Lambtown, USA

Sheep to shawl
Originally uploaded by knitswithasilentk

In early October, we all went to visit my SIL and their new baby in Davis, CA. We got there nice and early (thanks to TLD's sleep schedule) and had our visit. The Sweetie was slated to attend an evening Cal game (TLD opted to go to bed instead) so we had a free afternoon, just TLD and me.

I happened to remember it was the weekend of the Lambtown, USA, in Dixon, just a few miles from where we were! Admission was $1 (free for TLD) although parking was $5. TLD had a nice nap on the way there, and when he woke up, we went to check it out.

Way back when I first learned to knit, my teacher told me about the sheep to shawl competition, and I've been wanting to see it ever since. Here it was all laid out. The teams (5-6 people) card a fleece and spin it, and weave it into a shawl. The loom is pre-warped. But they even ply the wool before weaving! The shawls are judged on aesthetics and quality.

See more photos here.

Our souvenirs: TLD got an alpaca bear, because I held it up to him and he grabbed it, held it against his face, and said "Ooooh!". I got an alpaca finger puppet. Originally I thought TLD would like it but after the initial 10 seconds he showed no interest in it. I managed to resist the wiles of the marketplace. Whew!