May 20th starting at 8 am
Milford Town Hall, Milford Maine
International Back to Back Wool Challenge – Mainely Spinners
8 people, 1 sheep, 1 sweater, 1 day Cancer Fundraiser
Contact: Jean Greenough, djanet410@gmail.com

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 Northern Light Health Foundation http://bit.ly/MaineB2BWool .

Challenge day is May 20th starting at 8 am at the Milford Town Hall in Milford Maine, when the first locks of the sheep are shorn and will continue until the sweater is finished. 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). One more practice session on May 6th at the Milford Town Hall. There will be many 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 2022: Mainely Spinners, Milford, ME; San Diego County Spinners, Bonita, CA; and Granite Web Makers, NH.

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 2022 – The Mainely Spinners, Milford, ME USA $6,700.

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