Fiber Camp begins for the Summer

Whoa, it has been a week since the last blog. This week of Fiber Camp is over and today is cooler so now is a good time to do many things but I am waiting for a phone call so I will write while I wait.

The phone call is someone who may be interested in giving a new home to some of the sheep and lambs. It is that time I guess. The lambs are still nursing when the mom's allow but certainly less frequently and they are old enough to leave this home and venture out. I will miss them individually but collectively they are just too many critters for the layout here.

Fiber Camp was great! I hope all my campers are as enthusiastic as the campers this week. This camp session had an attendance 300% greater than the last. The 3 were each unique but all possessed tremendous explorational skills. It was amazing watching the lights turn on in their brains. The main thing this week did for me was give me hope for the next generation. Not all the youth out there are couch potatoes and computer addicts.

I will make changes in how I do the next camp but all in all I think things went well. One thing I have to improve on is documentation. At first I forgot my camera and then when I did have it I forgot to take pictures much of the time. A great picture in the mind is of us making a large piece of sheet felt in a kiddie pool in the cabin because it was raining outside.

We also need more time to create more but, most days, it started getting too hot the last 15-30 minutes. The kids are new to knitting or new to felting, or new to spinning so instruction and practice take precious time but I have to keep reminding myself that it isn't product that is important but rather learning new skills that you can build on for the rest of your life. Hopefully, the children will come back while these new skills are fresh so we can continue where we left off and explore some more.

Each day started off with letting the sheep and Beau out to graze the lower pasture and the kids loved opening the gates and watching the parade. They got to know most of the names and would always ask who's fleece we were working with. That made me so happy to see them making connections and understanding the whole process. The animals are learning to make connections too and like having campers, especially Beau.