SWSG Demo at the State Fair

We had an amazing day demonstrating at the State Fair on Saturday August 1st, and it was an absolute pleasure to introduce so many people to what we do!

The morning was spinning-heavy: Debra Gonzalez and Virginia Perks brought wheels and Mary Choy an e-spinner. The visitors were fascinated by seeing the yarn take shape! In the afternoon, Judé Tarrant frequently had a crowd gathered around her wheel. Debra put together a basket of different unspun fiber samples, which were a lovely complement to our info board on different plant and animal fibers.

We were lucky to be able to show off a whole range of looms throughout the day: Bobbi Long brought her frame loom, and Sandy Spaulding her inkle and tapestry looms. Rita Hollander had her rigid heddle there, Judi Semple her 4-shaft Dorset floor loom and Ann Larsen her inklette. In the evening, we had Cathi Christo's rigid heddle, and my 8-shaft table loom.

Cathi also brought a nifty lap-sized frame loom 3D-printed by her husband and prepared a frame loom for rag weaving, which was a hit with the little kids all day. In fact, the pleasant surprise of the event was how many children were excited to explore all the looms, and how quickly many of them picked up the rhythm of weaving.

Our demo area was located at the center of the arts and crafts competition displays, so we could easily catch the eye of fairgoers coming through the exhibition (and escaping the heat) and get them involved. We all felt it was a very successful outing, with plenty of people completely new to spinning and weaving getting a chance to see it in action, and we hope to do it all again at next year’s fair!