It is beginning

After assembling a 7 person knitting and spinning team, we will be participating in the Sheep to Shawl competition at the Lambtown USA Festival .’Sheep to Shawl’ is a demonstration that shows how wool is made into garments. In 4 1/2 hours, a sheep is shorn, its wool is carded and spun, and the yarn is made into a shawl. At Lambtown USA the participants are primarily weavers. A team of 7 people work with freshly-shorn kool-aid dyed wool to make a shawl. Everything takes place the day of the competition, except for a little bit of preparation. To speed things along, teams of weavers are allowed to show up with the warp of their loom already strung (These are the vertical strings that everything else will be woven on).

Last year we attended Lambtown and saw the competition, but did not participate (pictures here).
This year, we will be a team of knitters which might prove to be a little more challenging. Knitting generally takes a bit longer than weaving, but we will be allowed to have multiple people knitting at once. Also since the weavers can arrive with their warp already spun and set up, we will be allowed to show up with some of the shawl already started.

Here are the reasons that you should keep an eye on our progress:
-we barely know how to spin. Three of us have been spinning for less than a year, and while i
think we will make it, it will certainly be hilarious.
-The even will take place in 100 degree heat. And i hate the heat. expect photos of me sitting in a cooler.
-we attract minor disasters. what will it be? a felting-while-washing incident? complete disorganization? who knows!?
-we are good at having fun.

This week, the bit of the fleece that we will prepare ahead of time should be arriving on my doorstep. If you want to see our grueling training schedule, it can be viewed here .