coming in every minute. Deadline for Team Captain’s is 8pm EST tonight (Wednesday Oct 16th). We have just begun the happy task of recording all the entries. So far the highest yardage from an individual team member we have recorded is Cheryl Newhouse of TeamStorey with 16,852 monster yards!

EEEEEEK, That’s ME!  It’s quite possible that someone will be checking in with more, but for now I am tickled PINK!!  well, more like Purple, because after all I am a Purple Girl at heart:)

It’s  a weird mix of emotions reading posts of people commenting on the amount I have spun.  My ego has gotten quite a boost, but I know I didn’t do any where near my personal best of 24,000 yards spun and plied in a week’s time.  Some of you may remember seeing these pictures…

FIFC 2011 Knitspot
550, 400 yard skeins of handspun yarn for Knitspot’s FIFC 2011 club

This was a 8.5 months of spinning for Anne Hanson’s Knitspot’s 2011 Fall in Full Color Club…..but that is a story for another day.

For now I will  reply to all the lovely compliments   “thank you…..but just wait until next year!!!!!!”

Now I do believe it is time for a little prize! As a reward for all the new and  old readers of the blog along with  celebrating  a successful Spinzilla!  Leave a comment on this posting before  Midnight October 31st  Pacific Mountain Time, and enter for your chance to win one of the skeins of yarn I spun for Spinzilla.  This is a 435 yard skein of two ply  Bam Huey in a lace weight of about 18-19 wpi, in the High Tides colorway. The yarn is hanging to dry right now, so I don’t have a good picture, but I will post one soon. If you look close you can see the teal skein in the basket before it was washed.  Winner will be chosen by using a random number generator.

New Hue Handspuns Spinzilla Spinning.
The multi shades of Teal skein in the upper right corner is the prize skein pre washing.

Now all that remains is to wait for the Spinzilla results………..

Until next time, Happy Spinning and Knitting!

Cheryl <^..^>

 

UPDATE!   My 16,852 yards held up as most yards spun by and individual!  The skein of Bam Huey being given away is dry and here is an updated picture!

Bam Huey handspun
432 yards of Handspun Bam Huey – High Tide