Return to sheep show
Australian Sheep and Wool Show at Bendigo Showgrounds, 17 July 2026.
After having such a nice day last year I was guaranteed to drag myself to the sheep show again. This year it was a solo mission, and I caught the train and shuttle bus instead of driving and having to find a parking spot.
The day was blessed with lovely weather and the trip was an easy one. My first stop after getting into the showgrounds was a coffee van. As is often the case, this involved conferring with fellow coffee-seekers whether they were queuing to order or waiting for their coffee to appear.
The bloke I queued behind seemed impatient. "I just want to see some sheep," he said.
"I don't think you're going to have any trouble with that," I replied.
I didn't spend a huge amount of time inspecting the sheep and couldn't even find the rams. Baby animals though, that's another story. I was the sole adult patron of the baby animal pen, trying and mostly failing to take half-decent photos of lambs, kids and (admittedly fully grown) chooks.
I did spend lots of time looking at yarn, with a project in mind (a basic, loosely knit jumper done with nice soft yarn.) I fell for the mulberry jam 10 ply from Belleview Park, which is the same as one of the skeins I bought last year other than the colour. They are going to dye it to order and post it to me, so that will be fun when it arrives.
One of the aspects of the craft sheds that I really enjoy is all the woodturning bits and pieces. One can buy a spindle, a clapper, a yarn bowl and more. But nothing could have held me back when I saw it: a spurtle!
As I went to pay for my chosen spurtle the woodturners and I did have a quick debate whether it was in fact not a spurtle but a dibbler, given its size. I maintain that it was the perfect sized spurtle for making two serves of porridge, and besides it had a tag on it that said 'SPURTIL' [sic].
Later in the day I realised that it's not enough to come to the sheep show with a project in mind. You need several. You may as well go for it, because there is no better place to find yarn, raw fleece, thingamajigs and everything in between. So I might save up a bit more for next year.
While I'm waiting for my mulberry jam to arrive I've been inspired to knit up a new beanie for myself using some lovely yarn that was gifted to me not long ago. It's turning out great. It's such a nice hobby.
