A little happy and a little sad

As I'm sure many of you know, Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter" died on Monday. For me, this hits close to home, only because I'm so involved in the zoo world and the conservation of animals in general. To lose someone so passionate about animals and about bringing the message of conservation to the world is a huge loss. Even if he made you laugh and shake your head at how crazy he was, he still probably taught you a thing or two about animals (even the ones no one seems to love, ie. snakes and crocs).

That's where the "little sad" part of my post title comes it. I found out about his death after I got back home from the sheep to shawl contest. This is where the "little happy" part comes in.

I had such a good time at the contest. Not only did I get to hang out with Gabe's mom, two of his sisters and my brother (did I mention my brother was a part of our team?), but I also got to spend four hours doing something I love to do! Here are a couple of pictures...

This one is relatively early on in the contest. Don't mind the look of concentration on my face. I always get that way when I spin. It's sort of like a little trance I get into. Everyone else around me was having conversations, but I kept having to ask them what they were talking about because I was in spinning mode!

Here's a good picture of Amy, Gabe's sister, weaving the shawl.

She did such an amazing job. I may be a little bit biased, but I truly think that our shawl was the best looking shawl there. Or maybe it's the one shawl I would actually consider wearing, whereas everyone else's weren't really my taste.

I suppose I should let you know how we did huh? Well, we came in third. That's mainly because we were short on the length. When it was getting down to crunch time we just weren't quick enough with the spinning/weaving. Not to mention we were spinning the finest yarn so it takes more. We also were a bit wide on our shawl so the extra width made the length harder to reach.

Here's the finished product. Absolutely gorgeous, in my humble opinion! I can't wait until next year when we get to try again. This time we'll get one of those drums to keep the pace!

Down there is a picture of the team. Gabe's two sisters, Amy and Becky, his mom, and my brother, Sean.

It's what you would call, a family team!