Category Archives: competition

Best Handspun Yarn at Pagosa Springs

              This past May I entered the skein competition at the Pagosa Springs Fiber Festival in Colorado. Pagosa is a small festival but they run an excellent skein competition with prestigious judges. This year … Continue reading

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Spinning accomplishments for this year

I didn’t actually do a lot of spinning or other fibre arts this year. I suffered an overuse injury (computer-related) and had to take several months to rest, so my plans to enter several skeins in competition in 2010 had … Continue reading

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Silica crystals continued, or yarn weight and humidity

It’s a week since I decided to test how much moisture could be pulled out of a skein of yarn by sealing it up with desiccant. Today I pulled out the skein and weighed it, and it was right at … Continue reading

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The many uses of silica crystals

I wanted to enter a skein at Taos this year, specifically the second skein of Jacob wool that didn’t turn out quite the same as the first. The two skeins, with the slightly finer-spun one in front. I was quite … Continue reading

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Sheep to shawl in Dunvegan

Looking back through archived newsletters from the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners, I see that a number of smaller guilds in the province have closed or merged in recent years due to dwindling membership. In most cases it’s a case of … Continue reading

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Skein competition how-to, Part 4: Tags and mailing

Most competition require skeins to have identification tag of some kind, listing both the entrant’s contact information as well as preparation and spinning details. This serves two purposes: one is the obvious way to keep track of who submitted what … Continue reading

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Skein competition how-to, Part 3: Presentation

While the majority of points in a skein competition are reserved for technique, presentation points can mean the difference between 1st and 3rd place, or a ribbon and none at all. While it may seem picky to judge on presentation, … Continue reading

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