2012 Sheep to Shawl

• The Fair dates are from Thursday September 13 through Sunday, September 23.
• The schedule will be slightly different this year:
• Tuesday, Sept 11—move items from storage and set up equipment.
• Wednesday, Sept. 12—Inventory check-in from 10-noon at the STS facility in the Dairy barn at the State Fair (come in gate 6 on San Pedro, just south of Lomas)
• Wednesday, Sept 12—Set-up the Shop with all the inventory items.
• Thursday, Sept 13 through Sunday, Sept. 23—Sheep to Shaw open from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM (two shifts 9:30-1:30 and 1:30- 5:30 each day)
• Monday, Sept 24—Take-down inventory and clean area.
• Monday, Sept 24—Check-out inventory from 11:30-1 PM. Again, come in Gate 6.
• Monday, Sept 24—Take down equipment and return to storage.
• People selling at the shop will only be required to work 5 shifts, and are requested to work one of those shifts in the shop if at all possible.

For those of you who have joined Las Arañas since last September, you will be receiving a letter about Sheep to Shawl in the mail soon. You can also get more information by reading pages 30-33 in your membership book. (Note the changes at the beginning of this article.)

Sheep to Shawl takes place at the Dairy Barn at Expo New Mexico during the New Mexico State Fair in September. The entry gate is #6 off San Pedro, just south of Lomas. STS is an exhibition, not a contest, where sheep are sheared and we demonstrate carding, spinning, dyeing (with natural dyes), weaving and other fiber related activities (such as knitting, inkle loom, felting, crocheting, etc.) and we sell items we have made in our shop. This is our “big” volunteer/educational project each year and this is the 42nd year for Las Arañas and the Wool Growers Association to cooperate in presenting this program.

We will begin signing people up for working shifts at the July 26th meeting. If you have particular areas, days and times you want to work, you can sign up early. (A few are already signed up!) just email or call Ruth Ronan (268-0726 or rbronan@gmail.com) to get your name on the schedule.

STS is a fun time of sharing and a great time for beginners in weaving, spinning or dyeing to get to know our members better, get mentoring on your new skill and share your love of fiber with the public.

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

People’s Choice Award Hand woven items will be placed in the Las Arañas display case in the Creative Arts building for the People’s Choice Award. Each item will be numbered and visitors will be able to vote for their favorite piece. The piece with the most votes will win the People’s Choice Award and will be presented with a check for $25 from Las Arañas. The first 15 items that meet the criteria will be accepted. These items will not be for sale at the State Fair. The items must be hand woven and of good quality. Any type of yarn can be used. Items will be accepted at the July and August guild meetings. If you cannot attend the meetings, you can drop your items off at Village Wools. Put them in a container with your name and phone number, and mark that they are for the People’s Choice award. If they are not selected, you will be contacted so you can pick them up. After the fair, the items that were selected will be available for pickup during checkout for Sheep to Shawl. If there are any questions, contact Nancy Crowley,

STS CARDING

Both electric drum carders will be at the fair this year. One for fine fiber, one for the more coarse fibers. (because of power restrictions, only 1 may be used at a time) Your fleece must be clean, clean, debris free, dry fleece. If it is still damp from washing it will stall out the carder. Training Required if you have never used the New Carder and wish to do so, contact Phreadde Davis to arrange for training. Try and talk to the public as much as you can about what you are doing and why. Leave the carder clean for the next person.

CREATIVE ARTS BLDG

There is only one shift per day at the Creative Arts Building. During the week, the times will be from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM. On the weekend, the times will be from 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM . There will be a warped loom that you can use to assist people to try weaving and, at the same time, weave part of a scarf for the people undergoing chemotherapy at the UNM Cancer Center. You will also point people to the main Sheep to Shawl demo area and shop. You will be provided with the weft and shuttles so you do not need to bring any yarn or equipment. The weave structure will be plain weave. If you have not done this before, it is a lot of fun! The kids just love to weave on the loom and often adults will try their hand at it. The Creative Arts building has a lot of people coming though so people are always walking by. You are encouraged to volunteer to man the Creative Arts Building even if you do not want to show people how to weave. You can do any fiber arts activity you want to at the Creative Arts Building – all the things that are done at the ETC table can be done here as well as spinning. Contact Ruth Ronan or Nancy Crowley to sign up.

STS ETC.

Bring your favorite small fiber craft to demonstrate. Show Weaving on different looms, Knotting, Colcha Embroidery, Braiding, Knitting, Crochet, Needle Felting, and any other fiber activity that you find interesting and wish to share with others. Contact Ruth Ronan or Leslie Sullivan.

STS DYEING The yarn for this year's dye pot will again be the churro for colche. They will be the small skeins but we plan to do a lot of overdye to achieve more shades and tones. We will continue to overdye the yarns left from last year to create more complex colors using the yellows and golds for a base so expect more greens, oranges, teals and purples. If you have yarns you want dyed we plan on 2 - 3 oz extra in each dyepot. If the yarns are not mordanted we will mordant the first 2 days of the fair. Tag them with your name. Adding content, weight and color preferences nice but not necessary. Let us know how many you have so we can get the same amount back to you. Since the fair is shorter this year we may try running 6 pots a day. You don't need dye experience to sign up. Linda or Denise will be there every day. Put on your dye clothes, comfy shoes and come play with us. Contact Ruth Ronan, Linda DeBlois or Denise Davis to sigh up.

STS PARKING & ADMISSION

Folks working at STS should know this about parking and admission passes: Passes will be distributed at the August Las Arañas meeting. Please try to attend, to save the costs of mailing the passes to you.

• Rules for parking are printed on the back of the parking pass. Please read and follow.
• Parking is at the Barber College, across San Pedro from Gate 6 and the Dairy Barn. Our spots are reserved by cones. When you arrive, move the cone to the front of the spot and park.
• When you leave, move the cone back in place to keep the spot saved for the next STS volunteer.
• MORNING SHIFT WORKERS NEED TO MOVE THEIR CARS PROMPTLY AT 1:15. This makes space for the afternoon shift.
• Afternoon shift workers who want to stay late to go to the Fair must make arrangements with the Barber College office before starting their shift. An additional fee applies and is the individual’s responsibility. (If you do not do this, your car may be towed!)
• Our entry passes cost the same as last year ($4.00). It helps if people can work a full day, rather than half days.

STS SHOP

If you plan to enter items for sale in the STS shop, please read the guidelines in the Membership book on pages 31 thru 33. You will note that you need to work one shift for each item entered up to five shifts (new this year). If you are working five shifts you are requested to work one of those shifts in the Shop. In addition to Shop assistants during the Fair, we also need help delivering and setting up items from storage on Sept. 12, checking in inventory and shop and demo area set up on Sept. 13. We will also need help with shop take down, returning items to storage and checking out inventory and cleaning the STS space on Sept. 24. Working at any of these times will count toward shifts needed. There will be sign up sheets at the July and August meetings. You may contact Ruth Ronan to sign up early. Martha Alvarado has again come up with a neat design for our T-shirts. The design will be in white on either a royal blue or paprika colored shirt. We will have them for sale at the July Las Arañas meeting. The price is $12 a shirt with 2X for $14 and 3X for $15. Shirts left over from prior years will be available at the meeting for a reduced price.

STS SPINNING ATTENTION SPINNERS!

Sign-ups for Spinning in Sheep to Shawl at the New Mexico State Fair (Sept. 14th – 23rd) will be coming soon at the July and August meetings and online or by calling Ruth or Diane. Check you calendars and watch for upcoming details. We plan to have three spinners per shift; so sign up with your friends, or sign up alone and be ready to make new ones. We plan to be outside the Dairy Barn in our spinning tent. Chairs and foam pads for underneath the wheels will be available. If it is your first time or you just have questions, feel free to call Diane Witt. Hope to see you there.

STS WEAVING

Signing up to weave at STS is really great for beginning weavers or those who would like to try weaving—after all the warp has been measured and threaded on the loom so all you have to do is press the pedals and throw the shuttle. Several members did their first weaving (and got hooked) at STS. This year both the 4-harness and 8- harness looms will be warped with coordinating colors. The 4-harness with wool and the 8- harness with 5/2 perle cotton. A sample showing the weave structure and yarn colors will be available at the July and August meetings. The threading and pedaling patterns will appear in the August newsletter. Remember to bring yarn for weft, shuttles, bobbins, scissors and any other weaving aids you might need. A pillow for the bench is also a good idea. Contact Ruth Ronan to sign up early.

INVENTORY & CONSIGNOR SHEETS

The deadline for turning in your Consignor sheets for the STS Shop is Monday, August 13. The Consignor sheets along with information and directions are being sent out with the August newsletter. If you feel you need yours sooner, contact Nancy Brouillard. Since there are 4 weeks between the time the Consignor sheets are turned in and Inventory Check-in, some “fudge factor” needs to be allowed for items you might finish during that time period. We have set a limit of 20 items on the Consignor sheets that are not checked in with no penalties. If 21-30 items are listed on the Consignor sheets but not checked in, then 20% extra will be deducted from the proceeds from any sales. If more than 30 items are listed on the Consignor sheets but not checked in, then NO ITEMS FROM THE CONSIGNOR SHEETS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR SALE. Category, Description, Quantity & Price are all that will be required on the Consignor Sheets. The Categories are: Handwoven, Knit, Crochet, Felted, Fiber, Yarn & Other. Descriptions are: Scarf, Shawl, Headwear, Footwear, Hand Wear, Table, Kitchen, Household, Small Items, Ornaments, Wallhangings, Yarn, Fibers, Clothing, Bags & Other. Please review pages 31-33 for additional guidelines on shop merchandise. Contact Nancy Brouillard if you have questions.