SPINZILLA!

The nice folks at Schacht Spindle asked me to join their team this year! And, they asked me some questions about Spinzilla. My answers are over on their blog, but I'm going ahead and putting them here, too.

Why you are doing Spinzilla?
I'm doing Spinzilla this year as a way to kick-start my spinning. It's had to take a real back seat to my knitting and online activities in 2014 since I was finishing my book, Sock Architecture, and, now that it's out, I'm spending a lot of time letting people know about it! Last year, I had a pretty good rhythm going of spinning at least once a week, and I hope this week of really committed spinning will help get me back to that.

What you plan to spin that week?
I know I should spin from my stash, and I guess my most recent purchase counts as stash, since I bought it 6 months ago! It's a gorgeous art batt from a local shepherdess. The colors are kind of autumnal, but there's also some bright pink in there. I can't wait to get it open and see how it spins up.

What do you plan on doing with the yarn you spin?
If I can get a nice worsted-weight yarn out of the batt, and I think I will, I will probably weave it up on my Flip into a scarf. Weaving and handspinning go so well together. I like to knit, mostly, relatively plain yarns. With weaving, I feel I can get a little more "out there". If I don't find the right warp for it, right away, I'll just display it in my home. A lot of my former art batts are now art skeins. They look lovely just resting on a bookshelf.

What do you like about spinning?
It is super-relaxing, but still creative. I avoided spinning for a long time because I thought I wouldn't want to give up my knitting time to do it, but I'm really glad that my friend finally loaned me a wheel and talked me into trying it. When everything is set up just right, and the fiber is just flowing over my fingers like water, that's just heavenly.

What are your thoughts on Spinzilla?
Spinzilla is so much fun because I love seeing what other people are doing with their spinning. Unless you happen to live somewhere that has a spinning group, it's rare to really see other people's work in an up-close-and-personal way. Spinzilla makes it easy to feel really connected to other spinners. There's that competitive aspect to it, too, and I hope I don't let my team down too much! I was a "rogue" spinner last year because I wasn't sure I could really put in the time. I'm still not sure, but I guess I can't resist the invitation to be a part of the team!

Spinzilla Day 1 results: I spun up a whole art batt! More on prep, etc., tomorrow....