BY KAREN BOSSICK

A free community Weaving a Mother Tree project will be part of Wool Fest 2023 taking place Oct. 5-7 in Hailey.

The project is among 13 classes being offered over three days during the Trailing of the Sheep Festival.

Community members will get the opportunity to take part in building a 16-foot Ponderosa Pine wall sculpture featuring woven bark with needle felted pine cones and wrapped branches under the direction of weaver Doris Florig.

The Weaving a Mother Tree project will be held in the Hailey Grange Hall, and there will be stations for all skill levels.

There are also a variety of workshops people can avail themselves of.

Hailey’s Susan Coons will show how to make adorable Posey Sheep Pincushions using felted wool, hand applique and hand embroidery.

An Oregon City woman will teach Navajo-style spinning techniques while a Montana woman shows people how to make felted collar/shawls with longwool locks using power tools. Florig will show how to shape wool fibers into trophy heads of animals that you can mount on your wall.

There also will be Salish weaving, the opportunity to create a picture out of wet and dry felting, a chance to make a Sheep Skin Purse a Viking would have loved, a class in making needle felted snowmen and more.

To learn more, visit https://trailingofthesheep.org/wool-fest/.