Vermont crafts demonstrated

Deirdre Newman

Kathy Paul seems like the most relaxed employee at the fair. You

can find her sitting inside the cool Millennium Barn, one bare foot

on each pedal of a spinning wheel. A small crowd usually gathers

around her, watching her contentedly spin wool as part of the Sheepy

Hollow attraction.

The exhibit features spinning and felting demonstrations and a

variety of colorful wool products like hats, scarfs and rugs.

Paul, who lives in Vermont, came out to California six weeks early

for her daughter’s wedding. When she noticed the fair was going on,

she immediately called fair officials to offer her spinning services

since she never leaves home without her trusty spinning wheel.

“There’s only so much time you want to spend with a bride-to-be,”

Paul joked.

On a recent afternoon, Paul was spinning a combination of brown

llama wool and white Great Pyranese dog wool. She said spinning

barefoot is better because she can feel the vibrations of the wheel

and can gauge how much wool is going through.

John Kegerreis, of Long Beach, was captivated by Paul’s spinning

technique.

“I think it’s excellent because we always see [people] doing it on

t.v., but we don’t see the reality of it,” Kegerreis said. “Now we

understand how they can take hair and weave it into things.”

The wool roving is sold at the exhibit -- some of it is

hand-painted in vibrant purples, greens and pinks. You can get two

ounces of alpaca leg fiber for $3.

The wool products on sale are beautifully hand-crafted like a

rabbit shawl angora for $175, a soft pelt rug for $175 and wool

purses for $35.

Five-year-old Kyle Anderson was drawn to a pair of magenta-colored

angora wool gloves, which he probably won’t need too often living in

Tustin Ranch.

“It’s great,” Kyle said of the exhibit.

Stacy Fenton, 29, was checking out the scarfs for a more practical

reason.

“I like the scarfs because I’m from Minnesota,” Fenton said.

FYI: Sheepy Hollow will be having a demonstration on hand-dying

wool roving on Wednesday at 1 p.m.