The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: SallyintNorth on April 11, 2018, 04:11:47 pm

Title: BritSpin
Post by: SallyintNorth on April 11, 2018, 04:11:47 pm
Just to let the spinners on here know, there's a new spinning event this year, BritSpin.

It's been set up by Jane Cooper (of Woolsack (http://woolsack.org) fame) and Jan Ellison (driving force behind Fibre East)

It'll run 11-14th Oct, which is during UK (excluding Shetland ::)) Wool Week

Details are a little scant at present, but the central thrust is teams of 10 spinners spinning as much as they can over the four days.  However we are assured it's not all about quantity and there will be other events announced over the months which will be less focussed on mileage.

I just thought it worth mentioning on here.  Any appetite for a TAS team? 

Personally, having to churn out quantities of yarn in a proscribed time frame with other people depending on me would fill me with dread, as smallholding life so often seems to interfere with my crafting time!  But it might be of interest to others - and I'd certainly be very happy to coast alongside as a cheerleader / enabler, spinning as and when I can.

There's a BritSpin website linky (http://www.britspin.org.uk/index.html) and a Ravelry group linky (https://www.ravelry.com/groups/britspin) (which is where most of it will happen, I'm told.)
Title: Re: BritSpin
Post by: Fleecewife on April 11, 2018, 04:46:31 pm
It's not my thing either to spin frantically just for the sake of producing (in my case) a few yards of yarn.  But I shall be delighted to follow what everyone else achieves.  :spin: :spin: :spin:
Title: Re: BritSpin
Post by: Rosemary on April 11, 2018, 05:16:20 pm
Jeez, I thought this was about a new name for the BBC  :coat:
Title: Re: BritSpin
Post by: SallyintNorth on April 11, 2018, 08:19:08 pm
Jeez, I thought this was about a new name for the BBC  :coat:

 :roflanim:

Nice one :thumbsup:
Title: Re: BritSpin
Post by: Lesley Silvester on April 13, 2018, 12:03:48 am
Jeez, I thought this was about a new name for the BBC  :coat:


 :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
Title: Re: BritSpin
Post by: Dogwalker on April 14, 2018, 06:09:29 am
  Likewise, much as I might like to sit and spin all day there's too many other things happen in a day to devote the time to spinning.  An hour in the evening maybe, but not enough to be in a marathon.
Title: Re: BritSpin
Post by: pharnorth on April 18, 2018, 10:06:53 am
The marathon spinners have my admiration but it is not for me. Unless I was locked in a very tall tower with a spinning wheel and a big bag of fleece and no other way or escape.
Title: Re: BritSpin
Post by: Buttermilk on April 18, 2018, 12:13:47 pm
I joined a group doing Spinzilla a few years ago.  I committed to 4 hours for 5 days and my spinning improved no end for the steady practice.
Title: Re: BritSpin
Post by: SallyintNorth on April 18, 2018, 10:19:49 pm
It's shaping up that we will probably have a 'Tour of British Fleece' team, whose objective is absolutely not to produce miles of yarn, but to use the event as a vehicle to share fleece and knowledge about fleece and to promote the wonderful fleece of British sheep.  (That is, British breeds and types of sheep - so very emphatically including hybrids such as the plethora of Mules, and all the other established and lesser-known crosses too - and also the fleece of sheep found in Britain, ie., the sheep local to you.). And I should mention that our extensive use of the word 'fleece' is not to preclude prepared fibre for those who prefer it.

And there will be a Spin-In or two during the four days where BritSpinners (and other spinners who are not BritSpinners too) will meet up to spin together.

So all fairly low key for us, I think, with the emphasis on fun and connecting with other spinners.

We are still awaiting any information about specific challenges / events that aren't about how many miles of yarn you can spin in four days...  but are assured they will be many and varied.  I expect we'll end up making up some of our own too ;)