Ex-Auckland online-community specialist Olivia Montgomery said the strong cultural connection of sheep farming and wool craft was one of the reasons she chose to make her new home in Lawrence.
"For my grandma, wool craft was an essential tradition every woman knew.
"I loved the incredible things in her house, so she taught me.
"I saw a sheep-to-shawl event in America on a social media post and thought that was such a good idea ... [then] I saw Clutha Creative Communities Scheme [CCS] funding in The Tuapeka Times and connected the dots."
Ms Montgomery’s inquiry with CCS led to a $1635.80 grant which she put towards local craft networks and the South Otago A&P Show’s inaugural Sheep to Shawl contest last year, where spinning and weaving teams from around the district competed throughout show day to hand-process fresh-shorn, raw fleece into a complete garment.
Team Slipknot, of Gore, won first place with a luxurious vest combining weaving, knitting and crochet.
"I remember events like this when I came to shows with my grandmother and it’s wonderful to see it again," Team Slipknot’s Isobel Walker said.
Ms Montgomery is working with CCS to run another Sheep to Shawl event this year.
"In all honesty, my original ambition was ‘there’s going to be teams from all around New Zealand’, and I emailed literally every club in the country.
"It turned out to be a local event but it went really well and generated a lot of attention, and now word’s out and there’s a lot more teams interested for this year.
"I’ve never applied for any kind of grant before and I’m not great at filling out forms but [CCS] was a really great and easy process.
"I emailed them, was able to go in and talk and they were happy to walk me through and give feedback."
Ms Montgomery’s funding has also been directed towards community crafting clubs.
"It felt so good that people turned out to take a risk on this random person who’s just moved into town and my ‘crazy vision’ ... connecting communities and inspiring young people are my biggest passions.
"So while we are planning on a bigger and better Sheep to Shawl, in the meantime there’s our craft groups and definitely more workshops for school kids this year."
