Yes, folks, we have circled the wheel of seasons and it’s time to get geared up for Spinzilla! It is a large event (worldwide!), but I do realize that some may not have the slightest inkling of what I’m talking about, so let me explain: Spinzilla is a friendly competition sponsored by the Spinning and Weaving Group of TNNA (The National Needle Arts Association) that takes place during the first week of October. The challenge is to see who can spin the most yarn in one week, either in the team category or as an individual (“Rogue”) spinner. The underlying purpose, beyond showing the world just how amazing spinners are, is to deepen our spinning skills by pushing ourselves to spin, spin, spin – practice makes us better, right? And the fringe benefit of the event is that all the registration fees go support the NeedleArts Mentoring Program.

WEBS has sponsored a team for the last 2 years and we are looking forward to another week of fun and fiber-full gatherings. Our team is already full but we know there are many more who’d like to join the fun as well as those who want to play but don’t want the pressure of competition (um, yeah, it can get a little intense on the team – last year we spun 126,000 yards!). So we invite you to go Rogue! Sign up as a Rogue spinner on the Spinzilla site and join us at our spin ins at the store. It’s a great way to meet local spinners, get inspired and pick up some tips, and share the laughter and camaraderie of other fiber-loving folk.

I know, I know, I usually talk about weaving, but today I step from behind the curtain to reveal that I have a powerful obsession with spinning right now. It started with Spinzilla last year, when I made myself learn in order to support our team. Then there was a fiber binge at Rhinebeck and another one at SPA, but mostly I’ve kept it in check. Until now. Spinzilla is approaching again and not only is fiber piling up on my desk, but I convinced Kathy and Steve to bring in special fiber deals and now I have even more to stuff into my fiber closet.

We started by teaming up with Louet to put together 2 great fiber packs. As a newer spinner, I am still learning about different sheep breeds and their characteristics, so I love the WEBSzilla Monster Mile pack. It contains a half pound each of 4 different breeds – Falkland (white), Cheviot (white), Shetland Moorit (brown) and Coopworth (grey). I’m looking forward to seeing how these spin up as well as dreaming about plying and dyeing the handspun yarn. There is plenty of fiber in this pack to spin a monster mile and enough variety to keep the spinning fresh and interesting.

The second pack from Louet we are calling the Spinzilla Fun Pack. It tips the scales with 4 pounds of fiber-y goodness and a completely different assortment of sheep breeds plus some dyed fiber to keep it exciting. The pack contains half pound bags of dyed Merino, Masham Top, light grey Romney sliver, medium Romney sliver, dark Romney sliver, Dorset sliver, Wensleydale sliver, and dyed Karaoke (soysilk) top. Lots of possibilities for blending and plying…

And then, because some of us are completely captivated with gradient dyes these days, we asked our friends at Frabjous Fibers to create a special colorway for us. They started with a base of 70% Blue Face Leicester and 30% Silk and dyed it a beautiful tonal gradient that moves from the deep blue of our logo through lighter shades of blue into grey. It’s packaged like their new Lambs Tail with 5 one-ounce puffs of tonally colored fiber that gradually change shade. I have this piled on my desk right now and I just keep petting the soft richness and marveling at the wavy crimp. I know, I have a problem.

And what of you? What will you spin in October?

Attention Spinners! Team WEBS Tour de Fleece 2015 registration is now open! If you’ve never heard of the Tour de Fleece, it’s a Ravelry spin-along that shadows the Tour de France bike race during the month of July. This is not a competition! It’s a chance to come together with other spinners, set personal challenges for yourself but, most importantly, have fun.  If you don’t have a consistent spinning habit, the Tour is a great incentive to spin on a regular basis for a month.  You’re welcome to use wheels and/or spindles and there will be prizes at the end of the Tour.  If you’d like to join us, please pop over to the All Things WEBS group on Ravelry and let us know you’re participating by this Friday, July 3.

Here are some guidelines, not rules,  for those of you just joining in this year – and a refresher for returning spinners:

• Try to spin every day that the Tour is riding, July 4-26. There are days of rest, July 13th and 21st, so feel free to take those days off.
• There are challenge days, when the riders are climbing. Give yourself a challenge on those days by spinning a new fiber or try a new spinning style, but save your biggest challenges for the second climbing stage, like when they tackle Alpe d’Huez on July 25th  – seriously LOOK at the climb up that mountain! See the full route here.
  • Climbing stages 10 -12 from July 14, to 16
  • Climbing stages 17-20 from July 22, to 25
• Celebrate as you go with the colors you wear.
  • Wear Green: green is for sprinters, if you’ve been spinning FAST this color is for you!
  • Wear Polka-dots: dots are for climbing so break them out whenever you’re taking on a challenge!
  • Wear White: white is for rookies so this is the color for you if this is your first Tour!
  • Wear Yellow: the leaders wear the Maillot jaune, or Yellow Jersey, following each stage of the race, so wear it whenever you feel particularly successful. And be sure to wear it on July 26th to announce your victory in completing the Tour!

The Tour runs Saturday July 4th through Sunday July 26th, this year. And don’t worry about how much you have to do to participate! There is no minimum, or maximum amount of fiber you need to spin through. You don’t have to spin every day and you don’t even have to measure what you DO spin. The whole idea is just to get you spinning and to have fun with it! However we will be announcing some prizes on July 1st and there will be specific minimums or types of fibers and yarns you’ll need to spin to win. Keep an eye on the Ravelry group for specifics!

I’ll be spinning from my stash which includes Hello Yarn club fiber, some Spunky Eclectic fiber, some great stuff from Into the Whirled, and maybe something from Abstract Fibers or Frabjous Fibers! What will you be spinning and what will you challenge yourself with?