By Cathy Spalding
Rick and Mary Adams of Wild Oak Llamas hosted a terrific LANA sponsored fiber education day at their ranch on Saturday, September 13th. It was so terrific, in fact, that most everyone stayed through Sunday!
The Adam’s family opened their home to a number of participants. By Friday night, every bedroom was filled as well as some coveted corners on the floor. Others stayed in hotels or lived close enough to drive. The food was great! Marilyn Milton and Mary Adams whipped up a wonderful taco soup complete with chips, cheese, tomato, olive and avocado trimmings. They even baked desserts that promptly disappeared!
Marilyn Milton and her good friend, Gogi (a talented fiber artist who works in the Llamas & Llambs Boutique in Jacksonville), arrived Friday afternoon. Behind her van, Marilyn had towed an enclosed trailer filled with fiber, displays, finished products and all manner of fiber related items. Everyone pitched in to help with the unloading and it wasn’t long before Marilyn began to transform the bottom floor of the Adam’s home into a fiber wonderland. Experienced fleece judge, Maryan Baker, arrived from Southern California that evening. She, too, brought a large assortment of fiber related items.
Saturday morning brought the beginning of a very fun and information-packed day. We were treated to Marilyn’s expertise spanning over vast range of fiber topics. We learned about varying fiber types, color, feel, shampoo and conditioners, grooming, shearing, preparation, setting up displays and a wide range of finished products – to name a few. Maryan shared her wonderful knowledge from both the artist and fiber judge perspective. We even tried our hand at running her dangerous picker machine.
We ended the day spinning on different wheels and making our own personal fiber llamas by needle felting. Each of us put serious concentration on our own personal project. In fact, so much so that a comment was overheard that went something like this: It is truly remarkable to see such a large group of mostly women so quiet for so long! We were, indeed, intense and… loving every moment of it!
After dinner, most of the participants went back downstairs to continue spinning and/or working on their projects. There was a great deal of laughter as each little felted llama began to emerge. Some really looked like llamas while others… well… not so much. It was late into the night before everyone finally settled down.
Sunday morning arrived and almost nobody felt to leave. Rick and Mary graciously invited everyone to continue having fiber fun. They, however, were working hard in preparation for leaving early the following morning for a show. A group gathered in the sunroom for spinning lessons. It took some time but most of us mastered the eye, hand and foot coordination. No one felt to leave until late afternoon. It had been a terrific weekend full of laughter, learning and great food.
Thank you so much to Marilyn Milton, Maryan Baker and Rick and Mary Adams. Events like this cannot happen without the gracious efforts of folks like you. We so enjoyed the time together and are truly looking forward to participating in another fiber day… err… days!
