Going to the Fair (2019)

Time for the fair again! Each year I look at the current "fair book", consider the categories, and decide what items I've made over the last year fit. Here's what I came up with this year:

Knitted Cardigan/Pullover
I've finished two sweaters since the last fair. My Telja (made with Icelandic wool),

and the vintage Vogue flashback:

Since my recommendation of abolishing the "knitted blouse" category was acted upon, I can only enter one of these in the "cardigan or pullover" category. (Yes, I was responsible for combining the cardigan and pullover categories too. If you don't like it, you should have entered more projects. Besides, it made room for the shawl and sock categories that were missing.)

Even though my gut tells me that the Telja sweater would be traditional enough to be appreciated by the judge, I have decided to enter the striped blouse. It certainly required more time and a lot more fussy finishing work.

Knitted Shawl or Wrap
I had two shawls I thought merited entry: the Hasukai cowl,

and the Blooming Brioche shawl:

The Hasukai is hard to understand when it's not being worn and is essentially a lot of garter stitch. The triangle shape of the Blooming Brioche is easy to understand and the patterned brioche stitch demonstrates a lot more skill. So Blooming Brioche it is!

Knitted Socks
Apparently I have made only one pair of full socks this year! Hard to believe. These are my entrelac socks made from wool purchased in Iceland.

I added several pair of shortie socks to my "done" pile this summer, but I don't think shortie socks are going to cut it.

Knitted Pullover-Child
I started this sweater in February for Wool-Aid and just sewed on the buttons this week.

It may not seem to qualify as "child" since I knit for the larger end of Wool-Aid's needs, but I think it should still be acceptable. (And it is literally knit for a child, so...)

Any Other Knitted Item
For this category, I decided to throw a set of these bookmarks into the ring.

I have five left. They are so stinking cute so I hope they are well-received.

Full/Queen/King Quilt-Pieced
Since this quilt wasn't accepted to the International Quilt Market's Sapphire Celebration exhibit and I wasn't in town to put it in the Shipshewana Quilt Festibal this year, its debut will be at the county fair.

If history is any indication, the worse it does here, the better it will do elsewhere!! :)

Raffle Quilt Block
My entry for the theme "Grandma's Scrap Quilt".

And I usually put in some photography as well. In the black and white section, I have entered this capture of a dandelion:

In the full colour section, I debated between these shots:

I love this shot of my mom and her sister. Besides their smiling faces, the background is out of focus just the right amount for a portrait.

I cropped this shot from the garden in Akureyri (Iceland). It ended up not printing as well as I had hoped.

This is the sunset Troy and I saw on our last night in Reykjavik.

I ended up going with the sunset, entering it in the "seascape" category.

I don't usually enter anything in the "grouping" section. (I don't have a frame suitable for multiple pictures for one thing.) This year I tried a different approach and made the collage in Photoshop and had it printed all on one 8x10 shot.

They are from a morning I walked around after a rainfall.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I will be helping with the sign in process and of course organizing the canning category for the judges and recording results. As always I will try to overhear as much of the quilting judging as I can. (I never seem to catch the knitting judging; I think it's done later.)

If you'd like to come to the fair, it will be open Monday, July 29, through Saturday, August 3. Check out their website for specials and events. (Super Kickers Rodeo is on Monday night!)