Spinzilla Week

Spinzilla, A Monster of a Spinning Week is, according to the website: "a global event where teams and individuals compete in a friendly challenge to see who can spin the most yarn in a week!" The real goal is as a fundraiser for the NeedleArts Mentoring Program sponsored by TNNA. This year 1754 spinners participated and Meridian Jacobs hosted a team. Timing was tough for some of us because the week of spinning was right in between two other fiber events (blogged about here and here) and I was recovering from dental surgery.Members of Team Meridian Jacobs are a dedicated bunch and many showed up for the spinning days we had here on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday as well as in Davis on Wednesday and Chico on Saturday. Six of the 25 members are from out of state and one spinner from Illinois even made it to California for a Spinzilla day. And of course there was a lot of spinning into the wee hours at home by all the members. Results will be posted tomorrow and we'll know how we stacked up. Here are some photos.It's hard to spin outside here without dogs in the way being involved. There will be more photos of Ginny in Rusty's next blog post. A fun part of Spinzilla is the photo contest. One of our members suggested that we stage a photo where we are running, wheels and all, from the giant Sheepzilla. This is Dona's photo that Alison used to create this:Here is another entry......showing how dedicated Team Meridian Jacobs members are. By the way anyone on Ravelry can vote for these photos before October 22 by clicking "love" on those photo entries here and here as well as other photos by our team members and other teams. Some are quite clever so take a look.

Each of our members submitted their yardage and a photo of their yarns. Here are a few.

 

This is the yarn that I spun...Jacob, of course.

The Second Week Ends with Fiber Fusion

I ended the last post with double doses of tylenol with codeine. I decided that I should treat myself this week the way I should have last week--relax, sleep, sleep some more. It didn't work quite like that because it was Spinzilla week, but it was much better than the previous week. People came here and I didn't have to do much else. I'll write another post about Spinzilla and Team Meridian Jacobs later. However, there was another fiber event on the weekend following Lambtown--Fiber Fusion in Chico.I had not planned to be a vendor here. Instead I was scheduled for a talk about the fiber business. I brought a couple of sheep and fiber, yarn, buttons, and lambskins. Some of Team Meridian Jacobs made the two hour drive here to spin together.One very dedicated Team member, who lives in Illinois, scheduled a California visit to coincide with Spinzilla week so we were able to visit with her in person, all the while keeping those wheels going.Spinning side-by-side Jacob roving.Our neighbors on one side were Shaul's, who make all the panels and feeders that I use in the barn. I brought a few more pieces home with me.On the other side was Elvis, the yak. Jackie had a booth inside where it got hot and stuffy. We had the more pleasant conditions with a nice breeze. Although I always enjoy hanging out with my friends and I was thrilled to meet our distant team member, I was still not back to normal and this felt like a really long day. I didn't look forward to the two hour drive home, but then I saw the most beautiful sky and hundreds of geese flying in from the south. I had to stop. I pulled off the freeway at an exit that I recognized as one where I had slept for an hour or so on my way back from Oregon in June. This is the view to the northwest.You can't make out the geese in these but here is the view with my other camera:These don't do the scene justice. This stop along the freeway was a big boost in a long day. I need to go back up there this fall or winter and spend some time in the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge.