The Frontier Culture Museum celebrates Wool Week in April.
(Photo courtesy of the Frontier Culture Museum)
In a rite of spring, sheep shearing begins once the lambs are born and, during the Frontier Culture Museum’s Wool Week (April 25–May 1), visitors can experience plenty of both. Once clipped, each sheep produces more than seven pounds of wool, which is then cleaned, teased, and carded to untangle the fibers. Fast fashion this isn’t: Spinning the wool into yarn can take days, even on a supersized spinning wheel. The yarn is then woven into fabric on a loom. But with lambs and ewes on site, this is one living history exhibit that’s as entertaining as it is informative.
Located just outside of Staunton, the Frontier Culture Museum offers a glimpse into the daily lives of pioneers from the 1600s to 1800s, with farmstead exhibits based on German, Irish, English, American Indian, West African, and early American cultures. Spaced along a two-mile walking loop, the farmsteads reveal the combined influences of each on American folk culture. The museum also hosts summer holiday and roots-music events, plus a popular artisan fair in November. FrontierMuseum.org
This article originally appeared in the April 2022 issue.
