Minnesota Knitters' Guild Cable Gram, Volume 24, Number 1

It’s almost spring in Minnesota—if you can look past the icicles and snowdrifts—and that can mean only one thing: It’s almost time for the eleventh annual Shepherd’s Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 11, at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, Minn.

Originally just an event for wool producers, artisans, and wool consumers, the festival has grown to include other fiber animals and many other fiber-related vendors. Visitors will be able to take fiber-related classes, attend a fleece sale, listen to local musicians, browse many vendors, and enjoy lunch at a local 4H-sponsored booth.

The event is held every year on Mother’s Day weekend. My own family traditionally gives me a Mother's Day gift of “A Day at the Harvest.” My kids have fond memories of watching stock dogs herding sheep and munching warm kettle corn, and my favorite trips to Shepherd’s Harvest involved buying my first locally raised Shetland fleece for spinning, shopping for knitting needles for a friend new to sock knitting, and picking up some gorgeous mohair yarn for sale.

This year, knitters might want to stop by the Northern Lights Spinning Guild for “Minnesota’s Largest Fiber Sandwich.” The yarns produced during this spinning competition on Saturday will be auctioned off on Sunday afternoon as a fundraiser for Heifer International.

Another tradition is the Minnesota Knitters’ Guild Knitting Clinic, open all day both days. Volunteers from the guild staff the festival's “knitting help” table, working in two-hour shifts. This is a great opportunity to publicize the benefits of MKG membership as well as share your knitting skills. When I volunteered there last year, I finally got to meet a fellow knit-blogger (from “far off” Minnetonka) in the flesh—she was there for one of the dyeing classes.

We still have space for Shepherd's Harvest volunteers. For more information about volunteering at the MKG table at Shepherd’s Harvest, contact me, MKG member-at-large Ellen Reeher. See you there!