As you might remember, I went crazy this year and entered 7 different projects into the state fair. Next year, someone needs to remind me not to be over-ambitious! It was fun to see everything displayed there but was a lot of work. Mom and I went over on Sunday to see how I had done and to watch the fleece judging. If I had cash on me, I would have probably come home with a fleece. Ah, next year :)
The silk lace shawl I made for my friend’s wedding gift came in second in the lace category!
The competition was really tough (and beautiful!). This next picture is blurry but it should give you an idea. The pink stole to the right of the display case had crystal beads along the edges. It was really lovely.
This year the handspun skeins seemed to have more entries than last year. I didn’t pay too much attention last year though so my memory could be faulty. They did display things differently this year. This year there were 2 rows of wrapped up skeins.
I got a second place for my purple silk yarn whose roving I bought at Maryland this year. The category was silk yarns with no weight specified.
For the fingering weight category, I entered my Red Berries yarn whose roving I bought at SOAR in 2009.
One lady who entered multiple skeins into the competition had a really neat idea. She spun up the same roving into multiple weights. On her details card, she said she planned to weave a shawl with all of the yarns. I think the finished project would look really nice. I hope that she enters it into the weaving category next year!
My felted mittens also got a first place! Have I mentioned how much I liked the pattern? If I trusted my ability to figure out felting to knitting ratios, I’d be tempted to come up with a matching hat.
This is a picture of one of the displays of felted items. Do you see that rug to the right? It was a gorgeous wet felted rug. The hanging above it was needle felted.
Some of the miscellaneous knitted objects were also in the felted case. Can you see the knitted veggie basket in the corner? Adorable! And perfect for the fair.
The multi-directional scarf I made with Noro Silk Garden Sock won 3rd in the accessories category! I was really impressed by the way that they displayed the items. If you listen to the podcast, Sticks and String, he tells horror stories about how lace items are hung wrong side out or balled up, heavy sweaters were suspended by safety pins and fishing line, things scrunched up so badly that you can’t tell what the pattern is. Well, there is no such difficulty at the state fair. They did a really good job.
The sweater category had the best (and most!) competition, hands-down. There were sweaters all over the place. Mom and I even found some non-placing sweaters completely across the room in a doll art case because there were so many entries. They just couldn’t fit in only one case.
Do you see that grey one in the right hand corner? That’s my Twist Cardigan. Frankly, after seeing the competition, I’m floored that I even placed. I have absolutely NO idea why that Dale of Norway sweater didn’t get a ribbon.
What probably set mine apart was the different techniques I used: the tubular cast ons and bind offs and the grosgrain ribbon on the buttonbands. In June, a woman who used to judge handspinning and fleece selecting at the state fair talked to my fiber guild. She said one year she watched the knitting being judged and the 2 main things that set an item apart were the finishing (weaving in ends, seaming, etc) and different/challenging techniques.
If you are counting, you might have realized that is 6 projects mentioned and not 7. So what about the 7th, my handspun Tangled Yoke Cardigan?
I’m very happy :)
