Best. Museum. Ever. (Or, yeah, I'm a knit-nerd, you got a problem with that?)

Have I told you that I knit?

Well, I do, and I LOVE it.

And, since I love to knit and am curious about all things knitting-related, one day during my Christmas holiday I went down to Geelong to visit the National Wool Museum.

Why is there a museum devoted to wool in Geelong Australia, you ask?

Well, it has been said that Australia was born on the sheep's back, or something like that. The sheep and all of it products was the central economic force in Australia for many years, and the industry is still quite successful.

So, in Australia's bicentennial year (1988) the nation's only museum devoted to wool was opened.



The first floor was devoted to history of sheep in Australia, all of the trials and tribulations of colonizing and animal husbandry. There was a display of the different types of sheep and the example of their wool:



There were many hands-on exhibits, where one could feel the different types of wool, attempt to sort the wool and even an antique scale so you can pretend you're a sheep and get weighed. A large part of the floor was devoted to the lives of shearer's with their hard work and soft hands.

My favorite part of this floor was the placard describing the calendar of tasks involved in sheep husbandry:



"Remove unwanted testicles" You can make your own joke there.

The second floor was where all the action was:



There were examples of the giant machines used to wash and spin raw wool into yarn, and then the processes of dyeing and weaving the wool. And, they also mentioned wool's arch-enemy: STRING!



There were plenty of hands-on exhibits here, including a machine to comb out the wool, an antique loom that I got to weave with for a bit, and an automatic sock knitting mchine.

I was left with a deeper admiration of people who spin and dye their own yarn. It's not an easy task.

I'm not sure if non-knitters would find the museum as fabulous as I did. Seriously, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning going around and trying all the machines and touching all the wool! It was so cool! I am sure the volunteers were highly amused at my enthusiasm.

But, I think that any knitter would be enthralled by the place.