This is an annual event that brings sheep growers, craftspeople and suppliers of farm, weaving and spinning equipment together on a grand scale. There are two days with all sorts of competitions, lots of food, and some good down-home music. Sheep dog demonstrations are part of the event too. In the weekdays ahead of the big weekend, there are meetings and seminars directed at the business and animal husbandry aspects of raising sheep. One of the more amazing events is a "Sheep to Shawl" contest — "the only team sport for fiber artists!" Each team consists of five people, a shearer, three spinners and a weaver. At the starting bell, the shearer shears a sheep and provides the fleece to the spinners. The spinners card the wool and spin it into yarn. The weaver starts weaving as soon as s/he can get a bobbin of wool.

(You will not see pictures of the shearing here. As a slothful retiree staying a distance away, Ye Olde Photographer did not get his fat little body over there in time for the beginning!)

The looms are allowed to be warped in advance. The warp threads may be dyed, but if that is done, it must be done by the team members. The shawl is to be at least 22 inches wide at the reed and the woven part is to be 70 to 76 inches long. Normally the ends are finished with hem stitching leaving additional warp length as a fringe.

The woven piece must be turned in to the judge in three hours! There is a fairly complex 100 point system used to judge the result. First to finish only
gets one extra point, but going past the three hours is a disqualification. The quality of spun yarn, and weaving are judged, as well as various aesthetic and design considerations.

After judging, the shawls are returned to the teams for washing. Later in the day, the shawls are auctioned off. The 1st place shawl had very subtle coloring added to the warp and was quite a beautiful piece. It brought $390 at the auction.