Sacramento County Fair- More wool!

Saturday, my daughter and I went to the Sacramento County Fair to see what was going on with the "Sheep to Shawl" competition. Two teams from this area started at the same time and were to take breaks at the same time to see who could finish first and who would create the most beautiful shawl. I do not know who won but the event was great fun. Above you can see see the championship fleece.

There were six spinners on each team. Here is my favorite. She is a shoeless spinner which I like and she had it goin' ON!

The women kept in tight contact with each other to shout out what they were going to be needing next. High production!

Here is a member of the second team making a two ply yarn which was clever as the thicker yarn weaves faster. This woman was fantastic because she could talk to me and work at the same time. I did offer to spy for them to tell them where the other team was at that moment but they seemed to feel pretty confident that that wasn't necessary.

Twisting away to make a much thicker yarn that even has some sprinkles of bling-bling in there to make what they called the "Night Sky Shawl".

The yarn this team used had been hand dyed using some sort of wool dye that I did not recognize. It had "Gay" in the title- that's all I heard as my mind, of course, raced off into other areas than wool dyeing at that point....

We left there and looked at the sheep who had been shaved of all their beauty (and interest) to admire the pigs, goats, chickens, geese, turkeys, cows, rabbits, and more.

One of the things I really love about fairs is watching the young people show their projects. I am such a city girl, that I know little about what it takes to raise an animal like this. I am in awe. Above is a cow I liked because of her perpetual smile. We were able to get really close as you can see to watch this round of judging.




Look at the intensity in the faces! Love it! The cow seen here with the young lady handling her is the Grand Champion. Fabulous cow. Fabulous color. Fabulous young woman.

One last picture...we walked up to this by accident. Here is the judging of the Guinea Pigs. We stayed for the entire contest. Who would know??? Only someone who does 4-H, I suppose. This was fascinating! The judge in the white coat talked the whole time about what she was seeing and feeling and thinking about each animal. I believe the one on her right is the Grand Champion. This was a lot of fun and I would go back just to watch this part next year. The animals would absolutely freeze when she plopped them down and then as she tucked their little legs in and under them they were like stuffed animals- or- a package of Jimmie Dean sausage. I now know more than I care to know about Guinea Pigs. Who knows- maybe this could be a new career for me and I could ride the fair circuit. Better yet- let's shave some and see what happens when we dye their fur.

Thanks for looking.