State Fair Results

Today was the open house and preview of exhibits which is just for exhibitors. The fair starts August 6. Out of 7 entries, I took a first, a second, a fourth and an Honorable Mention. I was delighted. I would love to be a little mouse during judging and see exactly what they look for/at and how the decisions on placings are made. Two of my ribbons were for new items so I don't have pictures of them yet. But here are pictures and thoughts about two of my entries:

Or not. I've been having 'issues' with Google and it looks like it's extending into the blog as well as both of my email accounts. Grrrrrrrrrr. I can't get the pictures I want to upload.- or more accurately, I can't get it to upload anything! My lavender baby afghan is in the Afghans album at AnnCrochets on PhotoBucket under the name 'Lilac Cricle.' I really like this afghan and was glad it got an Honorable Mention.

So now I'm off to have a chat with Google. Wish me well........

One fair down and one to go

I entered 5 items in our county fair. I'd like to boast that I received 5 blue ribbons (which I did) but I can't see much to brag about since everyone in the crochet section (and most other categories as well) received a blue ribbon and I don't think I saw a single ribbon that wasn't blue (except the sweepstakes winner) in all the needle arts classes. Maybe I'm odd, but to me a blue ribbon is a symbol of being the best. Therefore giving a blue ribbon to everyone lessens the value of each ribbon. I'm all for it if they gave a ribbon (pick any color but blue) and awarded that for participating, and could even accept two or three blue ribbons in a class (depending on the number of entries) for really good work, but I think to blanket the division in blue is not the right thing to do. I realize that comparing a county fair to a state fair is kind of unfair because of the differing sizes but......... I don't remember how many places they award at the State Fair (maybe 5?) and they also give a few 'Honorable Mention' ribbons which I always was proud of. I felt like I'd made the final cut and had had a shot at being declared the best of the best.

It had been a busy week getting ready for the fair. Then this week just past was busy with freezing corn, getting my State Fair entries ready and just life in general. Saturday morning the county fair entries were released. I picked them up and headed for Indianapolis. I took 3 of the entries from the county fair to the state fair along with 4 others - total of 7. I dropped off my entries at the fairgrounds then headed north to Camel for a dog agility trial. Indiana Sheltie Rescue had the concession stand and a bake sale as a fund raiser. Bob spent Saturday and Sunday at the track. It's so good to see him feeling so much better and able to do things like that. But we're both pooped tonight!

The state fair entries were accepted yesterday and today. I'm not sure just when the judging is but the fair opens August 6. The Indiana State Fair does something I think is nice: On Sunday, August 1 there is an open house for all the exhibitors to come and see the exhibits in the Family and Home Arts Building. There usually are punch and cookies (Archway, of course) and it's neat to get a sneak peek at all the entries and see who won what. I hope I can go that day.

So now I just sit back and wait to see how I did. Actually, I probably won't be sitting all that much, but you know what I mean ;0)

Fun in Sugar Creek

This is a non-crochet posting. This past weekend we had a family outing. We took our camper to a campground on Sugar Creek in west-central Indiana. We were lucky to have great weather. Ale stayed with us the entire weekend. Our son David, his wife Jessica and 17-month-old grandson Cason came Saturday. I think everyone had a good time. The lower picture is of Bob and Ale in Sugar Creek.

The picture on top is of Cason getting Sugar Creek washed off. He really enjoyed the shower and tried to do it himself and wasn't the least bit interested in whether he had an audience or not!

This was our first camping trip since we got home from Arizona in April 2009. It was good to get away but I keep forgetting how much work is involved in going camping. You spend a lot of time and energy hauling stuff out of a perfectly good home into a smaller space. And before you're out of sight of home, you've started the list of 'what we forgot!' I'm old enough I'd just about rather make arrangements for food delivery for the entire weekend and just stay at home.

It's Fair Time

For the first time in several years, I'm planning on entering some of my crochet in the Hendricks County Fair and the Indiana State Fair. I haven't exhibited at all for several years and never have been able to do both fairs the same year but each have changed the dates enough that I can enter the same items in both fairs. But it's tight. The entries from Hendricks County are released on July 24 and have to be in Indianapolis the next day.

I have always felt I wanted my entries to be something a little special. So this year I am making a shawl and cafe curtain especially for the fairs and then also entering other items that aren't new (although the rules say the exhibits have to have been made within the last three years). I loved the curtain pattern - roses in filet crochet. The designer did a great job with the pattern. Unlike a lot of filet, the roses really pop out. The shawl is from a pattern for a round tablecloth that I really liked. The pattern called for six panels. I took out 2 panels so it looks like a pie with a couple of slices missing. It was a challenge to figure out how to do it but I think it's going to make a wonderful shawl. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Summer in Indiana

No new pictures tonight. Just the musings of a native Hoosier who remembers James Whitcomb Riley's line 'Ain't God good to Indiana.' (I really don't remember HIM!!! I'm not THAT old!)

The lightening bugs appeared at the end of May. They just seem to lend an enchanted element to a summer evening. I enjoy watching them rise from the grass/soy beans/hay and disappear. They return to the grass and the next evening, it all starts again. The wheat will be ready in the next 10 days or so and shortly after that, they will disappear for another year.

Thinking about them got me to remembering other summer bugs from my youth. I realize now that I haven't seen a June bug for a long time. They usually came before June and stayed most of the summer so I'm not sure why they were called June bugs. I remember hearing them buzzing around and I guess bouncing off things. They made a big 'pop' when they hit something.

Then there were the oats bugs. These little black bugs used to be everywhere in the summer but have been gone for a long time. They were small enough to come in to the house through the screens. I don't remember them ever flying. They just sort of 'infiltrated' everywhere. I remember them in the butter - yes back then we had real, honest-to-God butter and it sat out all the time and so was very soft. The bugs got caught in it. Every fall we would take all the pictures down from the walls and remove all the oats bugs that had worked their way behind the glass. As I said, they were every place - even on us. And in pre-air conditioning times, they stuck to our sweaty bodies. Ok, now I've grossed you out so I'll quit. But it's just another indication of how much things have changed 'down on the farm'!!!

WIP to finished shawl

Well, I had wanted to put a picture of the unfinished shawl on top and the finished shawl below the text. But after 2 attempts, I'm going to let it go where Google in its infinite wisdom thinks it should go. By the time I figure it out, I'll be too old to fix it!

The lower picture is a recent WIP (work in progress). It is a teal shawl made in fingering yarn. It shows the white yarn I used to mark the increases on each row. Sadly, it also shows the strap of my camera :-( The top picture shows the FO (finished object). The basic pattern is Doris Chan's All Shawl but I didn't make it a complete circle and I added the three bands of openwork. It is shaped like a pie with a couple of slices missing. I like that shape because I think it stays in place better than most triangular shawls. I am pleased with the finished product. It measures 27" deep.

More crochet

I've made a (however belated) New's Year Resolution. Beginning with June, I will post more frequently - I promise! Bob's doing much better now and I have been finishing up projects. I took pictures of the bedspread tonight but forgot to measure it. So I'll have to spread it out again - grrrr. This scarf is one of the projects I finished recently. I was just playing around with the stitch (lacet) and #20 thread. After blocking it, I think it might look cute with a big, floppy bow. I'll be posting it on Etsy soon.