Fur will fly (and hop!) at annual fiber event

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The fairgrounds will echo with the pitter-patter of llama feet, the bleating of sheep and goats, and the great enduring silence of rabbits. In other words, the fur will fly at the 8th annual Maine Fiber Frolic 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8, at the Windsor Fairgrounds in Windsor.

Sponsored by the Maine Alpaca Association, the event offers the public opportunities to see the shearing of sheep, to pet an alpaca, march with a llama, comb an angora rabbit or spin wool into yarn – really, it’s one wooly thing after another for two solid days.

More than 75 vendors will have available for sale natural and dyed wool; hand dyed and hand spun yarn; knitted, crocheted, woven, felted and hooked items; raw wool; fiber tools; books and fiber equipment. Vendors will travel from across Maine and from as far away as Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Michaele Bailey of Levant, who raises angora rabbits, has been a vendor at the Fiber Frolic for all eight years. “Fiber and fiber animals are my passion,” she said. “Fiber Frolic is the best event in Maine where fiber artists get together.” She will have for sale baby bunnies and mittens she has knit from 100 percent rabbit angora yarn.

“The first year I went to the Fiber Frolic, I was the only one with fiber rabbits. Now there are lots of rabbits [at the event],” Bailey, activity and events coordinator for the state 4H office, said.

The Maine Sheep Breeders Association will auction thousands of pounds of fleece at the event.

Wooly workshops to get your hands on are:

. Crochet a Chair Pad with Elizabeth Stover.

. Noodling with Nuno with Marianne Dubois.

. Learn to Knit: Beginner Basics with Christine Henson.

. Carding Basics and Tricks with Deb Bergman.

. Backyard Birds (a felted sculpture) with Sharon Costello.

. Lace Knitting with Aloisia Pollock.

. Color Blending for Spinners with Linda Whiting.

. Felted Jewelry with Trina Carus.

. Needle Felted Fruits and Pastries with Marianne Dubois.

. Designing your own Sweater with Aloisia Pollock.

. Drop Spindling with Deb Bergman.

. Go-felt-a-Fish with Sharon Costello.

. Learn to Love Charts and Stop Worrying with Susan Dewey.

The cost of the workshops range from $35 to $60.

Other highlights of the Frolic are the fleece show and sale, goat show, llama show, sheep barn, sheep dog demonstrations and the Maine Spinners Registry spun fiber competition.

The cost of admission is $4, $2 seniors and children, free to children under 12. For more information or to register for workshops, visit www.fiberfrolic.com.

To get in the mood for the Fiber Frolic, take a look at “Start Spinning: Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn” by Maggie Casey. To let the aspiring spinner know what she’s getting herself into, Casey begins her book with an anatomy of wool, defining staple length, cuticle and other fleecy terms, and information that comes in handy before you start to spin, like drafting, the s-and-z-twist, and other mysterious moves. Then it’s on to a well-illustrated discussion of the drop spindle, spinning wheel 101 and spinning with a wheel. The book also takes the reader through plying, finishing and using handspun yarn. To learn more about the book, visit www.interweavebooks.com or inquire at local bookstores and libraries.

Snippets

. Linda Routhier, formerly of Hampden, who now lives in Freeport, has written “China Belle: A Maine Yarn,” stories of her mother, Belle Brown, who grew up in South China, Maine, in the early 1900s. The stories are adapted from her mother’s journal, “Thoughts of Yesterday,” which she began writing in 1984 at age 75 and completed in 1993. Routhier designed and hooked (as in rug hooking) the pieces that became illustrations for the book. To learn more about the book and how to obtain copies, e-mail cbbook@yahoo.com.

. To find out how to assist the work of the Children Affected by HIV-AIDS organization which collects hand-knit, donated dolls from all over New England, visit www.chabha. org and click on “duduza” to find a pattern for the doll and information on where to send it.

. As of May 3, Jo-Ann stores reported net sales increased by 5.2 percent to $446.1 million, up from $424.2 million in May 2007.

ahamlin@bangordailynews.net

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