The weekend of the 12th to 14th of June 2026, we celebrated our first EWA Wool Camp in Northern Spain. Since it was a wool weekend co-organized by the European Wool Association, we wanted it to be an international coming together. In the end, only one participant came from abroad: Anna Englund from Iceland was our guest of honor! All the other participants came from Spain: most from the Basque Country itself but also from Pamplona and Madrid. So our common language was mainly Spanish but sometimes you could listen to Basque or English, of course.
Day 1: Friday, June 12th:
In the afternoon, the participants arrived at the Camping site: we had reserved one of the big houses on the campsite for our stay, the house Izar has two bedrooms with 8 and 6 beds. Almost everybody stayed in this house, only three participants lived so nearby that they were able to go home to sleep in their own beds. All the meals were prepared by Koldo in the house’s kitchen.
First, we had some Latxa sheep come to the site: Javier showed us his 6 months old sheep and sheared them with blades. Most Latxa sheep had been sheared already as the shearing time is usually beginning of May. Although this shearing was the first for these sheep, they kept surprisingly still. Probably, they were quite glad to get rid of the wool as the temperatures were quite high then.
Next step was washing some of the fleeces with warm water and a bit of soap. The soap was made from sheep whey (that is the liquid that is left when making cheese from milk) by a local artisan. We soaked the wool gently in the soapy water then rinsed it with cold water until it ran clear. Then we hung the wool to dry on some fences.
We then started our first workshop: Spinning Latxa wool with the Basque spindle, the txoatile or txabila. This spindle has lots of different names, depending on the region where it was used by the shepherds in the mountains. The whorl is heavy and doesn’t rotate very fast but due to its weight, it keeps turning quite a long time. We showed how you can spin directly from the washed fleece or after preparing the wool. For preparation, we had a picker and a drum carder at our disposal. Before we headed to our house for dinner, everyone had been able to spin a thread of Latxa wool. Some first timers were not overly happy with their irregular and thick yarn but they had two more days to practice….
Day 2:
For Saturday, we had planned two workshops: Felting with molds in the morning and pegloom weaving in the afternoon.
The felting session was mainly conducted by Mia who explained the importance of laying out the raw wool really thin on the balls we had provided. As Latxa wool is quite difficult to felt due to its strong character, we mixed it with Spanish Merino wool. Each participant got his or her own package of raw wool and then they shared a table outside in the shade with three other people. After putting a few thin layers of wool around the balls, we pulled some old tights over them to hold the wool in place. Then the wetting with warm and cold water mixed with the sheep soap began. First, the movements should be soft and careful, when the wool doesn’t move so much any more, the kneading can be a bit stronger. The tights had to be removed in time so they don’t stick to the fabric.
The felted balls were cut open carefully at the valve to let the air out of the balls. That way, these molds can be used again and again. Some participants decided to add some lovely locks of Latxa wool to the edges, others smoothed them a bit more and all the beautiful art works were then put to dry into the plain sun.
After a fabulous lunch and a short ‘siesta’, we started the second workshop of the day: Pegloom Weaving.
Each participant got the pegloom with its clamps and some of the pegs had to be prepared still: I had spun some raw Latxa wool into thick 2-ply yarn that suits the resulting fabric well, in my opinion: it has enough structure to hold the weft in place when it is pushed down. We offered unwashed raw Latxa wool or washed Latxa wool for the weaving. As the pegloom weaving is such an easy technique, the participants were soon happily working away on their looms. It was really fascinating how different the approaches were of each person, so that everybody really had his or her unique seat cushion.
For those who wanted to try a Finnish sauna, we had reserved a spot just for our group in the campsite’s sauna: there are two big barrels with wood-fired ovens inside, a cold shower and a heated bathtub outside. The best way to finish a perfect day!
Day 3:
On Sunday, we started the day with the belt weaving workshop led by Mia. She had prepared beautiful bundles of looms with the colorful warps already inserted. Each bundle contained the chart for the resulting belt, too. In this sort of weaving, the warp should not be seen, only on the sides, so the patterning is made by the warp threads. When it’s the first time you weave like this, it can be a challenge and some belts came out a bit differently, showing some weft threads as well.
Mia also showed us how to prepare the warp threads, of course, so everybody can make his or her own design later at home.
After our last lunch together, we invited everyone to finish their unfinished projects or just explore a little bit the surroundings and pack up for departure.
We asked for their feedback and they were all quite pleased with everything: the organization, the location, the food, the workshops, the company, etc. The only thing that we could not offer was single rooms for those who prefer more privacy. But we will think about this for possible future Wool Camps. So stay tuned!
We thank all of the participants and hope to see you and them in other events!
