8 people, 1 sheep, 1 sweater, 1 day Cancer Fundraiser

The wool challenge is an 8-person teamed event where you hand shear a sheep, spin the wool and knit the sweater all in a day. The purpose of the event is to raise awareness about wool world-wide as well as to raise money for cancer. The team here in Maine will be donating to the cancer care at the Sarah’s House of Maine. At the event there will be hats, mittens, socks, and other fiber items that the team has prepared for suggested donations and silent auction. Raffle tickets are also available for the sweater that was prepared at last year’s challenge.

Sarah’s House is a non-profit organization that provides temporary lodging in a comfortable “home away from home” environment to cancer patients (and their caregivers) who travel 30 miles or more to receive treatments at Cancer Care in the Bangor area. Sarah’s House serves guests traveling from 15 of the 16 Maine counties and convenient lodging is an essential way to support cancer patients during a time they need it most. Sarah’s House provides not only a comfortable place to stay, but a supportive and caring atmosphere centered around hope and healing. Referred guests are served with integrity and respect and without regard to financial resources. There is no charge to stay at Sarah’s House.

Challenge day is May 11th starting at 8 am at the Penobscot County Extension Office, 307 Maine Ave., Bangor, Maine, when the first locks of the sheep are shorn and will continue until the sweater is finished and put on one of the team members. Will Mainely Spinners be able to reach their goal of ten hours? Come and watch or follow on Facebook (Mainely Spinners – Back to Back Wool Challenge). There are over 60 items up for sale and raffle on the day of the challenge, just another way to support cancer care in Maine.

How did all this start? In 1811 at Newbury in Berkshire, UK, a one-thousand-pound wager was made to make a coat from the sheep’s back to a man’s back in one day. Watched by 5000 people, the coat was completed in thirteen hours. The sheep was eaten with much quaffing of beer to celebrate.

Today’s Challenge began in 1992 when Richard Snow, a keen young spinner at the Scottish Wool Centre at Aberfoyle in Scotland, developed thyroid cancer. His desire to raise funds for cancer research sparked off their Back to Back Challenge, a competition very similar to that run almost two hundred years ago. The event created enormous interest in the UK, not only because of the clever wool promotion but because of the funds raised for cancer research. It has spread worldwide with all teams following the identical Challenge rules and pattern exactly as they are written.

There were three teams competing in the challenge in the US in 2023: San Diego County Spinners, Bonita, CA (7 hr 49min 00sec); Mainely Spinners, Milford, ME (13hr 50min 02sec); and Granite Web Makers, NH (16hr 36min 00sec).

Record Times
World Record : 4 hours 45 minutes 53 seconds Groenewoud Swalmen, The Netherlands 2017.
Canada Record: 5 hours 52 minutes 48 seconds Toronto Spiders, Toronto, Ontario 2010
USA Record: 7 hours 52 minutes 10 seconds San Diego County Spinners, Bonita, CA, USA 2019.
Maine Record: 11 hours 49 minutes 55 seconds Mainely Spinners, Milford, ME USA 2022.

Annual Fund-Raising Record

Brigadoon Trophy results for fundraising in 2023 – The Mainely Spinners, Milford, ME USA $2,752.27.

Follow us on Facebook, Mainely Spinners – Back to Back Wool Challenge for updates and live streaming.