. >> visiting philipsburg manor is like traveling back to the mid-1700s.very year, the historic farm holds its "sheep to shawl" festival. it shows how colonists were able to make clothing and other cloth items out of a sheep's fleece. the first step is called "shearing." >> this is a once-a-year activity. what she's wearing is a one-year growth, and that comes off around this time of the year. >> while the sheep clearly don't love being shorn, it's not as bad as it looks. >> it doesn't really hurt any more than having your hair cut hurts. it doesn't really have any feelings in it. >> the trick to shearing is to remove the fleece in a single section. >> and the reason it's taken off in one big piece is because the best part of it, what they call "staple," grows very thick, and that's the part that would be best for spinning and making into thread. >> the next step is one that can get a little tedious. it involves getting all the pieces of grass out of the wool. >> and so, we take our fingers and we pick and we pick, and this is what children would be doing