When fiber artists from across North America submitted work to an international competition focused on the world’s vanishing glaciers, the work of Carol Pearsall of Johnsburg, New York, rose to the top. Pearsall earned first place in the Best of Ladakh category of Cashmere on Ice, an international contest created by Long Thread Media and Wild Fibers magazine to raise awareness about melting glaciers and the global impacts of climate change. The competition invited artists to create textile pieces responding to the theme of disappearing glaciers. Organizers said the goal was to spotlight threats to glacier-dependent communities and to encourage support for cashmere-producing herders whose livelihoods are increasingly at risk.
Pearsall’s winning entry, a pair of Buff Mittens, draws on a tradition once common in the Adirondacks of the late 19th century. Her submission was recognized by judges for combining historic technique with a contemporary climate message.
“Reading about the contest and aware of the climate of the Himalayas, I decided to challenge myself to complete a pair of buff mittens before the middle of August,” Pearsall said. “Designing what I would knit, choosing the color for the water, deciding to combine the Cashmere required in the contest with Vermont raised Merino, and then locating some, carding and especially spinning the wonderfully soft wool were the best parts – the knitting, for me, is a rather slow process. Seeing what I had envisioned evolve within the timeframe I had set for myself, was both wonderful and a relief.”
“Carol’s mittens provided the perfect representation of glacial peaks on one side, and the rivulets of melting floodwaters on the other,” said Linda Cortright, editor of Wild Fibers magazine and one of the judges.
Pearsall created the mittens with hand-carded and hand-spun fiber: 50 percent cashmere sourced from the Pangong Craft Center in the high Himalayas of India, 25 percent fiber from a merino ram and flock at Whitefield Farm in Vermont, and 25 percent dyed merino-silk blend from the stash of Pearsall’s daughter-in-law, a felt artist in Queensbury, New York.
The Best of Ladakh category was named in recognition of the region in India where some of the world’s highest-quality cashmere originates, and where climate-related glacier loss poses increasing dangers. Long Thread Media and Wild Fibers created the contest in conjunction with the United Nations Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. Submissions from the United States and Canada qualified for the category, including knitted art pieces, shawls, scarves, and a hat. The judging panel consisted of representatives from both sponsoring organizations.
Organizers note the contest aims to draw attention to the shrinking glaciers of high-altitude regions such as Ladakh, the cascading threats they pose to people and animals, and the cultural traditions, such as cashmere herding and hand-spun textiles, that depend on a stable climate. All four winners in the competition are based in the United States, and prizes were donated by four different sponsors. Long Thread Media is headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Wild Fibers is based in Maine.
“I’m hoping the contest projects will go on tour to help raise awareness of climate change,” Pearsall added. “Awareness is the first step toward making the lifestyle changes we all need to make to preserve our environment.”