Lambtown 2006 was held in Dixon, CA from July 28-30, 2006. The biggest day for the crowds was Saturday July 29 when admission was charged. However, true to form, I arrived early—too early again. The schedule I had said the vendors would be open at noon on Friday, but when I got there at 1:30 lots of people were still setting up and lots of things were unlabeled. I decided to go back and check into my motel and get some lunch, then try again. Sure enough, an hour or so later the vendors were mostly set up and much more ready for people like me.

About 40 vendors were open and I indulged my fiber addiction with more hand painted rovings, some promising yarn for weaving, and even a kid mohair fleece for two dollars. I later found out why the fleece was only two dollars—I didn’t notice it at the seller’s table, but it was chock full of the most extensive VM I have ever seen in a fleece. I washed a handful of it in shampoo in the motel room’s sink, and about 90% of the VM fell out, so it might be salvageable. The fiber itself was lovely. If it’s not salvageable, at least the seller didn’t “fleece” (sorry) me for more than two dollars.

A little after three pm, the Lambtown National Spinning Competition began. There were about seven contestants, six wheel spinners and one spindle spinner. The first event involved taking a variety of different fibers, including uncarded alpaca, silk hankies, and wool and making any type of yarn one wished. The final product was judged on length, strategic use of fibers, and creativity. Gabrielle Menn of Vacaville won first in all categories except creativity which was won by Lori Ackermann. Second place in all categories except Strategic Use of Fibers went to Diana Hilton. Diana Lewis won second place in Strategic Use of Fibers. Third place was won by Diana Lewis for length, Lori Ackermann for Strategic Use of Fibers, and Lizette Hopkins for creativity.

The next event was the triathlon. The goal was to spin as long a length as possible with as good quality as possible under three conditions: 1) normal; 2) with gloves on; and 3) blindfolded. Competitors were spinning wool roving. It was amazing to watch and see how consistent spinners remained under the different conditions. 70 percent of points were for length and 30 percent for quality. The triathlon was won by Gabrielle Menn, followed by Diana Hilton for second and Diana Lewis with third.

A third event, team spinning, took place late, and since one competitor had to leave it was not included in the total. In this event one team member treadled while the other drew out the yarn, aiming at a goal of the back wall of the exhibition hall, about fifty feet. There was mass confusion as threads broke and team members yelled at each other to start and stop. Many people gathered to watch this exciting event. The winners were Walter and Diana Hilton who won by a very narrow margin.

The overall scores resulted in Gabrielle Menn of Vacaville winning first, Diana Lewis with second, and Diana Hilton with third. Gabrielle Menn was awarded a Majacraft Saxonie double treadle wheel donated by Morgaine Wilder of Carolina Homespun. A fiber prize was given to the winner of team spinning.

Saturday, July 29

Saturday was the main day of Lambtown, the day when entry fees, parking fees, etc. were all in place. Numerous food vendors were set up, selling everything from kettle corn to corn dogs to lamb ribs. Many events took place, including the wool and sheep show, sheepdog trials, a lamb cook-off, cooking demonstrations, and the Sheep to Shawl competition, which was won by “Fleece on Earth,” a Junior team from San Francisco.

I indulged in classes all day. Many classes were available this year. I took Spinning for Wild Color, taught by Sharon Faerber, where we learned techniques for using unusual colors in our yarns, then a Rainbow Dye Workshop taught by Nancy Finn, where we dyed color samples around the color wheel using strips of silk, then dyed rainbow rovings with the “dump dye” method, and finally, Optical Fiber Blending, taught by Janet Heppler, in which we used a drum carder to blend colors and make use of dyeing “accidents” by turning them into a different color!

Sunday, July 30

Classes and workshops were the only activity on Sunday. I took the opportunity to sleep in, then at 1 pm joined a class taught by Lizette Hopkins on spinning novelty yarns. Lizette had been to Camp Pluckyfluff, and used some of their techniques to create truly wild yarns. I discovered that I needed a MUCH bigger orifice and hooks for my wheel if I were to continue to create wild yarns like these. It was lots of fun playing with yarn with Lizette.

This was my first experience at Lambtown, but I found it thoroughly enjoyable, with many interesting vendors and exciting classes. Everything was well organized; the only “hiccup” I observed was that the spinning competition started a little bit late. Congratulations to the organizers for a job well done!