The Dancing Goats at the Chautauqua Festival at Chillicothe MO…September 8 & 9, 2012

This year there was a Sheep to Shawl Demonstration...From shorn fiber to finished Shawl in 2 days of effort by dedicated fiber artisans.

Finished Shawl in the next post!

 

A washed wool fleece is put through the various processes to prepare for the final step…Weaving…

Baa Baa Brownish Sheep!

 

A Picker does the initial loosening of the fleece and helps get rid of much of the vegetable matter…

The Working End of the Picker

 

The fiber is then ready for a pass or three through the hand drum carder…

A Carder Aligns the Fibers for Spinning

 

A pass through a DIZ is the final step prior to spinning…Usual hole sizes are 1/8, 1/4 & 3/8ths inches or 2, 3 & 5MM & is up to the taste of the Spinner for roving size.

A DIZ has a small hole to pass fiber through

The spinners use a wheel to turn the processed fiber into yarn, which is then placed on a shuttle for the weaving.

One of many types of spinning wheel

 

See the Loom & finished Shawl in the next Imaginarium BLOG post!