Tuesday, September 02, 2014

September

I am a bad, bad blogger because I seem to have missed a post for August. And most of July. Whoops? There was no way I wasn't going to get on here and talk about my (truly) beloved Woodstock Fair that is held on Labor Day weekend and the fact that I...


WON BEST IN SHOW for knitting again. Woooooooo! 
I LOVE THAT WHEN THAT HAPPENS, I'll admit it. I only enter stuff in that I think is better than average, which means I don't enter in stuff every year, but I'm still surprised this year by my win because, man, there were SO MANY great handcrafts this year in all departments, not just the knitting one. It was a great year for the contests and I loved spending my time pouring through all the contest barns (three).

My Fruit Stripe socks also did well. :)
I have no idea what it means to have a Superintendents Award (they were new this year) but I'll take it! THE MORE RIBBONS, THE BETTER.

So very good year for my knitting. I registered the mittens when they were barely started *gulp* and quite literally didn't finish them until the night BEFORE I had to drop them off. Heh. Luckily, I'm quite familiar with mitten construction/Fair Isle colorwork so I didn't hit any road bumps along the way with anything. 

Unlike a champion animal, both of these guys will be put to work this winter and get a lot of use. (The last pair of Best in Show mittens have since gone on to put in time shoveling snow and actually getting DIRTY and quite roughed up.) No rest for the woolies come winter, no matter what they win. :)



I won't bore anyone with endless pictures of sheep, bunnies, chickens, etc. I have folders full of them but, honestly, they don't change at all from year to year. The above photo is my first attempt to try a panoramic shot with my iPhone, atop the hill where the tractors/old timey machines live. Because of the hills, you only get about 1/3 of the fair in there though. What a gloriously beautiful evening though! The weather was perfect!

I've never entered in any cross stitching but I'm thinking about it for next year because the theme for next year is 'America the Beautiful' and I do love a patriotic stitch. You have to get prior authorization to submit into the theme contest though so I'm still mulling over ideas and researching it. (If you have a favorite good sized, somewhat primitive/sampler-ish, good contrast patriotic design that comes to mind, please feel free to share.)


There has been a lot of knitting in general this summer for me. (Along with a lot of reading.)

 There's been a scarf finish, in this wonderfully nubby and WOOLY, sheepy Icelandic yarn.

 More socks, with varying success. I couldn't hate the purpley ones MORE if I tried. I've tried to use that yarn (which is expensive but will remain nameless) several times for several projects over a great number of years and it's never worked in any capacity for some reason. Doesn't work for these socks either but I didn't have the balls to just throw them out. Sigh.

 More work on squares for the Neverending Scrap Yarn Blanket. (Plus another batch in my bag that need to be blocked.)

I think I need a small break from it though before I start something else. As soon as we came home from the fair I drug out my stitching and put this to bed:

Honey Bee Hill by BBD. I only had a bit in the left corner to do so it was an easy finish. I do love my bee patterns. :)

Also, this happened this weekend:
A customer packaged returned to me. Look closely at the date though. *ahem*
Now THAT'S a first for me. WHERE HAS IT BEEN ALL THIS TIME?
Think about THAT next time you are complaining about a slow package. COULD BE WORSE.
Like, a WHOLE YEAR worse! Ha!

15 comments:

Honeybee said...

Love the mittens and the scarf! How are the kitties?

Maggie said...

Congratulations on your awards and ribbons, well deserved, everything looks beautiful.
Ive had post returned before, but a year in the system is a bit much, if only it could tell the tales of its travels :-)

Margaret said...

Congratulations on your ribbons! Wow! Love all your knitting -- you are so good at it! Love your BBD finish too. lol about the returned mail. Geeeez!

Jackie's Stitches said...

Congratulations on Best of Show! You should get a sparkly crown for that! I've never entered into our fair either. Your gingerbread mittens are an eye catcher and beautifully executed!

Wow on the mail! Was that shipped to an address within the US?

No need to hold onto yarn you hate - too much good stuff out there!

Vickie said...

You rock Melanie!! Whoo hoo! Good for you. :)
That is sooo ridiculous with the mail!!

Sweet Sue said...

congrats on your winnings mel, well done! you've been a knitting machine, very nice:) keep us posted on whether you decide to enter xs, will enjoy seeing your patriotic progress. lovely bbd finish, will you frame this beauty? bizarre mail issue that's for sure lol.

Paula said...

If I knew I could knit like you, I would take up knitting!!!! Beautiful.

Annie said...

Best knitting in show! Wow! But I can see why. Those ginger bread mittens are fabulous. And great socks too. another deserving win.

Love your summer knitting projects and your BBD bees. You definitely should do an x-stitch piece for the patriotic theme. I love Barbara Ana's "Long May She Wave" myself.

And I thought my package to FL that took a month had a long journey. Yours really does beat all!

Julie said...

Good grief... a return package from a year ago!

Huge congrats on your ribbons and wins, those mittens are stupendous, I love them.

Beth said...

Queen of Knitting! With the ribbons to prove it! Congrats you rock! Also love your bee stitch (big surprise huh?!?) How about Plum Street's "Free Bird" for a semi-primitive patriotic stitch?

valerie said...

Congratulations on your fair wins! Awesome mittens!

Anonymous said...

WOW! Congratulations on the ribbons. Those mittens really ARE something special.

I wish our county fair was more than just midway and food stands. I know they *have* competitions, but the stuff isn't protected and I seriously do not want my beloved projects "walking away". Add that to the fact that the fairgrounds is in a really dicey part of Orlando prone to random gunfire?

Eh, no thanks.

Someday I'll live where there are REAL county fairs.

Carol said...

You knit those adorable gingerbread mittens, Melanie?!!! Oh, my--they are absolutely darling and I can fully understand why you won "Best In Show!" So well-deserved! I don't knit at all so I'm just in awe of people like you who create such professional looking pieces :)

Your other knitting is lovely, too, and it's nice to see some stitching making an appearance.

So strange about the mail--where has it been for the past year is right?! Unbelievable...

Hope the kitties are doing well and that September is off to a great start for you, Melanie!

Unknown said...

congo for your ribbons...
keep calm and study russian

geeky Heather said...

Those mittens are the bomb dot com! Well-deserved ribbons!!

LOL at the package!! Sounds like it's better-traveled than I!