Hidden Villa Sheep Shearing and Fiber Arts Festival
I was not sure about weaving the first time I took a class. I was 18, still living at home with my parents, and was only in my second semester of college. At the time, my schedule was so busy with studying and working that I actually dreaded that first class. My mom had booked it for us to celebrate her birthday. Young, over caffeinated, and completely absorbed in my own bubble of problems – the idea of spending a whole weekend in a random quilting store on the outskirts of town was definitely NOT on my list of top things I wanted to do. But, the craft had other plans for me. It didn’t take more than an hour into the class before I was completely hooked. Something about the yarn, the loom, the shuttle, and everything else grounded me. I found a stillness and quiet joy that I had never felt before. This, I thought to myself, is the thing I had always been searching for without even knowing it.
After taking a long pause during college, weaving came back to me during the pandemic. It was an outlet for meditation that kept me centered during all the stress and helped me find a community through the isolation. Now that things are opened again, I jump at chances to be involved in the community like this one. Hidden Villa Ranch is an educational ranch and wild preserve in Los Altos Hills. Every year, they host a Fiber Arts Festival while they perform their sheep shearing. Local artisans and demonstrators (including me 🙂 ) pitch in to educate the community in the fabric making process – from sheep to shirt. This event, by far, is my favorite to help with and l look forward to every year I can. Engaging with people of all ages and cultures about the very fabric they wear and breaking down the process is so fulfilling and fun! I thought it would add to the fun even more by taking you along with me for the day.
Preparations: The Never Ending Warp
The previous times I have demonstrated, I only brought the essentials: my loom, the yarn, and my husband (for support, of course). This year though, I wanted to do something different. I thought it would be nice to have samples of my work so people can see what weaving can do beyond just watching me work. So, I had the ambitious idea that I could weave a “few” pieces on my floor loom to show off. When it came time to measure the warp, the “few” pieces I had in mind changed to “well, if I am going to warp this beast of a loom, I might as well do the maximum length of my warping board so I don’t have to set the thing up again for a while”. This, in and of itself, is not a terrible idea. However, did I measure how long the maximum would be? Did I calculate how many scarves I would need to weave on that warp? Did I plan how I would weave each scarf? If you guessed that the answer to all those questions is “No”, you would be correct. Also, I warped and dressed this loom only about a month before the event. This is how my quick demonstration idea spiraled into the never ending warp project. By the point the picture above was taken, I had 5 scarves completed, 1 week before the event, and probably at least 4 scarves left of warp on the loom. I wove this scarf up until the night before but was unable to complete it. The warp and my own ambition had defeated me this time, but I wasn’t ready to let go of the idea of a display just yet. I needed to think of something else.
Sheep To Shawl
Feeling defeated, I went to my studio and dumped out all of my bins of projects and fiber in the most dramatic way possible. Oz really loved this part and had a great time sniffing through all my goodies that I keep hidden from him (he really, really loves to shred wool). After shooing the dog away, I took a good look at the chaos of everything and realized, that since I spin and weave, I could create my own mini sheep to shawl timeline. That is what we decided to go with! I grabbed what equipment I had that I thought was the least amount of danger for little fingers (the kids in previous years loved to grab things) as well as a random assortment of sample projects. Everything ended up looking so beautiful on the table and I am so happy I did this display. This display, combined with my husband’s absolutely amazing teaching skills took our spot at the festival from a simple weaving demonstration to an engaging and interactive education experience! Plus, we had so much fun as a team. It would have been even better if we had Oz with us (well, as long as he didn’t see the sheep, that is).
The Weaving
As maybe you have guessed by now, a lot of my creative process is done by feeling and inspiration in the moment. This is even more true when I weave for demonstrations. When I weave for a community event, I weave for the community, not for the sake of my project. I purposefully planned this project to be a simple plain weave out of a forgiving wool silk blend that will transport easily. This way I could experiment with techniques and mistakes as guests ask questions. The forgiving nature of the wool also means that little fingers grabbing things wouldn’t cause that much damage either. I could let them touch and tug on the fabric as much as they wanted. The colors I picked are the first ones that I saw in my stash. They caught my eye immediately and I knew they would be approachable and engage the visitors. This is how everything looked after doing my footer. I was nervous about the colors initially, but I think they ended up blending together so beautifully!
Festival Events
As a demonstrator, I didn’t have a lot of time to check out the other events. But there were a lot of interactive community crafts, like this tapestry!
There were also shearing and herding demonstrations. My loom sat directly across the lamb visit pen and I was so jealous of all the people that got to snuggle the cute little things. But I got to watch the lambs play all day, so I think that evens things out.
Saying Goodbye
The event really flew by faster than I expected. Before it felt like any time had passed it was was already 3 PM and time to pack up. Somehow, I had timed it so my shuttle emptied exactly at closing time! I doubt that will ever happen again! It made the close out feel magical in a way.
The piece that I wove was designed entirely on the loom without any math done beforehand. The warp threads were Emma’s Yarn Super Silky in Foxy Lady and Harbor. Yarn is my souvenir of choice. I purchased these two at Rumpelstiltskin Yarn while traveling. The weft yarn is leftovers from my stash. I know it is from Noro and has both wool and silk in it, but I am not sure of the name or if there are other fiber types in it. I purchased it years ago at store called Yarn in Eureka, CA (also while traveling).
Overall, I had so much fun demonstrating at this event. Somehow, even with all the talking I was doing, I got 28.5″ done! I was shocked when I measured the piece at home. But more than all the technical things, it was such a beautiful experience getting to speak with so many people and share in their curiosity, joy, and stories they had. I can’t wait to do it all again next year! At least my never ending warp should be finished by that point.
Thank you all for joining me on this adventure. I will speak to you again real soon.
Laura