2010 Spinners Challenge

There comes a time in everyone's life when they realize that something has taken over their life. In my case, it's fiber. "But you have a fiber business.", you might say. Yes, that's true. I do have a fiber business. But I also have a multiplying fiber stash that I can't manage to keep up with because I spend the majority of my time producing fiber to further other artist's fiber addiction.

My business consuming my time is not a complaint, but it is a realization that I need to remind myself of occasionally. I have to rely on special events like workshops or stash spin down challenges to really get spinning done. So here we are again, spinning challenge time!

The Challenge: Spin as much as you can between November 1st and December 31st and post your stats and pictures in the BohoKnitterChic Spins Ravelry Group to enter into prize drawings for over 20 categories. That's right! Over 20 people have donated prizes to help the cause!

(The yarn on the left is one of my challenge yarns named "Strawberry Shortcake)

Still reading? I hope so because I've added a twist!

IT'S A POWER SPINNING WEEKEND!!!!! Spin as much as you can, yardage and weight, this Saturday and Sunday (Nov 20-21st) and post your yardage and weight spun in the comments of this blog post by Monday morning (the 22nd). The most yardage spun and the greatest weight will win a prize from me. What's the prize? I have no idea. But it will be good. I promise.

I am a Busy Chic...

Or at least that's the excuse I give myself for never blogging.

Really, I think I have commitment issues (but don't tell my husband that). My creative endeavors have taken me all over the place lately, literally and creatively, and it makes it hard for me to slow down and commit to getting everything on virtual paper. But it's officially my pre-New Year's Resolution to make writing down my experiences a priority. I have experienced a lot of things that I think knitters and spinners would really enjoy reading about, and learning about, and maybe even experiencing for themselves when the opportunity arises. Now hold me to it! I'm penciling it in my calendar!

Some of my latest creative endeavors (listing backwards):

November 6-7th, Camp Pluckyfluff in Placerville, CA:
Lexi Boeger doing a spinning demo:

October 16-17th Camp Bear Paw Spinning Retreat in Newport, WA with some of my favorite spinners:


September 25-26th Oregon Flock and Fiber in Canby, OR where I (far left) shared a booth with one of my favorite Fiberista's Craftypuppylover (far right) and got to meet two other wonderful fiber artists LushMommy and GirlwithaHook:


And I think I should leave you will the image of what sums up a lot of my life right now- "The Wool Wall", the place where I get inspired, where I blend fibers, and where I spend most of my time, and where the majority of my business takes place:

Tour de Fleece was a Success!

I started spinning in January of 2009 and quickly learned that not only was spinning a hobby, but it could also be coordinated with sporting events such as the Olympics and the Tour de France, turning me from a crazed fiber addict, into an Elite Athlete without ever leaving my spinning chair!

The event "Tour de Fleece" is coordinated with the bicycling competition "Tour de France" and runs very similarly to the actual event: we spin as their wheels spin, we rest on the days the riders rest, and we challenge our spinning skills on the days of the riders more challenging ascents. There are teams and events, tears, sweating, and lots of competition!

This year 2 of my favorite Ravelry users (Craftypuppylover and SavethePlanKnit) and I formed our own team "Team SavetheBohoPuppies", in which we gathered a total of 40 teammates of all different spinning skill and commitment levels. It was a long 23 days of spinning, and many of us succeeded in making a dent in our fiber stashes.

Me personally, well, somehow I always manage to go on vacation during the Tour de Fleece, challenging my determination to spin, and patience to wait until we return home to really get some spinning done. This year we were in Yosemite National Park and I promised my husband that I wouldn't try to fit my spinning wheel in with all of our gear. BUT- I did bring a drop spindle so my spinning could be documented throughout the trip and I could still feel like part of the team. I was gone for the first 10 days of the tour, nearly half, and only managed to spin one yarn- so I was left with a lot of ground to cover when I returned home. I think I managed pretty well.



When we returned from Yosemite I devoted as much time as I could to my spinning wheel. I planted it firmly in the middle of our living room, and I don't think I sat on the couch once in the 13 days left of the tour when I got home. I gathered together fiber from some of my favorite Etsy shop owners: Jazzturtle, LushMommy, AtomicBlue, CraftyPuppyLover, Extreme Spinning, Woolyhands, and Silver Sun Alpacas and got to work. I spun 2-plies and 3-plies, corespun and autowrapped and even surprised myself at how much I got spun.

In the end, in a 23 day tour of not resting on rest days I managed to spin:

20 Yarns
3351 yards and then plied 948 yards for a total of 4299 yards- or 2.44 miles
46.5 hours- almost 2 full days
My yarns weigh a total of 89 oz- or 5.56 pounds
My longest and heaviest yarn was a 349 yard 3-ply that weighs 9 oz.

I think it's time for a break from spinning and some time for knitting!

And so it begins...

I set my goals for 2010, and now begins the execution. I know that it won't be the only thing on my mind this year, far from it, but I would like to make an effort to always be working towards completing my goal projects. I decided to start with one that I already had the yarn for, my lace project.


I've chosen to knit the Traveling Roses Scarf with Jojoland Melody. Since it's a scarf project, and I'll probably use it for a table runner or to drape over a shelf, I didn't bother to do a gauge swatch. I'm using size 2 needles and I'm fumbling around like an idiot. It's definitely different than the size 8-11 needles that I'm used to using!

But here's the real issue. I started the project a couple of days ago and worked on it a little bit on our road trip over this past weekend. Tonight while watching tv my husband looks at me and says "Don't take this the wrong way but, that's going to take forever and a day to knit". Yeah, I've only knit 36 rows of 528 in 2 days and I can normally knit a bulky scarf on size 11's in 2 hours. That's why it's a goal, right?....