The Spin City Shawl Team was conceived by members of the Spin City meetup group at the 2012 Christmas party.  

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Demonstrations

We travel to farms, museums, and festivals to offer demonstrations that educate and inform the public.  During these demonstrations, we prepare fleece from various sheep breeds using hand cards.  Once the fiber is prepped, we spin the wool into yarn on modern wheels. Then it is plied and wound onto shuttles.  The weaver uses the shuttles to make shawl on the loom.  After about 3 hours, the shawl is removed from the loom and finished by the team.  

 

Sometimes, other members of the Spin City meetup group are available to accompany the team, answer questions, and let visitors make a sample of their very own yarn to take home. We use hand spindles for small children, and let them see and touch (carefully!) some of the fiber preparation tools like hand combs and hand carders.  Let us know if you have an event where you would like to have our group participate. We can request spinning demonstrators independently from the spinning/weaving demonstration if transportation is provided.

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Competitions

Fleece-to-Shawl competitions:

These events typically involve five team members, working within three hours to complete fiber prep, spinning, and weaving a shawl. The 2016 team is pictured to the left, in a tribute to David Bowie and Prince. Most recently, the team participated in the 2017 Fleece to Shawl competition at the Ulster County Fair, New Paltz, NY and won first place.

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Sheep-to-Shawl competitions:

In the spring, we competed in the MDSW Sheep-to-Shawl competition with Hairspray!

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Earlier in the year, we attended the PA Farm Show's sheep-to-shawl competition placing Fourth (January 2017). We had a wonderful time, and were grateful, again, to John and Kate Bostek of Roclans Farm, for supplying a beautiful fleece from a ewe named Rictrudis. Trudy was shorn by Geof Ruppert of Rupperts Corriedales and Cormos to lead us into the competition.

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Calendar of events

January  - PA Farm Show, Harrisburg, PA, sheep-to-shawl competition

Early May - MDSW, Howard County Fairgrounds, MD, sheep-to-shawl competition

Early August - Ulster County Fair, New Paltz, NY, fleece-to-shawl competition

Late August - Dutchess County Fair, Rhinebeck, NY, fleece-to-shawl competition

Early October - King's County Fiber Festival, Brooklyn, NY

Late October - NY State Sheep & Wool Festival, Rhinebeck, NY, fleece-to-shawl competition

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Past events

PA Farm Show, Harrisburg, PA, sheep-to-shawl

NYSW, Dutchess County Fairgrounds Rhinebeck, NY, fleece-to-shawl

MDSW, sheep-to-shawl competition with Emily Chamelin, shearer, Chamelin Hickman Shearing, Roclans Farm, sheep

Philipsburg Manor, Sleepy Hollow, NY

Queens Farm, Queens, NY

King's County Fiber Festival, Brooklyn, NY

Garner Arts Festival, Garnerville, NY  

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To request a demonstration or to host a practice session, email: fleecetoshawl@gmail.com

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