Spinners, weavers fete fiber at fair

A small boy stood transfixed watching Irene Houston pump her spinning wheel while stretching bubble-gum-colored wool between her fingers at the Northwest Montana Fair.

“The spinning wheel puts a twist in it so the yarn looks like this,” Houston said, holding out a strand of the finished product. “Then you can make some mittens.”

Houston, a founding member of the Alpine Weavers and Spinners Guild, was one of several members demonstrating their crafts in the fiber barn Wednesday, creating the full circle from sheep, goat, llama and yak backs to products such as purses and ponchos.

As sheep bleats erupted behind them, the guild women snared a variety of fair visitors young and old, male and female, with their fingers moving in hypnotic harmony on their wheels and looms.

For Houston, the addiction began in 1968 in the Flathead Valley.

“My friend, Kathy Harvey, found a spinning wheel her great-great-grandfather made at the time of the Civil War,” she recalled. “She said, ‘We’re going to learn to spin.’”

Lillian Tubb, county extension agent at the time, put them in contact with Swedish spinner Ruth Strid, who agreed to show them the basics. After their second Sunday afternoon spent spinning together, the women had an epiphany.

“We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to get together once a week and spin,’” she recalled. “That’s how the spinning guild started.”

 Houston wanted her own spinning wheel, so she convinced Charlie Shaw, a retired forest ranger who worked at Spotted Bear, to copy Harvey’s antique wheel. He went on to refine his product and make hundreds more, but Houston still uses his original creation.

She brought that wheel to the fair where a small crowd gathered around as she explained the secrets to making yarn from the large bags of fleece on display at the fair. Houston said the fiber gets combed and perhaps dyed before it reaches her fingers.

Her bubble-gum pink wool was prepared by the Going to the Sun Fiber Mill in the Flathead Valley. As her foot pumped the wheel, her hands pulled the silken fibers into a strand the size she wanted for her yarn.

“Don’t let the treadle go faster than your hands can go,” Houston said, as the yarn filled a notched spindle. “As it gets fat in one spot you move it to the next notch. It’s not very scientific.”

As the spinners guild made yarn, the weavers were drawn in like moths to a flame. The result was a combined Weavers and Spinners Guild while still maintaining their separate guilds.

They work together in harmony, woven together by their love of fiber and joy of working with their hands.

Shirley Sullivan, a weaver demonstrating at the fair, came to her craft much like Houston except the lure was a donated loom to a historical society in Illinois that no one knew how to use.

“I took lessons so I could demonstrate for tours,” she said. “It was so much fun that I bought my own and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

 She brought an Inkle Loom, a specialized loom for warp-faced weaving for products such as belts. Other members brought small and large looms from which they create woven cloth for a variety of products.

Sullivan has made stoles, vests, runners and placemats using her four-harness floor loom at home. She said the guild has looms as well as spinning wheels to rent to people who would like to try the crafts before investing in their own equipment.

“Our members give spinning and weaving lessons,” she said.

Another weaver, Teresa Knutson, displayed an amazing range of products, including an attractive satchel she wove from plastic grocery bags and  bracelets created on inexpensive bead looms. She made the satchel by weaving bags of different colors from stores such as Smith’s and Super 1 on her eight-harness, 48-inch jack loom.

“I saw it in a magazine and did it over Mother’s Day weekend,” she said.

Knutson said she learned to weave in the early 1970s when young people were fascinated by basic crafts in the “back to the earth” movement. She bought her large loom in 1985 but then got too busy to weave for 20 years or so.

She came back to weaving a few years ago.

“It’s relaxing and it’s creative,” Knutson said. “I like doing fiber things and I like doing things with my hands.”

Weaver Linda Christensen finds the same satisfaction. She was demonstrating a technique called twining on a small loom with which she created small, fringed purses.

“It’s a basket-making technique,” Christensen said. “Basket-making is weaving. Everyone thinks weaving is complicated but it isn’t.”

Christensen learned about twining in a women’s magazine, made the simple little loom required and started creating purses.

“I found the bigger the wool, the quicker it goes,” she said. “I have a big loom, too, but this is something really portable and an easy technique to learn.”

Christensen, who started weaving four or five years ago, said weavers inevitably collect a series of looms as they become entwined in the craft. She upgraded to a nice floor loom a few years ago and created shawls and ponchos.

She particularly enjoys demonstrating at the fair.

“I like to encourage kids to take up a hobby like this,” she said, recalling her early work with crafts such as macrame. “It’s something you’re able to come back to as an adult.”

The Weavers and Spinners Guild meets from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month in the basement of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

Saturday, Aug. 21

8:30 a.m. — Market livestock sale in the Trade Center Show Arena

9 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Judging of 4-H/FFA llama and alpacas in CHS arena

10 a.m. — Elk bugling contest at Free Stage

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Pie baking contest entries accepted in Expo Building

11 a.m. — Inland Empire Carnival opens on the Midway

11 a.m. — Horse racing at the race track

Noon to 6 p.m. — Performances on the free stage

2 p.m. — Pie baking contest

3 p.m. — Pig wrestling

7:30 p.m. — Dodge PRCA Rodeo with Indian Relay Racing at halftime and Justin Mutton Bustin’ at 7 p.m.

9 p.m. — Barn dance follows the rodeo in the grandstand

Sunday, Aug. 22

9 a.m. — Youth open llama/alpaca obstacle and costume judging

10 to 11 a.m. — U.S. Border Patrol search dog demonstration in the main arena

10 a.m. — Cowboy Church at Free Stage area

11 a.m. — Horse racing at the race track

11 a.m. — Youth public fun walk

Noon — Inland Empire Carnival opens

6 p.m. — Exhibits released

7:30 p.m. — Demolition Derby in the grandstand

8:30 p.m. — Exhibit buildings close

The results continue to pour in from the 2010 Northwest Montana Fair contests.  The following individuals took honors for their general projects, hogs, fiber, agriculture and horticulture, rabbit, and poultry exhibits:

General Projects

4-H/FFA

Level 1 Electricity

Grand Champion: Ian Caltabiano, Whitefish

Woodworking Project

First Place: Jordon Robins, Kalispell

Second Place: Bucky Nelson, Bigfork

Third Place: Lincoln May, Bigfork

First Year Woodworking

Grand Champion: Gabe Knudsen

Most Blue Ribbons in Photography

Grand Champion: Lauren Callan, Kalispell

Entomology Collection

Grand Champion: Alana Townsend, Kalispell

Plant Science

Best of Show: Brittany Hendrickson

Mechanical Science Aerospace or Small Engine

Best of Show: Jordon Lindborg, Whitefish

Club Scrapbooks

Grand Champion: Dandy Dudes & Dolls, Kalispell

Fine Arts Senior

Grand Champion: Robin Stobart, Kalispell

Fine Arts Junior

Grand Champion: Danielle Esakoff

Reserve Champion:  Danielle Esakoff

Hand Tooled Leathercraft

Grand Champion: Lauren Callan, Kalispell

Ceramics

Grand Champion: Leya Anderson

Reserve Champion: Tierra Johnson

Sub Junior Arts & Crafts

Best of Show: Brittany Hendrickson

Junior Arts & Crafts

Best of Show: Leya Anderson

Senior Arts & Crafts

Best of Show: Tanner Johnson

Self Determined Project

Grand Champion: Lauren Callan, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Andrea Love, Lakeside

Hog Showmanship

4-H/FFA

Senior Showman

Grand Champion: Tanaia Wise, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Alana Townsend, Kalispell

Junior Showman

Grand Champion: Talli Carmalt

Reserve Champion: Cheyene Ovnicek

Junior Novice Showman

Grand Champion: Jayson Potter, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Bryden Jassman, Kalispell

Senior Novice Showman

Grand Champion:  Kylee Gibson, Kalispell

Reserve Champion:  Brittany Bosley, Kalispell

Market Livestock Hogs - 4-H/FFA

Market Hog

Grand Champion: Alana Townsend, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Kylee Gibson, Kalispell

Additional Top 10 Hogs

Katie Newman, Kalispell

Taylor Kiger, Kalispell

Chantel Bauer, Kalispell

Evan Eickert, Kalispell

Jessica Grove, Kalispell

Brittany Bosley, Kalispell

Tanaia Wise, Kalispell

Rachel Bratz, Kalispell

Garrett Tutvedt, Kalispell

Kayla Jo Jellar, Kalispell

Fiber Festival

Open Class

Angora Fiber Goat

Grand Champion: Cassidy Norick, Columbia Falls

Reserve Champion: Drew Kittelsson, Kila

Fiber Goat

Best of Show: Cassidy Norick, Columbia Falls

White Fine Wool Sheep

Grand Champion: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Colored Fine Wool Sheep

Grand Champion: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Colored Medium Wool Sheep

Grand Champion: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Other Sheep

Grand Champion: Victoria Braaten, Kalispell

Wool Sheep

Best of Show: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Llama

Grand Champion: Brandon Hendrickson, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Brittany Hendrickson, Kalispell

Best of Show: Brandon Hendrickson, Kalispell

Sheep Wool

Grand Champion: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Llama Fiber

Grand Champion: Craig Stevens, Bigfork

Reserve Champion: Craig Stevens, Bigfork

Wool & Fiber

Best of Show: Julie Robinson, Kalispell

Fiber Festival

4-H/FFA

Angora Fiber Goat

Grand Champion: Cassidy Norick, Columbia Falls

Reserve Champion: Drew Kittelsson, Kila

Fiber Goats

Best of Show: Cassidy Norick, Columbia Falls

Other Sheep

Grand Champion: Victoria Brasten, Kalispell

Llama

Grand Champion: Brandon Hendrickson, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Brittany Hendrickson, Kalispell

Llama

Best of Show: Brandon Hendrickson, Kalispell

Sheep Wool

Grand Champion: Colin Norick, Columbia Falls

Reserve Champion: Cassidy Norick, Columbia Falls

Llama Fiber

Reserve Champion: Brandon Hendrickson, Kalispell

Wool & Fiber

Best of Show: Colin Norick, Columbia Falls

Agriculture and Horticulture

4-H/FFA

Beans

Best of Show: Kallee Hanson, Kalispell

Carrots

Best of Show: Bethany Lyford, Kalispell

Zucchini

Best of Show: Elizabeth Lorentz, Kalispell

Potatoes

Best of Show: Kalle Hanson, Kalispell

Market Garden Basket Project - Junior

Grand Champion: Bethany Lyford, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Ben Fisher, Columbia Falls

Garden Creature

Grand Champion: Bethany Lyford, Kalispell

Reserve Champion: Kelsey Wright, Columbia Falls

Most Blue Ribbons

Bethany Lyford, Kalispell and Ben Fisher, Columbia Falls

Agriculture and Horticulture

Open Class

Overall Hay or Legume

Best of Show: Tim Stutzman, Kalispell

Potatoes - Junior

Best of Show: Nathan Moon, Kalispell

Beans - Junior

Best of Show: Abigail Fisher, Columbia Falls

Cucumber – Junior

Best of Show: Lane Annelo, Columbia Falls

Carrots – Junior

Best of Show: Meagan Tutvedt, Kalispell

Zucchini – Junior

Best of Show: Sandra Pipolo, Kalispell

Broccoli

Best of Show: Abigail Fisher, Columbia Falls

Beet Display

Best of Show: Abigail Fisher, Columbia Falls

Herb Display

Best of Show: Irene Bowker, Bigfork

Raspberries

Best of Show: Janet Monk, Kalispell

Market Garden Basket Project

Best of Show: Dan Fisher, Columbia Falls

Grand Champion: Dan Fisher, Columbia Falls

Reserve Champion: Rose Fisher, Columbia Falls

Garden Creation

Grand Champion:  Cole Wavereck, Kalispell

Reserve Champion:  Shelton Woll, Bigfork

Mr. Potato Head

Best of Show:  Thomas Hayek, Somers

Veggie Car

Best of Show:  Thomas Hayek, Somers

Scarecrow

Best of Show:  Abigail Fisher, Columbia Falls

Most Blue Ribbons

Abigail Fisher, Columbia Falls

Rabbits – Open Class

Mini Lop

Best of Breed: Destiny Brewer, Kalispell

Holland Lop

Best of Breed: Michael Taras, Kalispell

Havanna

Best of Breed: Kai Haagerup, Kila

Rex

Best of Breed: Paige Glazier, Kalispell

Mini Rex

Best of Breed: Torrie Brewer, Kalispell

Dutch

Best of Breed: Michaela Nelson, Swan River

Netherland Dwarf

Best of Breed: Natasha Dutton, Kalispell

Compact Type

Best of Breed: Hailey Stein, Kalispell

Commercial Type

Best of Breed: Tommy Diegel, Kalispell

Cylindrical Type

Best of Breed: Julian Kaptanian, Kila

Crossbred or Grade

Best of Breed: Kate Trunkle, Kalispell

Overall Best of Show

Torrie Brewer, Kalispell

Overall Reserve Best of Show

Kate Trunkle, Kalispell

Color Breed Fur/Wool

Best of Show:  Kaleb Sago, Kalispell

Color Breed Fur/Rex

Best of Show:  Bonnie Finfrock, Valier

Color Breed Fur/Normal

Best of Show:  Kaleb Sago, Kalispell

Poultry - Open Class

Champion Large Fowl

Best of Show:  Irene Bowker, Kalispell

Reserve Champion Large Fowl

Best of Show:  Bryden Jassman, Somers

Champion Purebred Bantam

Best of Show:  Sarah Johnson, Coram

Reserve Champion Purebred Bantam

Best of Show:  Brittany Hendrickson, Kalispell

Champion Water Fowl

Best of Show:  Melissa Bolster, Columbia Falls

Reserve Champion Water Fowl

Best of Show:  Trinity Williams, Kalispell

Poultry - 4-H

Best Large Breed Chicken

Tierra Johnson, Coram

Best Rooster

Bucky Nelson, Kalispell

Best Overall Bird Exhibit

Tierra Johnson, Coram

Best Overall Bantam Exhibit

Bucky Nelson, Kalispell

Poultry Poster - Senior

Tyler Amundson, Kalispell

Poultry Poster – Junior

Brittany Hendrickson, Kalispell

Best Turkey

Bill Bramlet, Somers

Best Duck Exhibit

Tyler Amundson, Kalispell

Senior Egg

Tanner Johnson, Coram

Junior Egg

Ian McKenzie, Columbia Falls

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.