Reno Fiber Guild was excited to have Sarah Lillegard as the featured speaker at our October meeting. Sarah has just finished her MFA at Sierra Nevada College and is testing the waters in learning all she can about wool fibers. True to her nature, she is plunging in at the source - animal husbandry, shearing animals, skirting fleeces and spinning the fibers.
Because, as a guild, we are traveling "off the beaten path" this year, Sarah introduced us to the Fibershed website and blog. Farmers and individuals with small businesses in growing fibers and processing them exist very close to us. It makes sense that we should seek out and support these fiber sources when we plan our fiber creations.
We enjoyed the photos that went along with Sarah's talk including some of her in full swing as a sheep shearer. She explained that women are joining the ranks of sheep shearers in great numbers and that many people who have small flocks are doing the job themselves because finding a shearer who will only do a few animals is nearly impossible. With that in mind, Sara spent the summer traveling to some of these small flocks and shearing their sheep. Should you need a sheep shearer - please visit her business website, High Desert Shearing.
We very much enjoyed her lecture and value her expertise and membership in the guild.
Sarah's website is https://www.sarahlillegard.com/
