Weekend Fun Trip - Flock and Fiber Festival

Today, we got to see the whole yarn-making process, from flock to fiber, at the Flock and Fiber Festival!  It was a coordinated field trip through the Connections Academy, so my daughter got to talk to and play with some of the other students.  There was also a scavenger hunt list the Connections Academy teacher made for the students - if they found all of the items, they got a prize at the end.  We got to see an Alpaca and a Llama side-by-side, and my daughter got to pet them both!

Then, we watched the Blue Ribbon contest for the sheep.  It was fun watching the judge walk up and down the row, checking each sheep's legs, mouth, head and tail.  Then, he took two steps back, observed the whole lineup from left to right, scratched his chin, and checked again... and again... and again.  He then separated the herd into two groups and we weren't sure which group were the 'keepers' until a moment later, he motioned to one side and shewed them toward the exit.  The field was narrowed to eight.  After a scratch to his chin, he checked each sheep again... and again. Finally, he made a decision!  The sheep we liked the best came in fourth.  It was interesting to see the range of ages for the animal caretakers - there were young kids, older kids, young adults, middle aged adults, old adults... and a couple really old adults!  Anyone can raise and show sheep!

We learned that wool and fur from rabbits, alpacas, llamas, sheep and goats can be spun into yarn after cleaning and brushing it.  We watched wool being spun into usable yarn on a manual spinning wheel.  The woman was very nice and stopped to show the kids all the parts of the wheel and how it works.

Then, the kids got to try their hand at weaving at the free kiddie project booth.  My son wasn't that interested in doing it, so their grandma (we call her Oma, and she got to tag along on the field trip too) helped my daughter while I occupied him.  The little girl sitting next to her is one of her new Kindergarten classmates; they hit it off really fast, and seem to get along well.