Sunday was the sheep to shawl competition. Each day, as it grew nearer, the nervous twitch I had developed grew a bit stronger. Why? Why did I sign up for this? And how did I get myself talked into such an adventure? My guild is filled with the most talented women and men ever. I’m so lucky to be able to feed off them and absorb whatever bits of wisdom they throw my way, but to be on the same level as them? I’m so not worthy. On the drive up in the morning I really started panicking. What if my drive band breaks? What happens if I stay behind this tractor the whole way and I end up being late? What happens if I throw up in the middle of it? With each passing mile I was becoming more neurotic.

I was promised a spot in the “bozo” group. Bozo, not meaning the clown like group, but the group that there for the thrill and fun and did not care about winning the darn thing. Boy did we have fun! Before I knew it the girls had me laughing and my nerves were at bay. Sort of, mostly, well the twitching wasn’t as prevalent.

Then the games began. It was now time to turn the fleece into fluff. The process easily done by many with the use of hand cards – me, not so much. Although I did a bit of practicing, and thought I had a pretty good handle on it while practicing at home, alone, in the confines of my comfy bedroom, those newly acquired skills quickly left with the start of the event. The first few batts I made were fine, there wasn’t much of a crowd yet, or at least I hadn’t really noticed it. Also Geri ( the weaver) and Barbara (the plier) helped with the carding at the start because there was nothing for them to do yet. So a bit of time passed before I had to pick them up again. By that time, there were a gazillion people behind me starring me down (ok maybe 6-7 but that’s still 12-14 eyeballs to many). I picked them up, filled them up, did a couple of passes, then totally forgot how to flip them and get the fluff all back on one card. I started doing these weird contortions with my hands, twisting them about, willing myself to recall. It didn’t work. I tried to replay the video I had watched many, many times in my head, but recall wasn’t happening. I tried to will it to fluff. You will be fluff, you will be fluff, your now fluff! Didn’t work. Now totally desperate, I lean over to Geri and whisper “I forgot how to flip, and I don’t have my video, what do I do? What do I do?” Well you would have though I shouted it over the PA system, because now the gazillion people staring me down from behind, start yelling out carding tips. My newly acquired nerves of steel gone. Totally gone at that moment.

What felt like hours was actually only moments, not even 30 minutes had passed. Then time warped and what felt like moments had actually been hours. Before I knew it we were done, with 30 minutes to spare! It was one large blur of spinning, laughter, and craziness.

Would I ever do it again? That I don’t know, but I’m so happy to have at least done it once. Forever more I have one under my belt, and I totally loved the experience. The icing on the cake – we one! How crazy was that. Sadly in all the excitement I failed to get a picture of the shawl. Thankfully Bridgette managed to get one while it was being measured - thank you so much Bridgette.

It’s hard to tell in the picture but the shawl is 2 different browns and a creamy natural color. We were the only group that did not dye our fleece used for warps or the spinning.

Posted in Spinning, Places on Oct 23rd, 2007