Knitting Glory at the County Fair!

The blue tank on the left is my Brioche Bodice from IK Summer 2006 and that won a second in "women's pullovers." My Equestrian Jacket from IK Fall 2006 is next to it, sporting a blue ribbon in "women's cardigans, plain." The lovely tan pullover next to it isn't mine, but rounds out the picture, nicely. Mysteries and suspense abound! Will Harry live or die? Is Snape good or evil? Will Sue or Patti win the blue for socks?

Here are Sue's Jaywalker socks, wearing their blue ribbon! It is a shame that the entry tag obscures the zig-zag pattern on the cuff.
Here are my Monkey Socks wearing their blue ribbon! Oh, the red/white/blue was a mistake and actually belongs with the antique needlework, below.
It seems that she entered hers in the "bedsocks or slippers" while I entered mine in "any other not named" since there really wasn't a separate category for "socks." Mystery solved. I suppose that the judge could have decided to move one pair to another category but I prefer to think that she left things as they were so as to award a blue ribbon to each pair of deserving socks.

My fun Harry Potter "Weasley Sweater" won a third honors ribbon in men's pullovers. It was deservedly trounced by two nicely executed pullovers by Sue and another friend. It was fun to show it off during all of the Harry Hysteria.
Here is the entry that really won the special ribbon. These are two doilies that were entered in "best example of old family needlework" and won the judge's choice. These doilies were handed down to me from my husband's mother and they were made by two old Swedish aunts.

Last winter I purchased some Filatura Di Crosia Pom Pom at a posh yarn shop at Buckhead, in Atlanta. This became the button band, cuffs and neck of this pretty little yellow cardi for my little niece. It will probably fit her by next spring. It has a red ribbon for "children's knitted sweater."



This is how my lovely Arwen was displayed. I think they had someone new in charge of such things and I suspect that she wasn't a knitter. Arwen is wearing a second place ribbon for "Women's knitted cardigan, fancy." Last Friday night I purchased the perfect pin for this cardi. It is a penanular brooch that I purchased from a "viking" craftsman at the local Scandinavian Festival. Now, if I hadn't been all sleep deprived on Saturday I would have had that attached as a closure on the cardi and perhaps made the display of it easier for the person in charge. Oh, well.




I entered this felted bag I made last summer with yarn purchased on vacation in Kentucky as "shoulder bag" and it is happily wearing a blue ribbon.



I made these mittens on a road trip to Ohio last week. They are double knitted with a slipped stitch pattern that was passed along to me about twenty years ago when we lived where it is very, very cold. I modified it to have my name on one cuff and the year on the other and I use the two long tails from a two color cast-on to chain a loop on each mitten. This is very handy for hanging them up to dry. I love making these mittens and have made them almost annually for at least one or two members of the family for the past 20 years.

Here, again, the entry tag is obscuring significant parts of the pattern on the article.




My only other entry was a cranky sock knitting machine that won a blue ribbon in Antiques. I had hoped for a "most unusual entry" which would have garnered a special cash prize, but it is hard to beat a metal lamp/statue of a WWI doughboy holding a lightbulb aloft. Sorry, no pictures.

Husband entered many antiques and collectibles which also received glories and honors.

Monday we retrieve our entries. I'll try not to spend all my winnings in one place, unless it is at a yarn shop.