Fiber Friday - Lamboree

It's time for the Northwest Lamboree!

The Northwest Lamboree is an annual event that teaches youth and adults about various aspects of the sheep industry. This will be my third Lamboree; I help teach the - you guessed it - fiber portion of the weekend. Originally I attended to represent the national Make it With Wool contest; I was the national adult winner (the National Adult Ambassador for the American Sheep Industry) in 2004. I help the kids learn beginning knitting, spinning, and last year I introduced them to needle felting. I brought in some bags of old wool, and the kids made toy sheep from the wool. They had a great time. Even some 'big kids' were happily poking away at bits of wool. Of course they didn't want to be caught on camera.

There are lots of things to learn at the Lamboree. This year there are four tracks that participants can take: Commercial Sheep Production; Youth - showmanship, judging, quality assurance, etc.; Working with Wool/Fiber Arts; and Cooking Lamb. There's an amazing variety of classes and they bring in experts from around the Northwest.

This year, besides some of the more general fiber arts activities, I'll be teaching how to properly press wool for tailoring. I find that when I am judging clothing at fairs and similar events, pressing is often where the person sewing the garment has the most trouble. It's a huge factor in the difference between 'handmade' clothing (well tailored) and 'homemade' clothing. So hopefully my workshop will help the participants to have a better understanding of just how forgiving wool is when it is handled with the proper respect and care. Although sometimes that means beating a seam with a clapper! We will also have a wool fashion show during dinner, to highlight the incredible variety of wool fabrics and clothing that exist. So many people associate wool with itchy, coarse fabrics and unflattering clothes. Of course these do exist, unfortunately, but they are a galaxy away from the sophisticated fabrics and fashions that are created every day.

Wool was there first - to every pole and mountain explored by mankind. We couldn't have made it this far without it! Whether felted or finely spun, it has been part of our heritage for thousands of years. So let's celebrate the sheep - our humble and amazing partner in civilization. It's time to Lamboree!