Gippsland crafters shear, spin and knit to raise money for rare cancers

The Koorooman Sapphire Ewes can shear, spin and knit a fine Polwarth jumper in under 12 hours, all while raising money for rare cancer support.

In just under 12 hours, the Koorooman Sapphire Ewes can shear, spin and knit a fine Polwarth jumper.

The Gippsland team of wool crafters - and current Australian champions - won this year’s International Back to Back Wool Challenge by creating a jumper in 11 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds at Warncoort’s Tarndie property.

Koorooman Sapphire Ewes have created a jumper in fewer than 12 hours to raise money for Rare Cancers Australia. Picture: Supplied

The team challenge to create woollen jumpers raises money for Rare Cancers Australia, which provides support to people with rare, less common or complex cancers, and their families.

Koorooman Sapphire Ewes team member Belinda Smart, from Tarraville, joined the challenge three years ago.

“I have triple negative breast cancer, so it’s a rare cancer. Your general breast cancers are hormonal, but triple negative is incurable,” she said.

“But that’s not why I did it. I did it because it was something that was on my bucket list.”

Belinda has crafted “all [her] life”, and started spinning 25 years ago. She said the wool is blade shorn, hand spun, hand plied and hand knitted with their team of eight.

The wool makes it from the sheep to the first stitches on needles in six minutes.

“We don’t even wash it, it’s dirt, lanolin, everything. It’s straight from the sheep,” she said.

“It’s beautiful wool. It’s so buttery and soft, the sheep are so quiet and well-looked after, it makes the job 10 times easier.

“Last year we became the Australian champions, and this year we had to try and retain that championship status.”

Tarndie has hosted its 29th Back to Back Wool Challenge at Warncoort. Picture: Supplied

Sisters in Stitches, from Lilydale, came second with 11 hours, 56 minutes and 58 seconds, while Yarn It All placed third with 13 hours, five minutes and 14 seconds.

Tarndie has hosted the competition for 29 years, and its owner Tom Dennis said the current world record for the challenge was held by a Dutch team, who finished in fewer than five hours.

“There’s plenty of practice, skill development, motivation and endurance required,” he said.

The fundraiser online tally currently sits at $3328 of $10,000, with the event’s money still to be counted and two weeks left to donate.

Originally published as Gippsland crafters shear, spin and knit to raise money for rare cancers