The youth Fleece to Shawl competition in the Small Arena of the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex.

Every year at the Pennsylvania Farm Show (basically the state fair, except it’s in January and it’s indoors), there is a fleece-to-shawl contest for youth and a sheep-to-shawl contest for adults.  A couple of years ago I was able to watch both competitions from start to finish, but this year I was only able to catch part of the youth contest.  (Sorry about the cell phone pictures; I forgot my camera.)

This year there were five teams competing.  Each team is composed of a carder, three spinners and a weaver, with one or more of the spinners jumping in and carding as needed to keep the fleece moving.  They start with a raw fleece and end with a finished shawl.  Each loom is warped in advance in a design the team came up with and practiced in the months leading up to the competition.  The shawls must meet certain requirements, such as size, and the teams are judged on the spinning, weaving, design and speed.

It was great to see young people pursuing the fiber arts so passionately!  More information about the youth contest this year can be found here, and about the adult contest here.

The winning youth team, the Bountiful Bobbins, and their gorgeous shawl (lower right)