I signed up for Spinzilla this year. I'm on Team Shuttle Spinners. That is the team of my favorite weaving shop, Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins in Boulder, CO. It is co-owned by the marvelous Maggie Casey who, against all odds, has managed to make me a mediocre spinner and is working on making me an excellent one a little at a time (it would help if I practiced more, so don't blame Maggie--she has worked miracles already). Spinzilla is an opportunity for me to improve my skills. I am just a tad competitive, so having a challenge to spin as much as possible in one week does get me to spin when I might have otherwise opted for a glass of Pinot Grigio on the couch with a novel.
In case you've never heard of Spinzilla (and why would you have if you're reading a tapestry blog?), it is a week-long spinning challenge set up in teams all over the world. It is run by TNNA, The National NeedleArts Association, and the proceeds benefit youngsters learning fiber arts.
My goal this year was to spin three miles. There are 1760 yards in a mile and I thought certainly I could spin three times that... but my performance so far has not been as expected and because I'm trying to be more focused about goals and marking my daily "progress" through life, today I looked at last year's take to see what I was able to do. The truth was a little discouraging: less than a mile.
The sum total of what I spun in 2016 when I went rogue (I wasn't on a team). 1316 yards. And yes, obviously a few things to learn about spinning.
In 2015 I spun this:
More than a mile, but not nearly 3 miles by any stretch of the imagination.
I was on Team Shuttles that year and I had only been spinning for about 6 months, so I was proud of this effort. It was just over a mile.
Why I thought that I could get all ambitious and triple my past goals this year is beyond me.
Here is the Shuttles team this year with our pre-spin plans. We look pretty fierce, right?
Spinzilla 2017, Team Shuttles Spinners: our planned spinning
And here is what I planned to spin. Mind you, Spinzilla is only one week long and I still have to work. In retrospect, this may have been a tad optimistic.
The goal for the week... perhaps a tad excessive.
I can say that now because it is Thursday afternoon and this is what I've spun so far.
I am just over halfway through those rolags (which I thought I'd spin in a day) and haven't touched anything else except this warm-up bit of fleece that I will ply for the extra yardage.
And this is what I originally pulled out of the spinning stash--basically everything I had except two fleeces which needed a lot of prep I didn't have time to do. I spent some great time with a Clemes drum carder owned by the shop and made those nice bats in the plastic bin. I'm so ready! I just need some time to spin.
Since it is Thursday afternoon and Spinzilla ends Sunday night at midnight, I can safely say that I may have an optimism problem.