Oh, that Little Darcy — what a jetsetter!! He seems to pop up everywhere!!
Little Darcy on display at the Minnesota State Fair!! I entered Darcy in the “doll” category: Lot 724 — Doll, portrait, single or pair, face & costume representing an individual, living or dead (recognizable or accompanied by a photo of individual). OMG! They also have a fictional character category, but I wanted to include a picture! So it is Colin Firth playing Darcy. H I L A R I O U S. When I took him in, I could not stop laughing and seeing him in the case made my life! Plus, he won a second place ribbon. Wowie! If you are looking for Little Darcy, he is located in the main sewing case about halfway down – on the bottom ledge.
Okay. Let’s talk about the fair. The weather was spectacular, so the opening day crowds were HUGE. I didn’t eat as much as usual, but pigged out later at Panera’s! 😉 I did manage to eat fried cheese curds and Big, Fat Bacon!!!
Creative Activities
Friend Kim blew away all the competition and earned her second sweepstakes in a row:
Kim’s Kauni EQ Damask Afghan
Kim used Kauni EQ yarn and the Damask pattern. The two are a perfect marriage! She used A. Starm0re’s checkerboard border, building the yarn herself to get long enough color changes to go all the way around the afghan. An incredible amount of work!! The exciting part was that her afghan was displayed right IN the main entrance in a glass case — you had to look at it or you would walk right into it!! Her afghan is truly a showstopper.
Straight back and to the right was my latest (last?) Niebling:
Gloxiniaeflora by Herbert Niebling
This is the second time I have knit this particular Niebling. The first was in 2012. It is a dog to knit, so don’t expect a third!!
Funky Grandpa and my Circlet Shrug both got blue ribbons. Could not get a good picture of Circlet!
Funky Grandpa
My biggest thrill was that my Plaid Squared Bag got a blue ribbon and a special award from Lila and Claudine’s! It is my own design so it has a special place in my heart.
Plaid Squared, designed by Susan Rainey
Osmanthus got a second place ribbon, which I was thrilled about. Shawls are usually a pretty competitive lot:
Osmanthus Shawl
I entered a bunch of hats and won two ribbons — Lolo by Brooklyn Tweed (in Carol Sunday 5-ply yarn) took 3rd, and the Dala Hat I made John last winter got 5th place:
Lolo Hat by Jared Flood – not a picture from the fair!
Dala Hat
This year I qualified as a senior ::groan::, so I entered a sweater that would have been in the same category as Funky Grandpa (plain cardigan). You can only enter one item per category. Fading Lines took a blue ribbon and the senior sweepstakes:
Good friend Bonnie won the Penelope Knitter’s Award for her Twisted Stitches gloves.
Bonnie Esplie’s Twisted Stitches Gloves
Bonnie won a lot of ribbons this year, as did another knitting friend, Kris King. Her name is on almost every item displayed in the “blue ribbon” case!!
And we cannot forget Pronto, the Minnesota Knitter’s Guild Yarn Bombed Stallion, on the ramp leading to the Grandstand!! I got to help sew him together, but others did much more work that can be believed!! Kathy Lewinski knocked it out of the park!
PS to Pru: Thank you for the nice comments, and as much as I would love to take credit for inventing invisible stranding, I only came up with the name, a hat pattern, and a few twists and techniques!!
