Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival 2017

This year was the 16th Annual Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, and it was as wonderful as always.  There's something for everyone who loves fiber arts, fiber animals, and fiber:  lots of classes, vendors, competitions, sheepdog trials, sheep, and more.

The festival is held at the Jefferson fairgrounds, and the weather was perfect this year.  Before the festival, we stopped in at Bon Ton Bakery for donuts.  Bon Ton is celebrating their 100th year in business.  Jefferson is surrounded by other small towns where you can find lots of nice shops and restaurants.  The town gets into the spirit with yarn displays around lots of trees in the center of town.

A display of old time tractors is featured near the entrance to the festival.

I took a Celtic Cables class from Melissa Leapman, a well-known New York designer and author.  We focused on knitting cables that can be inserted anywhere in a garment, so they weren't like a typical vertical cable.  Melissa wore a beautiful sweater she made which featured a Celtic Cable on the back.

                                                         Melissa's Celtic Cable Sweater

We learned to increase a lot at the base of the cable and to decrease back down to 1 stitch at the top of the cable.  So, we increased from 1 stitch to 7 stitches for the cable.  This ensures that the cable won't pull in so the garment will be the correct width.  We worked on 2 samples in class, and I finished the 3rd large cable motif at home.  I learned so much about reading a cable chart also.
 

                                          Samples 1 and 2 at the lower edge; sample 3 on top

                                                                Sample 3 Finished
I also really enjoyed Nancy Shroyer's band weaving class using a rigid heddle.  Nancy brought a beautiful paddle loom (knee loom) to show us made by Jonathan Seidel.  Paddle looms were commonly used in Colonial America.  She also brought an antique rigid heddle.

                                                                      Paddle Loom

                                                                 Antique Rigid Heddle

We worked on a simple plain band and a pick-up band.  The rigid heddle is from Schacht and is like the segments of their variable heddle.  It has 8 slots/holes per inch.

                                                                       Plain Band

                                                                       Pick-up Band

And of course, there were lots and lots of sheep. 

Unfortunately there weren't any lambs born at the festival this year.  Most years, there are lots of newborn lambs.  But, there was a month-old Shetland lamb.

The Sheep Shearer, David, was busy shearing lots of sheep during the festival and explaining his method of shearing to the crowd.

The festival is put on by over 100 volunteers, and they did a great job.  It's a wonderful festival.