You Tell Me

I dropped off my entries to the local county fair this morning. Ten handmade items for the "Folk" division and two photographs. I could have put in a little more, but just picked out the ones that I liked best which fit the categories they give. (For instance, they have NO sock category--this is shocking to me.)

While I was filing out the entry cards and turning the stuff in, the lady at the desk looked at my Pencil Sketch Camisole and asked if it was machine knitted. No, I replied, I did it by hand. She looked pretty amazed and commented that those must have been some pretty small needles. I just smiled and nodded, but don't remember them being particularly small. (The size 0's I used for socks were small, but those ones weren't.)

Anyway, I get the stuff checked in and leave for other errands. When I get home there's a message on the machine waiting for me. Someone from the fair would like me to call them back because they have a question about whether my articles were machine knit or not.

I called back and said (again) that no, they were hand knit. I don't own a machine to knit, and I did them myself. Ok, she said, sounding very dubious, "You must be a very busy knitter." She doesn't know the half of it!!

So, I ask you, does all this indicate that they are impressed with the items and how they are knit, or that they can't believe I can knit that much, or ...? The tone of the lady's voice on the phone worries me. I'm wondering if the judges are going to be unfairly biased against my work because they don't really believe that I made it. Hmmm...

What makes this somewhat amusing is the lady who sold me my discounted fair passes. You get a sizable discount when you enter something in the fair. She looked at my entry sheet and said, "Wow, you didn't just bake a batch of cookies, did you!" I laughed and asked if they had a lot of that. She said more often they don't even bake them, they just buy a dozen at the local grocery store on the way there! And yet they're asking if I am trying to cheat with my knitting. What a way to run a business.

In any case, I'll let you know the results, maybe as early as tomorrow!