Make It Yourself With Wool Perfect Fit For Battenberg

By Karen Topel, Managing Editor
Thursday, September 7, 2006 2:36 PM CDT

A contest that combines wool and sewing is perfect for someone like Carol Battenberg who loves raising sheep and stitching garments together. Yet, it wasn't until just before she was appointed director of the state competition that she became acquainted with Make It Yourself With Wool (MIYWW).

Five or six years ago, Carol came across an advertisement for the state contest and encouraged her oldest granddaughter to enter the competition.

It just so happened that particular contest was the last one for the previous director of MIYWW, having chosen to step down from the position.

Soon after, Carol received a call from the president of the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative. Initially, she declined, stating she didn't know anything about the contest. Four phone calls later she accepted and has served as the MIYWW director for the past few years.

"I've always been a sewer," she says, noting she really enjoys that portion of the competition.

Plus, she's very interested in - and a great supporter of - natural fiber and likes how the contest helps discount the myths about wool being a scratchy, itchy fabric.

Having her own sheep, Carol can see the natural progression from shearing the wool to creating a beautiful coat, dress or garment.

She says it's very fitting that MIYWW includes two of her favorite things - being a sheep producer and enjoying sewing. Plus, she meets the most wonderful people, she says.

Carol grew up on a dairy farm in Illinois, but they pretty much raised everything, she recalls. There she met and married her husband Don, and 35 years ago they decided to move to Wisconsin.

She taught special education and worked as a speech therapist for the Watertown school district for about 25 years, taking some time off to stay home while her kids were growing up. Don took care of the farm.

They have about 15 Dorset ewes on their commercial sheep farm. As most of them have twins, the Battenbergs usually have about 50 sheep in the spring.

Years ago, they took their wool to a woolen mill in Genesee Depot, which has since gone out of business. Now, they just sell it to the shearer.

Wool is just a byproduct on their farm as the Battenbergs focus mostly on raising their market lambs. "More and more people are eating lamb now," Carol says, mentioning their repeat customers have started buying more than one lamb.

In addition to their sheep, they have a guard llama, two milking goats, a flock of 25 chickens and dogs and barn cats.

They raised their three children on the farm, all of whom have ended up in the country. "There's something about (living in the country) that's so appealing," Carol says. None of their children are involved with the farm now, but at one time they all showed sheep in 4-H.

MIYWW has been around longer than Carol's been in Wisconsin. "It's a very old competition," she says. It was first held in 1947. It really "took off" in the 50s and has "been around ever since."

This national contest has changed some over the years. In the 60s, there were districts all over Wisconsin where contestants had to compete before advancing to the state contest. Today, no more than three or four states still have districts, she says. However, once entered at the state level, contestants are automatically part of the national contest where 35 states participate.

The year before Carol took over, there were 19 contestants, last year 43 competed in Wisconsin's MIYWW.

Carol's first year just happened to be the same year that the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative decided to hold the event at the Fall Sheep & Wool Festival instead of the spring contest. "It was an important step for both," Carol notes. "The Festival is the perfect place to hold the Make It Yourself With Wool competition."

MIYWW is growing and improving, just as the festival is, she says.

The only drawback is that September weather can be a little warm for modeling wool clothing. Carol simply reminds the contestants that "wool breathes," and "sheep do it."

She says there are a lot of reasons why the show has grown over the years. First, "it is the perfect venue," she says, noting that spinners, vendors and producers from all over Wisconsin can see the competition there. Plus, they've created a contest that is fun, builds camaraderie, reaps benefits and is appealing to a variety of people. Not to mention, Carol has put in countless hours promoting the show and making it a positive contest in the state.

Carol has a lot to do in coordinating the contest. She has to find all of the judges, take care of the entries, make sure all of the wool fabrics are tested, solicit prizes and donations from organizations and businesses, and publicize the event.

Her husband does lend a hand every now and again with the office work, which has been easier now that they've created a website. This was a huge boost to the contest, she says, and they received a lot of inquiries because of it. Plus, contestants are able to enter online instead of filling out paperwork - saving everyone some time.

Her first year was the hardest, she says. She had to make personal connections with many donors and sponsors to encourage them to get involved. Now it's much easier to contact them again each year. Especially since Carol asks all participants to send a thank you, including a picture of them with their garment, to the donors. Every year when she returns to ask for a donation, they always tell her that they received a picture and the "nicest letter".

"There's a lot to do," she says. Carol works on it all year round, finding prizes and such. Yet the busiest time starts about a month before the competition as the entries start rolling in.

Then comes the event. All day Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, the Activity Center in Jefferson will be bustling with activity.

At the contest, Carol tackles the registration and takes pictures of each entrant. She then scurries to a one-hour photo place so they may be posted through the weekend. Carol organizes lunch for everyone and the style show in the afternoon.

It may be a lot of work, but the contest is very rewarding for both Carol and the entrants. Those who compete have a chance to win a length of wool, yarn, books, threads, etc. The preteen winner receives a new sewing machine to aid in future projects.

"It's nice to see young people use their creativity, imagination and gain skills along the way," Carol says. She recommends contestants make good use out of their projects and enter them in the county fair, too.

Winners of the junior and senior categories advance to the National Competition in January of the following year. The adult winner can make a video and send their garment in to compete. The person who receives first place wins a round trip ticket to nationals.

One area of the show Carol would like to grow is the quilt and afghan class. While she was attending the National Competition a couple of years ago only two states had the class - Montana and Ohio. "I thought we could do this," she says, so she started the class in Wisconsin. In its third year, the quilt/afghan portion is still struggling. She'd like to see quilt shops publicize it a bit more.

She says she believes if quilters can just get their hands on the fabric they'll become more interested. To aid in that process, Carol began putting a challenge kit together. The kits contain four or five pieces of wool and are sold for $10. The fabrics can be used in any way to make a wall hanging.

There's also another whole group that does knitting and crocheting using wool from sheep, alpacas and llamas that could take part in the afghan competition, she says.

Volunteers like Carol make the entire competition possible. The contest continues because people love doing it, she says, herself included.

"It's the most fun thing I've ever done," she says. "I absolutely love it."

Comments »

Comment on this story

Comments will be approved within 48 hours

Name:

Email: (optional)

Comments:

Image Verification: (Case sensitive)