Even more state fair pictures

I took tons of picture at the state fair and thought I would share some more after last post.  So enjoy!








Einstein ducks!


Goat of the mountain!






felted items










leather working


duct tape flowers!


duct tape sculptures


Do you see the little bluebirds? 


This is all hand quilted!!!


Again, hand quilted!!!!










Isn’t this table amazing?!  Everything on the top of the cake is edible.  EVERYTHING even the wee little egg shells and yolks! 


Arrrgh!

State Fair results

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 :)

State Fair 09

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.






And the last picture for this picture-heavy post. . . .

It could have only been better if that was actually bubble wrap and not just a paint job!