Maryland Sheep and Wool - Sunday May 4
Believe it or not, I had such a wonderful time on Saturday, that I returned again on Sunday....this time even EARLIER!!!! Once again, the weather was absolutely perfect! I showed up at 7:25 am so I'd be there for the "Sheep to Shawl" competition that began at 8 am. A friend of mine was one of the competitors...and I really wanted to be there to cheer her on.
Linda Witt of Misty Mountain Farm donated the fleece from her Finn Sheep for the effort. Here's Liz (left) with the Finn before shearing.
There were 3 spinners: Liz, Martha, and Diane as well as the weaver, Mickey. The sheep shearer was Anne Schroeder of Star Gazing Farm . It was Liz's first time competing! You go girl!
Anne is busily shearing here....she's almost done. Ideally, you want to be one of the first ones done and not lose any points.
The shearing is finally done....now to wait for the judge to examine the work. The judge examines both the fleeces and the animals to ensure there were no second cuts in the wool and that none of the animals were nicked in the shearing process.
The next step was to start weaving - the team had to submit a schematic of their weave and detailed information about the team as well as the sheep and shearer. A sample shawl was woven prior to the competition and it put on display - the shawl produced today should be its twin!
All the competitors had pre-warped their looms - they were required to use non-commercial warp, so these girls hand-dyed theirs to make it very bright and unique! Here you see Mickey busily weaving away.
Here, you can see everyone working away (left to right) - Diane, Liz, Martha and Mickey.
At one point, Liz didn't have to flick or card the fleece at all....she just worked from a long "chunk". I captured a good photo of her spinning the long "chunk". I also captured a couple of videos of her from both the front and the side so you can see how she was spinning right from the fleece without any raking!
Their finished shawl sold at auction for $110.00! Wahoo!
I strolled through the sheep barn as well and took photos of MANY sheep. This time, however, I made sure I wrote down the breed and the number of pictures taken. I hope to eventually put them in an "album" and label them so I can then recognize the various breeds.
I did find two very intriguing groups of sheep in the barns. First, the Jacobs with LOTS of horns - boy did they look cumbersome! I also found some Texel Sheep (a rare breed from the Netherlands). My secret pal from the Netherlands had sent me some hand spun skeins of this yarn last year along with an info sheet about the sheep. I'd never seen them in "real life" until I found them here! They're very cute.
I found a little sheepie taking a stroll with her owner....soooo cute! I also found a shepherdess who is a painter as well - she's painting her flock.
Of course, I continued to shop as well - this time, my main purchases were several pounds of Navajo Churro in natural whites and browns for a rug and a gorgeous black wool cape. I've always wanted a cape...and this one was absolutely stunning - I just "had" to have it! LOL!
Linda Witt of Misty Mountain Farm donated the fleece from her Finn Sheep for the effort. Here's Liz (left) with the Finn before shearing.
There were 3 spinners: Liz, Martha, and Diane as well as the weaver, Mickey. The sheep shearer was Anne Schroeder of Star Gazing Farm . It was Liz's first time competing! You go girl!
Anne is busily shearing here....she's almost done. Ideally, you want to be one of the first ones done and not lose any points.
The shearing is finally done....now to wait for the judge to examine the work. The judge examines both the fleeces and the animals to ensure there were no second cuts in the wool and that none of the animals were nicked in the shearing process.
The next step was to start weaving - the team had to submit a schematic of their weave and detailed information about the team as well as the sheep and shearer. A sample shawl was woven prior to the competition and it put on display - the shawl produced today should be its twin!
All the competitors had pre-warped their looms - they were required to use non-commercial warp, so these girls hand-dyed theirs to make it very bright and unique! Here you see Mickey busily weaving away.
Here, you can see everyone working away (left to right) - Diane, Liz, Martha and Mickey.
At one point, Liz didn't have to flick or card the fleece at all....she just worked from a long "chunk". I captured a good photo of her spinning the long "chunk". I also captured a couple of videos of her from both the front and the side so you can see how she was spinning right from the fleece without any raking!
Their finished shawl sold at auction for $110.00! Wahoo!
I strolled through the sheep barn as well and took photos of MANY sheep. This time, however, I made sure I wrote down the breed and the number of pictures taken. I hope to eventually put them in an "album" and label them so I can then recognize the various breeds.
I did find two very intriguing groups of sheep in the barns. First, the Jacobs with LOTS of horns - boy did they look cumbersome! I also found some Texel Sheep (a rare breed from the Netherlands). My secret pal from the Netherlands had sent me some hand spun skeins of this yarn last year along with an info sheet about the sheep. I'd never seen them in "real life" until I found them here! They're very cute.
I found a little sheepie taking a stroll with her owner....soooo cute! I also found a shepherdess who is a painter as well - she's painting her flock.
Of course, I continued to shop as well - this time, my main purchases were several pounds of Navajo Churro in natural whites and browns for a rug and a gorgeous black wool cape. I've always wanted a cape...and this one was absolutely stunning - I just "had" to have it! LOL!
posted by Jinann @ 7:18 PM
1 Comments:
At 10:02 AM,
Liz said…
How wonderful, Jinann! I asked Lynn for your email addy but we promptly forgot about it, I wanted to ask you about these pics. Thanks for taking them and being so supportive! *big hug* --liz
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