SSFS Shines at the 2025 Sheep & Wool Festival

SSFS community members packed the bleachers on Sunday, May 4 , at the 2025 Sheep and Wool Festival to cheer on the five students in Heidi Brown's Weaving and Fibers class who participated in the "Sheep to Shawl" competition. The three competing teams managed to shear a sheep, card and spin the wool into yarn, and then weave it into a shawl in less than three hours! SSFS students also participated in the Skein and Garment Competition, submitting hand-spun skeins of wool, felted items, knitted scarves and hats, and more. 

Sheep-to-Shawl

This was the third consecutive year that SSFS students from Heidi Brown's weaving and spinning classes have participated in the Sheep & Wool Festival's "Sheep to Shawl" competition as a junior team. The fourth and only other junior team to participate over the festival's 52 years was also from SSFS: former Weaving teacher Gwen Handler's students competed in the 1970s.

This year's team included Travis Hurley, Weaver and Co-Captain; Avery Claus, Spinner and Co-Captain; Maxine Ross, Spinner; Quinlan Griffith-Polyak, Spinner; Emily Chamelin, Shearer; and Henry Sommers, Alternate. The team name was "To Fiber and Beyond," and the theme was Toy Story, with each team member dressing as a character from the movie. The team also created a display that showed who they were, where they came from, and their process for creating and designing the shawl, including dyeing the yarn.

The team had practiced the process before, and it showed: their team's shawl was the first off the loom! After the shawls from all teams were completed, they were inspected by festival judges (To Fiber and Beyond's shawl got third place), and then auctioned off in a final event.

Skein and Garment Competition

The Skein and Garment Competition features a wide range of items handcrafted by spinners, knitters, weavers, crocheters, felters, and other fiber artists from across the country, all showcasing the beauty and versatility of wool.

Students who competed in the skein and garment competition:  Samantha Shiffman, Elaina Ganong, Finley Siegrest, Elsie Rosser, Travis Hurley, Avery Claus, Desta Melaku, Grace Christerson, Uma Riggins, Henry Sommers, Charlotte Evans, Quinlan Griffith-Polyak. Many students won ribbons for their work in the category they entered. Special prizes for skein and garment include: Travis Hurley - Best Junior Fiber Artist, and Avery Claus - Best Junior Spinner. Congratulations to our Fiber Arts students and their amazing teacher, Heidi Brown!