Spinning Event Benefits Mentoring Program

Last year was the first for Spinzilla, a weeklong spinning competition that encourages groups and individuals to make as much yarn as they can to claim bragging rights (as well as a trophy and gift certificates for team members).

Even though the event isn’t until October 6-12, organizers are already getting people excited about this year’s competition.

Registration is now open for teams through July 14, and spinners can register — either as part of a team or as rogue spinners — beginning August 4. Teams host meetups and their total yardage is compiled together for the competition.

The winning team last year was Fancy Tiger Crafts, which spun almost 95,000 yards (or 54 miles!) of yarn during the week. In all, more than 1.3 million yards of yarn were spun during the week.

But more than just a fun event highlighting spinning, Spinzilla is also a fundraiser. The $10 entry fee goes to the Needle Arts Mentoring Program, which provides resources to people who want to teach knitting, crochet, needlepoint or spinning to groups of kids. In all the event raised almost $6,000 last year, which has that group energized to double the number of kids it reaches.

Are you a spinner? Would you take part in an event like this? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

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