By EMMA HOPKINS-O’BRIEN

Indiana Correspondent

GREENCASTLE, Ind. — The Fiber Event at Greencastle, an annual festival geared toward fiber artists, enthusiasts, and cultivators, celebrated its 27th year last month at the Putnam County Fairgrounds.

Beth Sheets, an organizer on the Fiber Event’s board, said the festival was well-attended for having been hosted on Easter weekend and despite the nearly constant rain that plagued the event both days.

“We had over 80 venders here, we had 16 workshops, they were well-attended and we had very positive feedback about the teachers and how the classes went,” she explained.

Classes were conducted on topics spanning from spinning to felting and knitting, and everything in between. The vendors sold a variety as well – yarn, roving, brooms, wood products, finished garments, and other items relating to the processing and art of fiber.

Sheets said overall sales were good, though maybe not as good as they tend to be at non-holiday events. Some interactive events were popular throughout the weekend.

“Friday night was ‘friends and fiber,’ which was where different people can bring anything they’re working on, be it knitting or spinning or any of those, then they come in and each of the vendors have donated something and they have drawings where they can choose a product that is involved with whatever they do,” she explained.

A sheep-shearing demonstration April 19 attracted a curious crowd, many participants previously only been familiar with fiber in its post-shorn form. A few competitions were held, including a raw wool contest, fiber art competition, and even a demonstration of “sheep to shawl.”

This demonstration was new to the show this year, hosted by the Champaign-Urbana Weavers Guild. Sheep-to-shawl is a contest typically held at state fairs, in which teams of fiber artists construct a shawl from washed wool to a finished product, completing steps such as carding, spinning, and knitting all on-site.

All in all, Sheets considered this year a success. “I think a lot of people enjoy coming to this show because it’s for people who all have a similar interest, and they get together with friends and whether they buy or not, it’s just a beautiful thing to just walk through all the buildings and see all of the product and what people have done with it.

“It’s just exciting, and a fun time.”