Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sydney Liao, 16, of Scappoose, Ore., relaxes with a couple of her Pygora goats, Cosmo and Izzy on Saturday at the first Wahkiakum Farm to Fiber Festival at the county fairgrounds in Skamokawa. Her family started with four Pygora goats nine years ago, and now have 11 of the animals, which Liao described as "really sweet." See more photos at waheagle.com.
Vicki Skeers and Jo Johnstead represented the River City Strippers, a local quilting club, at the festival this weekend. The Strippers meet each Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Cathlamet, to work on their own pieces and talk about their husbands, or make comfort quilts and baby quilts for people in the community.
Danielle Wallace, one of the owners of Purly Shell Fiber Arts in Ilwaco, has been spinning for close to 10 years. "I wanted to make my own unique yarn," she said. She also crochets, knits, and raises sheep.
The first ever Farm to Fiber Festival was held at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds this past weekend.
"It went really well!" organizer Lori Cagle said happily.
So well, she and the other organizers, members of the Wahkiakum Fiber Arts Association, are already thinking about next year.
According to Cagle, vendors traveled from Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to attend the event, and Pygora goat exhibitors came from Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.
"All of the vendors were really excited," Cagle said. "They knew it was our first year and they knew it was going to be a little bit slow, but they did really well. I think we had close to 150 people come through."
This year, they also had sheep shearing demonstrations, and next year they hope to add a sheep herding demonstration.
"I go to fiber festivals all the time," she said. "Some of us thought it would be great to have something closer. We thought the fair was a great venue to have an event like this, so we did it as a fundraiser for the fair.
"It was a win/win situation. It brought people into the area, and gave some of the hotels, and bed and breakfasts some business."
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