News
2023 tickets and catalogs now on sale!
Posted: February 26, 2023
Tickets and catalogs for the 2023 festival are now on sale at https://mswf2023.eventbrite.com.
Don’t forget, registration for our 2023 in-person Fiber Arts Seminars is also open at https://www.lessonface.com/sheepandwool.
Registration for 2023 Fiber Arts Seminars Opening Soon
Posted: February 9, 2023
Registration for the 2023 in-person classes will open at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 19 at https://lessonface.com/sheepandwool.
Warm up for the Festival with Winterfest 2023!
Posted: November 17, 2022
Our second annual Winterfest will once again offer two days of virtual fiber arts seminars. Winterfest 2023 will be held on Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29 on the same Lessonface platform as last year and will feature the following instructors:
- Jillian Moreno – Spinning
- Kristen Walsh – Felting
- Maggie Casey – Spinning
- Kira Dulaney – Knitting
- Alasdair Post-Quinn – Knitting
- Esther Rodgers – Spinning
Our keynote lecture on Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. will be A Look Inside a Small-Scale Carding Mill with Angela Muller. Angela, a shepherd and the owner of a small mill located in central Maryland, Angel Locks Fiberworks, will take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of her small-scale carding mill and tell you how she established Angel Locks. Angela will explain how she set up her mill, and describe the functions of each piece of equipment she uses. Then she will share how she decides which equipment to use to process different types of fiber, as well as share how fiber enthusiasts can get the best results when sending fiber out to a small mill. Attendees will leave Angela’s lecture with a clear understanding of what happens to a raw fleece and the different steps the fiber goes through as it is transformed in roving.
The lecture is free but registration through Lessonface is required.
Schedule
Saturday, January 28
| Time (Eastern) | Class | Type | Instructor |
| 10 a.m. to 12 noon | Introduction to Double-knitting | Knitting | Alasdair Post-Quinn |
| Twisted Together: Crepe, Cables and the Endless Possibilities of Layered Plying | Spinning | Esther Rodgers | |
| Straight Up: Spinning Vertically Dyed Braids | Spinning | Jillian Moreno | |
| 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | The Pros and Cons of Predrafting | Spinning | Maggie Casey |
| Needle Felted Fox | Felting | Kristen Walsh | |
| 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. | Two-pattern Double-knitting | Knitting | Alasdair Post-Quinn |
| The Long and the Short of It – 6 Ways to Spin Locks | Spinning | Esther Rodgers | |
| Introduction to Cables | Knitting | Kira Dulaney | |
| Fluffing your Braids: Making Worsted Braids Woolen | Spinning | Jillian Moreno | |
| 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. | Needle Felted Winter Landscape | Felting | Kristen Walsh |
| 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Twist, Grist, and Wraps per Inch | Spinning | Maggie Casey |
| 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Slip-Stitch Mosaic Knitting | Knitting | Kira Dulaney |
Sunday, January 29
| Time (Eastern) | Class | Type | Instructor |
| 10 a.m. to 12 noon | Drafting Together: Working on a Parallel Plane | Spinning | Jillian Moreno |
| 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Finishing Your Yarn | Spinning | Maggie Casey |
| 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. | A Look Inside a Small Scale Carding Mill | Lecture | Angela Muller |
| 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. | Advanced Beginner Double-knitting | Knitting | Alasdair Post-Quinn |
| Sculptural Corespinning: Not Your Traditional Spinning! | Spinning | Esther Rodgers | |
| Introduction to Entrelac | Knitting | Kira Dulaney | |
| . | Color Value and Choosing Braids That Work Together | Spinning | Jillian Moreno |
| 2 p.m. to 5 p.m | Needle Felted Owl | Felting | Kristen Walsh |
| 6 p.m. to 9 p.m | Hand Cards, Not Just for Rolags | Spinning | Maggie Casey |
| 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Texture in Double-knitting | Knitting | Alasdair Post-Quinn |
| Color Blending: Unlocking the Spectrum | Spinning | Esther Rodgers | |
| Gauge and Blocking | Knitting, Crochet | Kira Dulaney |
Registration will open at 1:00 PM ET on Saturday, November 19 at https://www.lessonface.com/sheepandwool.
2023 Catalog Cover Artist
Posted: March 30, 2023
Ashton Design
Since he first purchased three ewes from chairman Gwen Handler in 1985, David Ashton has been an integral part of every Festival. David created our iconic logo in 1987, giving us a visual identity that is now recognized around the world. Since then, David and the team at Ashton Design have assisted us with selecting our artwork, then taking that artwork and creating the design that we use each year for our catalog cover, posters, t-shirts, and other festival merchandise.
For 2023, we asked the team at Ashton to create an original illustration for us in honor of our 50th anniversary, and we believe they have done us proud.
2022 Catalog Cover Artist
Posted: March 4, 2022
Susan Due Pearcy
Susan Due Pearcy has lived in the Agricultural Reserve in Barnesville, Maryland for 27 years and enjoys having sheep grazing next door and fibre artist friends nearby. She is continually inspired in her art and life by the natural beauty of her surroundings and works plein air in oil and pastel and creates her printmaking in Sugarloaf Studio behind her home.
Pearcy studied art education at Southeast Missouri State University and graduated with a degree in Printmaking, Painting and Sculpture from New York University. She continued studies at the Art Student’s League in New York City, Fort Mason Art Center and Graphic Arts Workshop in San Francisco, plus numerous continuing workshops. She has taught in schools, community centers, Alzheimer’s facility and volunteered with children hospitalized at the National Institutes of Health for over 20 years.
Photo by Chris Li
Susan has explored a variety of media, including watercolor, oil painting, pastel and printmaking. She usually carries a sketchbook with her, especially on travels and her sketches have been displayed at the National Museum of Women in the Arts and are in the permanent collection there and at the Library of Congress, the Rare Book Collection at the National Gallery of Art, Georgetown University and others.
Pearcy has exhibited across the country and abroad and is in numerous private, public and museum collections including the Pushkin Museum (Russia), Chemalier Museum (France) and Museum of Modern Art (Argentina).
Susan comes from a family of artists. Her mother was a watercolorist in St. Louis, Missouri, where Susan was raised. Her husband Glen Pearcy was a filmmaker/photographer and their two adult children pursue careers in the arts.
Susan is part of the Countryside Artisans Gallery/Studio Tour (www.countrysideartisans.com) where she opens Sugarloaf Studio to the public. Please come visit!
Susan Due Pearcy
Sugarloaf Studio
21900 Beallsville Road
Barnesville, MD 20838
www.susanduepearcy.com
Photo by Dalis Davidson
COVID-19 Protocols
Posted: February 19, 2022
Last updated: 4/29/2022
In order to protect all attendees, vendors, and volunteers, especially those most vulnerable, we strongly recommend that everyone age two and older wear a mask while indoors at the festival. There is also a chance that wearing a mask will be a requirement for admittance to specific indoor locations, i.e., you will not be allowed to enter those buildings if you aren’t wearing a mask. Therefore, if you want to experience the full range of what the festival has to offer, you should come prepared to wear a mask.
These protocols are subject to change. It is possible that they will be more relaxed by the time May arrives; it is also possible that they could become stricter if conditions warrant. We will be keeping a close eye on the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant to see if that will impact our policy.
List of Venues Requiring a Mask (as of 4/29/22):
If the Festival were held today, everyone ages two and older would be required to wear a mask in the following venues:
- Fleece Show & Sale Building
- Saturday Night Spin-In in the Dining Hall
- Sunday Lectures in the 4-H Hall
- Additional locations may be added.
Special COVID-19 Protocols for Fiber Arts Seminars
This policy applies to the Fiber Arts Seminars only.
You will be asked to acknowledge and agree to these policies before you are permitted to complete registration for any of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars. If you do not abide by these policies, your class registration fees will be forfeited. These policies apply to EVERYONE – all teachers, students, and volunteers – participating in the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars.
Please note that, because of the pandemic, the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars will not be able accommodate anyone who cannot wear a mask or who needs to lip read as a consequence of hearing impairment.
As of April 28, 2022, these are the policies for participation in Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars:
- Show proof of full vaccination.
Full vaccination means the individual must have all required doses and initial boosters recommended for a vaccine approved by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than 14 days before first day of attendance at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars in 2022. Note: As of March 29, 2022, the CDC now allows for an additional booster in certain situations, but this additional booster will not be a requirement for participation in the Fiber Arts Seminars.
Please provide proof of vaccination in advance (following the instructions provided by Lessonface when you register), or be prepared to show your vaccination card, or a photo of your vaccination card on your mobile device, as you enter your classroom.
AND
- Wear an N95 or KN95 mask that covers your nose and mouth at all times when inside; as of 4/28/22 students also have the option of wearing a surgical mask. Other masks will not be permitted. A mask must fit snugly against the sides of the face and cover the nose. These masks are currently available at low or no cost at many pharmacies.
Our instructors fully support the above requirements.
Eating and/or drinking will not be permitted in the classrooms.
We know these policies may make it impossible for some to attend classes this year. We ask for understanding and patience as we try to find the best path to keep students, instructors, and volunteers safe. We will miss those of you who cannot attend and look forward to welcoming you in the future.
Registration for 2022 Fiber Arts Seminars is now open!
Posted: January 30, 2022
- New Platform! This year we are moving the registration process for our in-person classes from the Eventbrite platform to Lessonface.
- Registration is now open at at https://lessonface.com/sheepandwool2022.
Click here to download the complete class list.
Complete registration information and class descriptions are also available on Lessonface.
COVID-19 Policy
Note: This policy applies to the Fiber Arts Seminars only. We are still developing our Covid-19 protocols for the rest of the 2022 festival. See https://sheepandwool.org/covid-19-protocols/ for the most up-to-date information.
You will be asked to acknowledge and agree to these policies before you are permitted to complete registration for any of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars. If you do not abide by these policies, your class registration fees will be forfeited. These policies apply to EVERYONE – all teachers, students, and volunteers – participating in the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars.
Please note that, because of the pandemic, the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars will not be able accommodate anyone who cannot wear a mask or who needs to lip read as a consequence of hearing impairment.
As of February 13, 2022, these are the policies for participation in Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars:
- Show proof of full vaccination.
Full vaccination means the individual must have all doses and boosters recommended for a vaccine approved by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than 14 days before first day of attendance at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival Fiber Arts Seminars in 2022. Please be prepared to show your vaccination card, or a photo of your vaccination card on your mobile device, as you enter your classroom.
AND
- Wear an N95 or KN95 that covers your nose and mouth at all times when inside. Other masks will not be permitted. A mask must fit snugly against the sides of the face and cover the nose. These masks are currently available at low or no cost at many pharmacies.
Our instructors fully support the above requirements.
Eating and/or drinking will not be permitted in the classrooms.
We know these policies may make it impossible for some to attend classes this year. We ask for understanding and patience as we try to find the best path to keep students, instructors, and volunteers safe. We will miss those of you who cannot attend and look forward to welcoming you in the future.
As new information develops, we may change these requirements in the interest of public safety.
Warm up for the Festival with Winterfest!
Posted: October 28, 2021
While we will be returning in May with our usual stellar lineup of in-person classes, we know a lot of you are only able to participate virtually, and it’s just not feasible for us to offer online and in-person classes at the same time. Our solution is to bring you two days of virtual fiber arts seminars on Saturday, January 29 and Sunday, January 30, 2022. Winterfest 2022 will be held on the same Lessonface platform that served us so well for the 2021 virtual festival and will feature the following instructors:
- Jillian Moreno – Spinning
- Kristen Walsh – Felting
- Maggie Casey – Spinning
- Kira Dulaney – Knitting and Crochet
- Janine Bajus – Knitting
- Judith MacKenzie – Spinning
- Dia Robinson – Spinning
Our keynote lecture on Sunday will be The Cultural History of Natural Dyes with Pat Brodowski. Pat’s popular natural dyes workshops have been presented at Monticello, Montpelier, Common Ground on the Hill, and to local fiber arts groups. The lecture is free but registration through Lessonface is required.
Schedule
Saturday, January 29
| Time (Eastern) | Class | Type | Instructor |
| 10 a.m. to 12 noon | Drafting for Size and Consistency (part 1) | Spinning | Jillian Moreno |
| 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Needle Felted Snowman | Felting | Kristen Walsh |
| Teach Your Old Wheel Some New Tricks | Spinning | Maggie Casey | |
| 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. | Drafting for Size and Consistency (part 2) | Spinning | Jillian Moreno |
| Correcting (and Avoiding) Knitting Mistakes | Knitting | Kira Dulaney | |
| 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. | Needle Felted Winter Landscape | Felting | Kristen Walsh |
| Fair Isle Scarf: How Color Is Used in Fair Isle (part 1) | Knitting | Janine Bajus | |
| Twist Unraveled | Spinning | Maggie Casey | |
| Color Without a Dye Pot | Spinning | Judith MacKenzie | |
| 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. | Spinning the Perfect Warp | Spinning | Judith MacKenzie |
| 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Intro to Brioche | Knitting | Kira Dulaney |
Sunday, January 30
| Time (Eastern) | Class | Type | Instructor |
| 10 a.m. to 12 noon | Default Yarn: The Key to Your Spinning | Spinning | Jillian Moreno |
| 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Inspirational Blending on a Blending Board | Spinning | Dia Robinson |
| 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. | The Cultural History of Natural Dyes | Lecture | Pat Brodowski |
| 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. | Colorplay and Singles Yarn | Spinning | Jillian Moreno |
| Fair Isle Scarf: How Color Is Used in Fair Isle (part 2) | Knitting | Janine Bajus | |
| Altering Knit and Crochet Patterns for Size, Gauge or Style | Knitting/Crochet | Kira Dulaney | |
| 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. | Finishing Your Yarn | Spinning | Maggie Casey |
| Spinning for Texture: Not Your Grandmother’s Yarn | Spinning | Judith MacKenzie | |
| 30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. | Wool Combs | Spinning | Judith MacKenzie |
| 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Crochet Lace | Crochet | Kira Dulaney |
Registration is now open at https://www.lessonface.com/sheepandwool.
Proposals for 2022 Fiber Arts Seminars now being accepted
Posted: June 15, 2021
We are now accepting proposals for fiber arts seminars to be held in conjunction with the 49th Annual Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, which will take place in person on May 7 & 8, 2022 in West Friendship, Maryland. Many seminars will be held Wednesday-Friday of the week leading up to the festival; all seminars will be held in person. The Fiber Arts Seminar Committee invites instructors from every heritage, culture, belief system, and lifestyle to submit a proposal.
Submit your proposal(s) here.
The deadline to submit a proposal is July 15.
2021 Festival Gear Now Available
Posted: April 6, 2021
2021 festival gear is now available in our online store!
T-Shirts – Sweatshirts – Tote Bags – Posters – Note Cards
Also available for in-store purchase at the Sheepman Supply showroom in Frederick, Maryland.
Your purchases help support the Festival.
