Sheep Show 2017

I’ve managed to find some time for a Sheep Show update before it’s too late.

Last Saturday I drove to Castlemaine to stay with an old family friend on Saturday night and next morning I drove to Bendigo in time to meet friends at the parade of hand crafted garments.  I decided to take photos with the phone instead of the camera but with hindsight I would have done better with the camera as it’s faster and it wouldn’t have flattened the phone battery as much

Here are a few highlights from the parade:

A felted jacket with a border of  coroboree frogs

A very smart man's jumper

A beautiful felted dress, apparently each section was felted separately

A dramatic cape

A two piece with felted lattice

A cape with the music of 'It's a small world', the 2017 theme

Ending up with my jacket, the judges seemed to like it as it won its class and was awarded best garment from commercial wool

Here are some better photos taken at home with the camera, it’s hard to capture the pleats at the back with the dark French navy but though this one is a bit over exposed, at least it’s easier to see the pleats at the back.

Here's my modest collection from the Sheep Show

– some merino/cashmere roving, a couple of cones from the bargain box, a ball of silver viscose and wool yarn, I’m sure it will be good for something and a knitted blank going from purple to teal, just my sort of colours.  As well there were a couple of balls of yarn from Biggan Design and a gift voucher from Glenora as part of the prize.  The best garment from commercial wool was sponsored by Bendigo Woollen Mills and I believe there’s a surprise from them on its way.

There’s always a bit of a gap between when the Sheep Show closes and the exhibits are available for collection so I had a little trip round Bendigo, bought some petrol, had some afternoon tea, went to the gallery, sat in the street listening to my audiobook waiting to go in and collect my jacket when the audiobook stopped for no good reason.  Despite having my car serviced a couple of days earlier so that I would not have any car problems on the trip, I found myself sitting in the dark and cold outside the showgrounds with a car that wouldn’t start, and an almost flat phone battery.  I was imagining the worst – major mechanical problems that would mean I had to stay overnight, but knowing that all the accommodation was booked out, maybe even sleeping in the car – when the automobile association man arrived told me that I had a flat battery, started the car in about 2 seconds and told me not to stop until I reached home, about 2 hours away – Whew!