Sheep to Shawl plus BBQ - WUT?!

So my 40th birthday is coming up and I've been planning the party for a while now.  Based on all the questions I've been getting about the planning and execution I figured it might be a good idea to blog about it, just in case anyone wants to repeat this they can at least learn what NOT to do from this record.  And this is along a way for me to keep my friends who cannot make it in the loop.  So here goes...

First off I have to admit that I usually find themed birthday parties cheesy and I think it’s pretty pathetic when someone throws herself a party.  So guess what I’m doing for my 40^th birthday?  Not just doing but planning for over two years?  I’m throwing myself a Sheep to Shawl plus BBQ party.  What the hell does that even mean you ask?  Well it’s simple!  Or maybe not so much.

1.  A Sheep to Shawl or in this case fleece to shawl is usually a demonstration or contest where participants start with either a sheep or a fleece (washed or unwashed depending on the event) and spin and weave a shawl on a pre-warped loom.
2. BBQ – well we’re going to spit roast a whole lamb.

Are you INSANE?!  Do you really need to ask?  I though the answer was fairly obvious.

So how did I dream up this idea?  Well, ever since I learned to spin I've wanted to start a sheep to team to enter the competition at Rhinebeck.  Due to a variety of reasons, mostly an inability to find a group of people with the interest who lived geographically close enough to actually get together and practice the plan flopped, and of course no one in our merry band actually had a transportable loom or a car large enough to transport any their existing looms.  Floor looms even workshop ones are FURNITURE!  So I had to table the idea.

A friend’s birthday party and several sheep and wool festivals later I discovered that under certain conditions I actually like lamb as food.  And one day chatting with some friends about who knows what I asked wouldn't this be an awesome idea for a party?  Sheep to Shawl and BBQ.  What?  Well the fiber people would get together and do the whole sheep to shawl thing.  In the meantime there would be whole lamb roasting for when we are done.  Most of them agreed it was a pretty cool idea.  I started playing around with the idea and decided.  OMG I’m turning 40 in a couple of years.  If I haven’t managed to get sheep to shawl team together for a Rhinebeck I’m so going to try to do this for my 40^th birthday.  If for no other reason than I’m going to bribe my friends with a roast lamb dinner to come help me spin this sucker.

And thus my little brainstorm and adventure began.