Monthly Archives: October 2014

Goals, Dreams and Reality……

I’m a list maker and a goal setter.  Nothing makes me happier than to  cross off a task or reach a goal.  Last posting I was getting ready for a Godzilla tv movie marathon in preparation for SPINZILLA.  It was grand.  By the 2nd movie I was really into the Godzilla/Spinzilla mood.  The hardest part was waiting for the start of Spinzilla!  At last the start time approached, I snuck a quick nap in before the Midnight hour tolled.  One minute after Midnight I was spinning away! I spun for about 4 hours just to officially start the week of spinning.  That was my first goal, to be sure to start the race at the drop of the flag.  Goal number one accomplished:)

Goal number 2 was to be up and spinning by 8 am each morning, and spend as much time as possible spinning before my 2 am bed time.  I did pretty good with this goal.  I was late to spinning a few mornings, and stayed up beyond my bed time on a few occasions but it all evened out pretty good.  I give myself a passing grade on this goal, did good, but not Gold Star good.

Goal number 3 was to photo document my spinning as much as possible. I did good on this one…lol…took me over an hour to sort through all the pictures I snapped this past week.  Here is some first day progress.

New Hue Handspuns yarn
Day 1 results for SPINZILLA 2014

I had a lot of fun with the camera….. Spinning fiber waiting to be spun

New Hue Handspuns
Fiber stripped and ready for spinning

The sillies tended to strike in the middle of the night… Sometimes the piles of fiber started spinning on their own…

New Hue Handspuns
Spinning fiber spinning

Goal number 4 was to name the new colorway of Bam Huey.  This picture confirmed the name I had in mind.  Aurora Borealis!  I started with a purple/blue color combination for one ply of the yarn for the night sky. The 2nd ply would be the explosion of color produced by geomagnetic storms  hitting our atmosphere.  I’d say I aced this goal:)

Goal number 5 was to spin more than I did last year.  Hit that goal on day 4!  I counted up 17,000-ish yards by Thursday surpassing last year’s 16,852 yards.

New Hue Handspuns
Hit the 17,000 yard mark with these fresh off the winder skeins

Last year I had to sit out several days due to burns and visitors….not so this year.  Everyone did pretty good, just a few phone calls and a few distractions that could have been avoided.  On the whole the family was on their best behavior and I didn’t have to work too much during the week.

Goal number 6 was to have the best spinning day ever on Saturday 10/11/14 and do this by spinning 20 hours.  Why you ask?!?!  Because that was my 20th anniversary of my first spinning lesson.  Saturday marked my 20th year of doing what I love best.  I met my closest friend and my soon to be mentor on that day.  The 3 of us hope to get together a bit later and celebrate.  If it were not for these 2 ladies and their support I would not be the spinner I am today.  I had to be sure to make it a good day even if I could not spend it with them:)  I love to do movie marathons when I have big spinning projects.  One of my all time favorites to pop in the DVD player is the extended versions of Lord of The Rings.  That is always a great 12 hour kick off.  The even better part is that there are now the 2 Hobbit  movies to add to that line up giving me about 18 hours of spinning entertainment.  To top it off for a full 20 hours of movies I ended with my all time favorite movie, The Wizard of OZ.  I can never get tired of watching that movie…what can I say, I’m still a farm girl at heart who wants color in her life!

It was fun to snap some pictures while watching  here are some of of my favs….

New Hue Handspuns
yet the start of another Hobbit movie

Gandalf watched over me too as I spun along and drank home made mead from my Lord of the Rings Chalice .

New Hue Handspuns
Must not make the Wizard mad, must spin faster!!!

Keeping the Dwarf’s beards out of my spinning was a challenge as well

New Hue Handspuns
Must keep the Dwarf’s beard out of the fiber and his hands off my mead!

I started spinning at 6 am on Saturday 10/11/14 and finished  spinning at 2:15 am Sunday morning when Dorthy decided there really was “No Place Like Home”.  There were a few 15 minute meal and bathroom breaks, but for the most part it was spinning, spinning, and more spinning!  Wonderful Hubby cooked up this huge 17 pound hunk of beef for 11 hours.  Talk about mouth watering caramelized yummy goodness!!!

Braised Beef...It's what's for dinner.....and breakfast and lunch, and for the next week!!!
Braised Beef…It’s what’s for dinner…..and breakfast, and lunch, and for the next week!!!

It was a grand day and I had a wonderful time reaching this goal of 20 hours of spinning on my 20th anniversary:))))))  I’d say I got an A+ on reaching this goal! The best part is I also reached goal number 7 early this day…… to make last year’s missed goal of 20,000 yards!

The days of SPINZILLA did blur one into the next somewhat like this flying plying bobbin…

New Hue Handspuns
The days of blur…

Sunday was full of football….can’t say my teams did to well, but still it was a fun day of spinning and yelling/cheering.  I snapped this picture for a particular FB friend….. I think you know who you are you green and yellow fan you….lol…

The Green Bay Packers and Spinning, just for you Miss Lyons!
The Green Bay Packers and Spinning, just for you Packer fans!  Sorry to my Seahawks Friends…they played so bad I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture 🙁

Before long the week was coming to an end and the final hours were counting down. Goal number 8 was to spin to the very end and cross the finish line strong.  I decided that the best way for a strong finish to SPINZILLA  week was finish the way I started….with a Godzilla movie……..

SPINZILLA VS Godzilla
SPINZILLA and Godzilla stepping/stomping  out…..
Monster SPINZILLA YARN VS Godzilla
Monster SPINZILLA YARN VS Godzilla

Midnight struck soon after Godzilla was destroyed, and it was fiber down and time to count yardage.  Goal number 8 was to break 30,000 yards…..and I made it!!! 2am picture wasn’t great, so snapped one first thing in the morning… here is over 30,000 yards!!!!

New Hue Handspuns
Broke the 30,000 yard goal!

The final goal was to double last years yardage…. I would have needed to spin  34,000 yards to make that goal…..I missed it by about a mile!!  My final measured, and remeasured  yardage is…….drum roll please……….. 30,723 Monster SPINZILLA yards spun! That is a bit over 17 miles in one week!!!

A happy result to a wonderful week of spinning
A happy result to a wonderful week of spinning
ZZZZZZZZZ........
ZZZZZZZZZ……..

Now it is a matter of waiting to see how our Team Knot Another Hat  placed.  We had many heavy duty spinners working hard!  and of course I’m wondering if I will hang on to the individual grand champion spot this year.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but I well know that there are many spinners faster and better than me…..just not too many as crazy as me when it comes to spinning:)

one final picture to leave you with…..

New Hue Handspuns
My SPINZILLA week!

Until next time, Happy Spinning and Knitting,

Cheryl <^..^>

Spin Spin SPINZILLA!!!!!!

It is almost time for SPINZILLA!!!!  At the time of writing this there is about 30 hours to SPINZILLA……..and I am almost ready…lol…almost:)

I believe we all are born with talents and it is up to each of us to discover them and develop them to the fullest.  Some people are whizzes  with numbers, others accomplish amazing athletic feats.  There are those who climb mountains, and those that swim across large  bodies of water. Brave souls who sail around the world in tiny little boats all by them selves and those that leave the  confines of earth and step into space, and don’t forget those that eat many hot dogs in just a few minutes!…….Me……. my talent is to spin.  Nothing earth shattering, nothing that will be remembered after I’m gone, but I spin and I love it!!!!!    I see spinning similar to riding a bike.  You can take a lovely Sunday afternoon ride, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the view….. Or you can take your bike to the top of Pikes Peak and race down like the wind!  Your hair blowing straight out behind you, heart racing , thrill ride of your life adventure.  I’m the top of the mountain thrill ride type:))))))  So you can imagine that SPINZILLA is my kind of FUN!  Here is my chance to show myself just what I can do….and the rest of you too:))))

Getting ready for SPINZILLA isn’t just about getting fiber ready, but also about setting the stage for success. First off you have to clear the calendar.  I’ve told the family I am unavailable from the 6-12 of October.  We are in the middle of selling our house and moving in with MIL but still everyone knows that Cheryl is UNAVAILABLE. No packing, no cleaning, nothing but spinning and the absolute least amount of time spent at the bakery and running the web store.

Next step is to stock up on the essentials.  For me this is making up quick meals that I can fix and consume in a few minutes.

prepping for spinzillz
Meals for SPINZILLA

I’ve cooked up pasta, made a big pot of fat free sauce.  There are eggs boiled for some quick protein and I will make lots and lots of little turkey sandwiches tomorrow. These are my favorite meals that my cranky old body will digest.  My cooking during SPINZILLA will consist of a few minutes of microwaving or toasting…simple and quick!

Next up you need to have plenty of fiber to spin.

New Hue Handspuns Spinzilla
SPINZILLA fiber Prep

There is 10 pounds of Bam Huey fiber all rolled up and waiting to be dyed. (yes that is a special  treat in the background, all low fat chips just for me!) I’m only dyeing up 6 pounds of  this Bam Huey for SPINZILLA.  I’ve been waiting for my dye order to arrive, but it must be stuck in  customs.   So this means I had to come up with an alternate plan.  I have a secret  order that I was planning to spin, but without the dyes I could not do it.   I then decided to create a new colorway just for SPINZILLA  and see just how much of it I could spin in 1 week.    I dyed the fiber in the wee hours this morning and by evening here is the first batch drying.

New Hue Handspuns
SPINZILLA DYEING

What…..did you think I was going to show you the new colorway this early ?!?!?!?!?!?!

Nope, you gotta wait until I have a skein all plied up:)

I have also been getting my work area ready.  I’ve emptied all my bobbins and the skein winder is at the ready.

New Hue handspuns
Bobbins emptied and ready for Spinzilla

Miss Mini is empy and ready to spin, my chair is ready and waiting.  The sad part is the chair will be going to the dump after SPINZILLA.  The poor thing is comfortable, but it is falling apart.  It is sad to see it go, but it is time…

New Hue Handspuns
Work area ready for SPINZILLA

Yes you can see the fiber hanging to dry, but the color really doesn’t show.

Last but not least one must get in the proper mood to spin for a week.  How better than to watch a Godzilla marathon on TV?!?!?   It would have been sooooo purrrrrfect for the Godzilla marathon to be on Sunday night just before the start of Spinzilla 12:01 AM Monday  October 6th…… but I’m happy enough with a Saturday night marathon.

So to all of you who train to run marathons, climb mountains, or eat the most hot dogs, I salute you, for Monday I climb my Mount Everest, swim my English Channel, and race my amazing race….. On Monday I spin……… life doesn’t get much better than this:)

Until next time,

Happy spinning and Knitting,

Cheryl <^..^>