Everybody Wins

Um…where did my summer go?

Do you ever get the feeling that all you did was blink and suddenly time whacked you on the head, gave you a shove, and you found yourself in another timezone? I feel like that right now. Between family stuff, looking for more work, getting a new job and just life in general…time just flew this summer. And there were some things that slipped through the cracks. I think I am going to have to host my own private Spin-a-Thon once I get my bearings again just to make up for the Tour. But, hey, a new job is a new job and you know what that means. Well, besides making room for adjustments. Yup! More spinning wheels, spindles and fluff! It's still a win in my book.

Another thing that fell through the cracks is a lovely, new, spinner's magazine called Ply.

Ply is the brainchild of the wondrously talented Jacey Boggs (aka Insubordiknit). You may recall she wrote SPIN ART? Awesome book and DVD if you ever get the chance to pick it up. Pssst…it's available as a download too.

I learned about the magazine months ago, but well after its Kickstarter debut. Apparently, it picked up steam amongst spinners extremely quickly. Imagine that, lol!

The magazine is different from other spinning magazines in that it focuses on those who are already familiar with spinning an less on the absolute beginner. It's not that beginners can't use it. It's just not a how-to spin your very first yarn kind of magazine, per se. It assumes you've already been there and done that. Ply is more likely to show you your next steps after that first skein and beyond.

Ply is also theme-focused. Every issue will pinpoint a theme from various perspectives and kind of throw it out there for spinners to chew on. This first issue was about…well, firsts.

And just about every first I could have thought of was packed in! The first yarn, the first sheep, the first spinning wheel, spinning for your first competition, buying your first fleece, etc., etc. There is a section called “Tip Jar” for first-timers advice. I loved the “Stealth Review” section where anonymous spinners of different levels gave their opinions on a well-known wheel! Because they all own the wheel and use it, even though they did not all agree, the advice was very sound.

The magazine is also going to go digital as well! Squee! You all already know it is going right up on my digital shelf!

Lest you should think there are no how-to's at all…

Once the magazine got me in the know on kid mohair, there was a tutorial follow up from the Boggs herself to show how to use it in corespinning…or should I say, how she uses it in corespinning. Ms. Boggs likes folks to know that there is more than one way to skin a cat in spinning. In fact, that idea itself is a major premise of the magazine: sharing the wealth of ideas out there on the craft so readers can find where they fit within that spectrum. Cool, huh?

They didn't forget the knitters either. See? Spinning and knitting go hand and hand…and rock so hard!!

I gave you that intro to say that I wound up getting two of these first issues in the mail. Yup. Two! I had written Ms. Boggs to let her know that my issue hadn't come yet after the first two mailings. She let me know she'd send it right out. Within days it got to my house and I was ecstatic! Imagine my surprise when a couple days later a yellow package that read Ply on the front came to my door. Huh? I wrote her again to tell her that I had gotten two and she was really cool about it. I asked her if she wouldn't mind if I shared the wealth…You know where I'm going with this, yes?😉 If you are interested in reading this delightful magazine, leave a comment below. I will do a drawing by that random number picky thing in about two weeks and get it out to you.

Let's all read Ply and look at the pretty pictures together! Group hug?

Well, beyond that, I have been reading up on Common Core Standards in teaching…

and playing, as usual.

Here's what's dressing my Moosie these days.

I love the shepherds hooks. They're my favorite kind of hooks for a spindle.

I even got this baby a new water bottle! I think this one is slimmer for my current bag. It's a Rubbermaid too. So, it might be slightly more shock absorbent than the more rigid one. It has a much smaller mouth though. So, it will only fit a few of my spindles. It fits the Moosie fine though.

I finally washed, dried and caked and rolled up some skeins I had sitting around.

And since one of them was so bulky, and the kids are with their grands, I decided to go on and make that hat today. Since I had no model to measure, I used one of Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns apps on my iPad. It's so…handy! I love the colors in this hat and I think it will keep Girl Child's head nice and warm this winter.

Look how huge those stitches are! Chunky yarns are swwweet!

But, they do use up a lot of fiber for the yardage you get. I actually wound up using all of the final skein and BOTH samplers-the 2-ply and the chain ply for this hat.

Don't you love it when everybody wins?