Ulster Fleece to Shawl 2008

Roughly three years ago I participated in my first fleece to shawl, at the now defunct Chatham Sheepherding Co. Farm Day Festival. While the festival was great, I did not enjoy the actual spinning competition for several reasons, mostly feeling stressed and not knowing how to spin wool still partially in the grease. It so put me off that I have avoided these competitions ever since, until this summer. Feeling I should chip in and help the guild win some prize money, I decided to give it another go. Boy, am I glad I did!

The Ulster County Fair’s Fleece to Shawl competition was a lot of fun! We were tucked away on the porch of the lovely dedicated Wool Room building, safe from the pouring rain and sheltered from the later afternoon sun. The Elmendorph Guild teams were the teams present, so we competed against ourselves. It was the “Red Hook Spinners” (complete with snazzy shirts) against the Elmendorph Handspinners, the latter being the team I was on. Our loom was warped to create an ivory/hunter green/redwood brown shawl in a simple twill pattern. What made the shawl shine were the colored sections of the warp, they were heathered with bright pops of color that gave it a lot of depth. The Red Hook team was weaving a lovely black/grey/cherry red warp in an undulating twill pattern. Our weavers were Lydia and Elizabeth, respectively. Our judge, Maureen, was wonderful and kept us company the entire time.

The time seemed to fly by, during which I discovered exactly the right way to card wool so that I could get a spinnable rolag. While my technique needs work, I know, for only my second time using hand cards I’m not going to complain! Our fleece was slightly felted, so it was still a bit hard to spin, but I kept reminding myself that I didn’t have to spin perfectly, I just had to spin… the clock was ticking! You forget, when you’re used to spinning finely, how hard it is to spin thicker. The most I could do was shoot for DK and hope for the best. I was the assigned speaker for our group so I did a lot of talking to the community. I managed to stick my foot in my mouth once or twice, but I did my best and hope that I didn’t embarrass myself (or the guild) too badly.

Things went so well that we finished with 45 minutes to spare, but then again, competitions of this nature usually only last 3 hours so we weren’t exactly running around like mad as I’m told it usually ends. Seeing the shawls, both of them, come of the loom was very exciting, they each were gorgeous in their own right. There was a lot of laughter and excitement as we knotted fringe, trimmed ends, and waited for judging. The judging was swift, and my team (the Elmendorph Handspinners) took first place… but, only because we finished first! The two shawls really were so lovely that we’d tied other than the fact that we earned extra points for finishing ours first. Congratulations to both teams for their hard work! Thanks goes to the other demonstrators, our lovely judge, and to the wonderful fair volunteers who made our day such a great one.

I will definitely do this again soon, and I’m thinking that next time I’ll try spinning the warp again. I have visions of a stunning black, wine and rose warp. Couple that with a grey fleece that’s been over-dyed cranberry and I’d just about die from joy. I don’t really need to shop all day, both days of Rhinebeck, right?

You can view more photos from this event by returning to the guild website and clicking on the Album section.

 

Spin In 2008

On Saturday, July 19th the guild hosted their 4th annual Spin In at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck. This was my second year attending, and I was excited to see all the new additions to the day that the guild incorporated. As usual we invited our local sister guilds. When I spoke to members of the Elmendorph Guild it was agreed that we seemed to have more spinners in attendance than last year, an amazing feat considering that the weather was disgustingly hot and humid. The occasional cool breeze coming through the pavilion helped some, but it really was quite sticky. It’s a good thing the refreshments included cold drinks, we needed them!

One of the best things about the Spin In, for me, is that I try to sit next to someone I don’t know very well so that I can get to know them a little better. This year I sat next to Hans, sans Phil, and chatted the day away. It seemed that everywhere I looked I saw a new face, it was nice to get friendly with the sister guild members.

New this year was a silent auction, the idea for which grew out of a discussion early this spring about ways to raise money for the guild. Guild members were encouraged to bring items from their stash, in good repair, and offer them up for sale. All proceeds went to the guild, and while some items went very cheaply, there was some fierce bidding going on. That ball winder was quite the item to have! Everything from vintage yarn to spinning and knitting tools, roving to washed fleeces was up for grabs. I bid on, and won, the most gorgeous copper Angelina that will become part of my mother s wedding-vow-renewal shawl. The brown Romney fleece I snagged won’t go to waste either. I’m not sure how much money was raised but we had a grand time. Thanks goes to the lovely ladies from the visiting guild for bringing their departed member’s magazine stash. They offered her magazines to us for free, so that her stash would live on in her absence. We all thoroughly appreciated the chance to go stash-diving and many of us enriched our collections of knitting and spinning magazines. Thank you again!

The Spin In is a very special event. It’s where we come together as a fiber family and share a few hours doing what we love, together. I hope that the guild continues this event for many years to come. You can see the full photo album for this event by clicking on the Album tab at the top of the website.