the world has been horrifying recently but i have personally witnessed something that brought me joy
Every year, California’s largest sheep and fiber festival, Lambtown, takes place in Dixon, CA. On the second day of Lambtown, teams of eight compete in a “sheep to shawl” competition, where the teams must start the day with un-spun wool and end the day with a 72” woven shawl. Teams may “warp” a loom ahead of time (where you thread the loom with its foundation of parallel threads), but on the day of competition they must spin their wool into yarn and weave it into a complete shawl.
This year competition was stiff, and very very close, and the winning team finished their shawl with two and a half minutes to spare.
I frequently hear about “needing to keep “politics” out of fiber arts, but art is inherently political.
These were beautiful, masterfully spun, woven, and finished shawls and that in itself is worthy of note.
But watching this team of eight would fight for hours, and pour their love for their community into their art was deeply moving and I am still reveling in the opportunity to have seen this win.
There are few things to rejoice in today, but they do exist. The horrors may persist, but so do we.
