The Bookworm's Knitting: August 2009

My friends and I went to the state fair Sunday and had fantastic weather for it. This summer hasn't been like a real summer at all, much more rainy and cooler than normal. Not that I'm complaining at all because I really enjoy cooler weather. Anyway, this was the first time in a couple of years that I have gone to the state fair. It is also the first time I've entered anything at the fair.

We went all through the animal barns looking at everyone in the stalls, pens and tie stalls. I bet all of the exhibitors were thrilled that the weather wasn't roasting. No one had to worry about heat exhaustion. I really enjoyed going through the sheep barn because there were so many different breeds and some fleece judging was going on. There were some really nice ones there. I wasn't knitting ~~obsessively~~ ~~constantly~~ enthusiastically or spinning at all the last time that we went to the fair so I didn't take special note of the sheep then. My one friend made a friend for life because he gave a thorough head and back scratch to a ram who had been sheared recently. That big guy was definitely itchy. The one funny thing we saw was a ewe tied to the fence being shampooed and bathed. She was NOT THRILLED with the whole thing. The man who was washing her took her back to the barn toweled her head off and started combing her, getting ready for the show ring. All I could think about was felting fleece.

My friends and I then moved on to the natural resources area where we watched a demonstrations on water dogs. It was fun to watch the different dogs retrieving the "ducks". One dog had a very clean entry into the water. He would run to the edge and then delicately step into the water without a splash. Another dog there, on the other hand, took a flying leap and did a canine equivalent of a cannonball!

At the end of the day, we went to the Creative Arts building where all of the art things and cooking entries were housed. Some of the drawings and paintings were really impressive. The photography, however, didn't really inspire me. Ironically, the entries in my local fair usually do. I would have thought the people in the local fair would enter things into the state one. We kept wandering through the different rooms until we came to this. . .

That's right, second! I was so thrilled! I thought they were going to notify us if we won anything and hadn't heard from them so it was a complete surprise. The lady who won 1st in this category had a lovely wedding veil she had made for her wedding. She included a picture from the wedding which was very nice.

On to the next case and this. . . .

Another second! I think that is pretty good for a sweater I was still finishing on the morning we turned things in!

When I got to the semi-constructed case (from the looks of the entries no one else understood what exactly they meant by semi-constructed), I saw this. . .

A blue ribbon! I really liked doing this shrug and using the yarn so it was nice and sproingy. I can't wait to actually be able to wear it because this, too, was being finished the morning that items were due.

When I looked for my Morning Surf Scarf, I saw that it had been awarded first place and the best in category!!!

All in all, I'm quite happy with the results. I didn't place with my handspun yarn but, then again, I didn't expect to. I grabbed that skein at the last minute and definitely wasn't my best work. The way that they displayed the handspun skeins was quite nice and it was interesting to see all of the colors.

Speaking of displaying, I was glad to see the different items were protected in glass cabinets. One of Mom's friends mentioned how they had a problem with items being stolen in past years. I was definitely concerned that my projects would be stolen before I had a chance to enjoy them!

I wish that my camera battery hadn't been dying or else I would have taken more pictures. As it is, I have a couple of pictures of some of the other knit items that were just fantastic.

The quilts that were entered were amazing. I wish I could show you all of the detail in them. These pictures really don't do it justice but try clicking on them to make them bigger and you might see some of the exquisite quilting on them.

Some of the cake decorating ones really amused me. I hope they still look good when the fair ends on Sunday. The ones that had been made for tasting looked a little wonky in their display case.