The Michigan Fiber Festival Workshop Experience
For the past eight (or maybe more) years in mid-August, I’ve
been going to the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, Michigan, for several
days of workshops. Each year I come home with a new or renewed passion for a
craft. Over the years, I’ve improved my spinning and knitting skills, learned
to make baskets, rugs, and paint yarns. I especially enjoy the workshops when I
come home with a finished project. This year was special. I signed up for the
Continuous Strand Weaving workshop, led by Carol Leigh from the Hillcreek Fiber Studio in Columbia, Missouri. The workshop lasted two days, although it took me
three and a half to finish, and I came home with a beautiful shawl. What really
made it special is that I used all natural yarns from our Border Leicester
fleeces, white and natural colored.
The Michigan Fiber Festival Sheep Show Experience
Jerry arrived in Allegan on Friday with a trailer full of sheep and fleeces. This year he brought a yearling ram, 2 ram lambs, 2 yearling ewes and 2 ewe lambs, all natural colored. The sheep show was on Saturday morning (btw, the weather was perfect...cool and sunny). The judge was Sam Wiford from Ohio. One yearling ewe won her class; we won pair of yearling ewes and pair of ram lambs; and we won first in flock. The yearling ewe also was champion natural colored ewe. This all added up to winning Premier Breeder in the natural colored show. We were pretty happy with the results. Even better, we came home with no fleeces, having sold them all. We also came home with one less ram. We found a new home for Emmit at Clearwater Farms in Coldwater, Michigan, where he will be well-taken care of.
We highly recommend the Michigan Fiber Festival - we haven’t been disappointed yet!
