Steve Lyons of Ewe ‘N’ Eye Farm demonstrates sheep herding with one of his dogs and six of his flock. Photo by Lucia DiDomenico

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship

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TUNBRIDGE — The 38th annual Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival returned to the Tunbridge Fairgrounds Oct. 3-4. Visitors from across New England gathered to learn about fiber arts and meet the farmers, artists and animals that make their favorite fall sweaters possible.

Visitors could learn about sheep shearing and herding from experts, participate in craft-making workshops, and purchase artwork from more than 70 vendors. For the vendors and exhibitors, the annual event is a chance to catch up with friends and colleagues.

“It’s the one time of year we get together,” said llama farmer Lindsay Chandler.

Chandler and her husband, Geoff, run Northern Vermont Llama Co in Waterville. They produce fleece, yarn, and fiber arts products. Lindsay Chandler’s line of stuffed llamas is especially popular, according to the festival.

This year, Chandler brought two of her llamas, two-year-old Drake and 18-month-old Tito.

Lindsey Chandler’s llamas, 18-month-old Tito (left) and two-and-a-half year old Drake (right). Photo by Lucia DiDomenico

 â€œThis is the first time Tito’s been off the farm,” Chandler said.

Jane Woodhouse has been co-directing the festival since 2009. She is also a knitter, and raised her own sheep for 40 years.

“Because Vermont’s a small state, you see people that you haven’t seen all year [at the festival] and you catch up,” Woodhouse said. “A lot of customers are really loyal to a particular vendor that they like, and they come back every year. So that makes a huge difference.”

One of the newer vendors was Juliette PĂ©caut, a knitwear designer based in Somerville, Massachusetts. This was her second year as a vendor, selling knitting patterns. PĂ©caut said she uses local wool in many of her patterns, and some of her wool suppliers were also at the festival. 

“You can even meet some of the sheep,” PĂ©caut said. “You get to see the whole ‘sheep to sweater’ process from start to finish.”

The festival also featured a herding demo by Steve Lyons from Ewe ‘N’ Eye Farm in Stannard, and a shearing demo by shepherd and sheep-shearer Siri Swanson from Yankee Rock Farm in Bridport. Swanson owns a flock of 300 sheep, and shears about 10,000 sheep a year around the region.

Festival-goers gather to watch Siri Swanson of Yankee Rock Farm shear one of her sheep, Gizmo. Photo by Lucia DiDomenico

“We’ve been such a dairy dominant state for so long, it’s really cool to see it kind of shift back towards sheep,” Swanson said. “I think there’s a really bright future for sheep and wool in the Northeast. Our climate, our soil — everything going on here is just perfect for it.”

Swanson said she got into shepherding because she’s an animal lover, but enjoys meeting new people through her work. 

“Getting to meet the amount of different kinds of people from different walks of life who raise sheep or are involved with sheep for a million different reasons — it’s been really cool,” Swanson said. “It’s like an education of its own that I’ve gotten.”

Festival co-director Jane Woodhouse said this year’s event was one of the most well-attended she had ever seen. As they make plans for next year, Woodhouse said she and her team aim to balance adding new vendors from their “substantial waiting list” with maintaining the local feel of the festival.