RANGELEY – The Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum will hold its ninth annual Knit and Crafts Show and Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 23, at the museum building on Route 16, one mile east of Rangeley. Admission is free. Featuring the artistry of Maine fiber artists, the show will also introduce visitors to the history of knitting in the logging woods of the Rangeley region.

Lucille Richard, organizer of the event, already has sweaters for babies and young children as well as outfits for dolls and teddy bears. This year, Richard will also offer multi-colored scarves made from the new knitting yarns, such as eyelash yarn and fun fur.

Also featured will be afghans crocheted by Kathryn Snow of Farmington, granddaughter of Louise Doak, as well as knit goods fashioned by the women of the Church of the Good Shepherd.

Other Rangeley area crafters such as Margaret Yezil will offer a variety of handmade items such as fanciful moose and Christmas items.

Show organizers invite knitters, crocheters, embroiderers and other crafters who would like to include their handiwork in the day’s activities to call Richard at 864-5595.

The museum’s exhibit on knitting in the timberwoods of Maine, “Hand in Hand: Logging and Knitting in Maine,” will be on display with gloves worn by local loggers as well as a pair of gray woolen double-thumb mittens from New Brunswick. Worn by woodsmen, the mittens, made by thrifty women, could be turned over and used on the other side once the palm-side had been worn out.

Many of the photography exhibits also show the sweaters and mittens made by women, and sometimes mended by men, that were used in the logging camps.

Many native daughters, such as Lucille Haley Richard, Virginia Haley White and Bertha Lamb Haines, began knitting as girls, and once there were 12 to 15 sheep farms in the area.

Also on view is a quilt made by the combined talents of Rose Huntoon, formerly of Phillips, and Tinker Dunham of Rangeley. Using a deep blue background fabric, Dunham connected the squares of 1930s cotton that had been pieced together by Huntoon years before.

Winona Davenport of Phillips, sister of museum founder Rodney Richard, donated her aunt’s quilt squares to the museum. The quilt is part of the museum’s growing efforts to demonstrate what life was like at home for local loggers and their families.

Also on display will be the summer raffle items: a wood carving by Rodney Richard Sr.; hand-embroidered table cloth donated by Lucille Richard; hand-crafted wooden wheelbarrow painted with a woodland scene by Lorraine Chandler of Strong and polyurethaned by Jo Morgan; and an afghan crocheted by Virginia White.

The Logging Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, July 29 and 30. Winning tickets will be drawn at the end of the festival on July 30.

The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday in July and August and by appointment (864-5595).