Twenty-third Annual Sheep to Shawl Event
A Smashing Success
By Jeanie Fodor
2002’s Sheep to Shawl Event was another wonderful success as onlookers viewed, in amazement, the process necessary to create these wonderful shawls.
This is the only event at the Fair that allows entrants from outside the county. The skill needed to work through every facet of the event is only bestowed upon a few who can compete on a world-class level.
The event began with the shearing of a sheep demonstration provided by Larry Cochran, narrator and the ewe shorn was by Don Burt. This portion of the event always draws a large crowd and many questions, which Larry answers with great pleasure.
Renee Metcalf, this year’s Judge, came to us from Springfield, OR. Being a very experienced Fiber Arts person, she did a wonderful job of judging each shawl and pointing out all of the wonderful aspects of each shawl. She also explained the difficulties of working with some of the fibers used in these shawls.
This year the First Place ribbon was won by the San Juan Island team consisting of Candy Hoeschen, Team Captain and Plyer; Weaver: Jo Critchlow, Steward: Sue Brady and Weavers: Judy Brandt, Kathy Chadwick, Annette Dysart, Peggy Hunt, Barbara Shorett and Sally Stern. The Romney & Romney-Border Leister fleeces were provided by the Dysarts’ Shepherds Croft on San Juan Island and were washed, dyed and drum carded in preparation for the spinning and weaving of the shawl.
This year’s beautiful shawl pattern was a twill/plain weave mix designed by Joe Critchlow. Bright colors are favored by Jo and that was evident in the bright red of the shawl that was so beautifully created by this team. The loom the San Juan team was using came to the Fair fully warped with 647 yards of double ply yarns. The weft is a complementary semi-worsted spun yarn with a little less twist to allow a softer drape and slightly fuzzy surface to develop when fulled. The two-ply weft, totalling 416 yards, required the four spinners to spin about 850 yards of singles in three hours.
The Orcas Island team came in Second Place with a beautiful blue shawl highlighted with bright, shinny silk accents. This particular combination of fibers made this shawl a real challenge for the Orcas team. Their team consisted of Maria Nutt, weaver: Audrey Well, plyer; and spinners were Cathy Vierthaler, Mary Minnis, Hannah Boehm, Jean Spalti, Ginny Bohannan, Jenna Schmidt, Elsie Pamuk and Maureen Hannan (who spun some of the warp and taught this team how to deal with silk). The CVM cross fleece for this shawl was provided by Warm Valley Orchard, Orcas. Jenna Schmidt was a surprise weaver on the Orcas team. She is a member of 4H and has only been spinning since March of this year. The pattern they chose for their shawl was a Swedish Lace with blocks of plain weave.
When judging these shawls Ms. Metcalf judged teamwork, design of shawl which included choice of fiber, spinning appropriate to fiber, choice of weave structure, color use, originality and design appropriate to shawl; spinning quality included fiber preparation, warp yarn, weft yarn, and plying; weaving quality included consistency of beat, even tension, absence of threading and/or treadling errors, selvedges and consistency of width of shawl; and finally size, finishing/fringe and drape or hand.
Not an easy job when dealing with the quality of these shawls.
After the judging the raffle drawing for each shawl took place. Amy Lum from Orcas won the Orcas team shawl and Joan May from San Juan won the San Juan tream shawl. The shawls were then put in the Wood Shed for the remainder of the Fair for all to see. The shawls will be returned to each team to finish and send to the winners.
Many thanks are sent out to all the folks that helped with this event and all the other events at the Fair. Without them the Fair would not succeed.
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