Palmerton locals once again took top slots at the Make It With Wool contest in Denver.

Gabrielle Augustine, who won the junior division in 2008 and placed high in the junior and senior division since 2007, took third place this year in the senior division for New York.A Palmerton native, Augustine now lives in Coopersburg, New York, where she works as an assistant curator for the National Baseball Hall of Fame."I love the challenge that it presents, always expanding my repertoire in sewing and knitting," she said.Augustine created an ensemble that included a wool cabled sweater designed from three different patterns, red wool pants made from fabric she won at a previous competition, and a European hooded coat made from mohair wool with black trim and a cinched waist."Moving up north, I needed something warm and cozy," she said about the coat.The items were things Augustine wanted to make even if she wasn't competing. The competition just gave her a due date."Deadlines are great motivators," she said.Augustine's mother, Kathy Augustine, also has competed in the adult division at the state and national level. Last summer, she helped Mercy Melo, a senior at Palmerton Area High School, with her first project ever.Melo went on to win the state competition in the junior division in October during the Keystone International Livestock Expo at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. This win qualified her for the national competition in January. She placed fifth in the junior division at nationals."It was cool to just go to nationals, but to place was amazing," she said.In addition to being active in high school, Melo is a member of the fiber guild, 4-H Club and the 2016 Carbon County Fair Queen.When it came to this competition, nerves really weren't a problem."It wasn't scary, because I wasn't expecting to get anything," she said. "You can't botch that."At nationals, competitors have to model their outfits and be able to tell the judges about the sewing techniques used, Kathy Augustine said."A lot of people can make something that looks pretty, but it doesn't fit right," she said. Plus, these outfits have to be "just as pretty to look at on the inside as they do on the outside."Melo's outfit was a black wool miniskirt with a two-toned gray shawl. All along the hemline of the skirt, she attached 26 hand-felted gray sheep with black faces, like the Gotland sheep on her farm. The shawl was made of 325 macramé knots using two shades of gray wool yarn. She tied 10 knots for each single macramé knot.Both Melo and Gabrielle Augustine were awarded three yards of Pendleton wool, along with other items. Augustine received a floor OttLite, which produces a light similar to daylight that is helpful in seeing details.Melo said her fabric is a green plaid with gold threads."That will be a coat in the future," she said. "This past year, I only had a month. This time, I have the whole year."The Make It With Wool contest is sponsored by the American Sheep Industry Association.