QUILCENE — The pair of white Cotswold sheep observing the performance on the Linger Longer outdoor stage at Worthington Park could not have been more captivated than a small crowd of people watching 12 women singing in Gaelic, sitting around a table and beating a long, damp piece of wool against its surface.
After each woman grabbed a fistful of wool, she pushed it toward the center of the table and then back toward herself before tossing it to the woman to her left.
The rhythmic thumping softened and shrank the newly woven fabric and followed the tempo of the songs.
Wool waulking, as the process is called, was a featured demonstration at the Quilcene Fiber Arts Festival on Saturday when almost every aspect of wool production — from carding to spinning to creating finished items — was demonstrated, taught in hands-on workshops or offered for sale.
Shearing, as the two sheep would find out, was also on the schedule.
“This is the first time the whole grounds are being used for one event,” said Lise Solvang, whose Fiber and Clay shop was one of the festival sponsors, along with the Quilcene Historical Museum and Worthington Park, site of the recently renovated Worthington Mansion.
“The mansion just recently opened for events, and all of the work was done by volunteers.”
Built between 1891-92, the mansion had over the years lost much of its historical charm, not to mention its entire third floor and distinctive mansard roof. It took an estimated 36,000 volunteer hours to restore the third floor and roof and interior to preserve as much of its original design as possible.
It is now on the Washington State Heritage Registry of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.
More than 20 vendors selling wool, felted animals, wood spindles, hand-spun and woven scarves and knitted and crocheted goods crowded the ground floor of the mansion.
The Quilcene Historical Museum hosted workshops for visitors to learn weaving, wet felting, crocheting and knitting.
Mary Pfund brought her portable Wolf CQ loom to teach beginners how to weave a rag rug by walking them through the steps of throwing the shuttle horizontally through the yard threads and working the treadles.
“I said I’d bring my loom if someone would warp it for me,” she said of the laborious task of preparing the vertical threads that hang over the loom, which took four hours to complete.
“I haven’t woven in 15 years,” said Pfund, who moved to Quilcene from Key West, Fla., in November 2020. “Now I’m hooked again.”
At the end of the day, the completed rug along with other items donated by vendors would be raffled off to benefit the Center Valley Animal Rescue organization in Quilcene.
________
Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
Women at the Quilcene Fiber Festival on Saturday demonstrate the Scottish Gaelic tradition of wool waulking, which involves beating damp wool to soften it as they sing. The Quilcene Fiber Festival held Saturday at Worthington Park featured demonstrations on many aspects of wool production, as well as vendors and hands-on workshops. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
More than 20 vendors selling wool, felted animals, knitted and crocheted items and rugs crowded the first floor of the recently renovated Worthington Mansion during the Quilcene Fiber Festival held Saturday at Worthington Park. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
