I am fairly certain that I will never have a nicer day at the fair! The weather was S P E C T A C U L A R. Could not be better.
My knitting peep, Kim, and I always hit the fair the first day and trot right over to the Creative Activities Building to see how our entries fared. I had high hopes for Kim because she entered an amazing afghan. And there it was in the main case:
We went bonkers!! It was so exciting to see her beautiful blanket festooned with ribbons. It is the Elephants Blanket by Alice Starmore. When we could tear our eyes away from the glory of it all, we saw more:
Right above her afghan was her submarine sweater and above it my Newsom Sweater, both with blue ribbons! Yay! (I don’t think I got a single good picture of my Newsom). Close by was Kim’s adorable Lilleput Sweater, which also walked away with a blue ribbon.
You kind of have to hunt around for everything — the good news is that they included people’s names on all the items that won ribbons!! Really nice addition!
We went around the corner and there was my latest Niebling Doily:
It was displayed so beautifully I was really pleased! It is in the main case with the needlework and quilting.
I also entered a sweater I just finished, Carol Sunday’s Milkweed Pullover (the color in the top two pics is the truest):
My other Carol Sunday entry, Dancing with Bears, also got a blue ribbon:
I entered a slurry of hats and another sweater that received ribbons:
Except for Woodfords, none of these are on Ravelry yet. I will come back and describe them later in more detail. 🙂 If you try to find my Mother Goose Hat at the fair, good luck! It is so far back it is almost in the next county building!!
We were overwhelmed and had to celebrate with fair food. We were devastatingly disappointed in the corn dogs from our “favorite” location, kitty corner from Creative Activities! Mine was cold, with uncooked batter around the dog. Kim’s was only slightly better and not at all up to par! Ugh!!
And the price went up, too! Now $4 (this picture is from several years ago).
After the fair we immediately went to our Thursday Knitting Group. Peep Kathy brought in a baby hat that is crazy adorable — Little Frankie Stein:
I got home exhausted but happy after a wonderful day at the fair.
Congratulations! I saw all of your lovely work, except the hats. I also admired Kim’s work, but forgot that she was your “peep”! It was a welcome change to see that all the ribbon winners names were on the garments.
Comment by Bonnie — August 26, 2016 @ 10:55 am
Congrats to you and Kim. It was wonderful to see these in person, although I’m not sure they could have picked a “sadder” model for your Milkweed. I was unclear if it was a poncho or sweater. Our corn dogs were just fine, but the big hit for me was the honey lemon sorbet from the honey place at the Hort Building. I debated between that and the honey ice cream, but the sorbet won out, and it was so tasty (and I felt virtuous by choosing something low fat at the fair!
Comment by Susan — August 26, 2016 @ 11:46 am
I couldn’t wait for you to post pictures and was glad Cathy was down there yesterday to get the scoop for me. Tell Kim the blanket is a work of art, even if it’s full of elephants, Just kidding. I also am glad that they are finally putting names with the ribbons. We probably won’t make it down to the fair this year. If we went down I’d have to unpack boxes and that just sounds like too much work. Are you planning on adding any of the pictures to your Facebook page?? Miss all of you and maybe see you Sept 8th at Panera.Congratulations on another stellar performance of your spectacular knitting. You deserve all the kudos. Pat
Comment by Patricia Meyer — August 26, 2016 @ 3:30 pm
Wow! Have you had time to sleep since Camp?? Or have you been knitting while sleeping! Congratulations to both you and Kim! Those are AMAZING knits!
Comment by Penny — August 26, 2016 @ 6:17 pm
BRAVO Susan & Kim!!
Comment by Ann McCauley — August 27, 2016 @ 10:01 am
Congratulations to both Kim and Susan. I saw Kim’s at the Thursday group and totally agree that it is sweepstakes worthy. Susan, your entries are amazing. Unfortunately the judges were not impressed with my Hannah Falkenberg scarf. I got a big fat nothing! I must admit I was a tad surprised. But that’s the way it goes.
Comment by Rosanne — August 27, 2016 @ 4:51 pm
Congratulations!!! They definitely know how to display knits at the Minnesota State Fair. Of course, you have great company in the knitting collection. Thanks for sharing with us.
Comment by Elizabeth — August 27, 2016 @ 5:03 pm
Wow, wow, wow!! Those are some spectacular pieces and well deserved of all those winning ribbons! The Elephant blanket is stunning to say the least. Please pass on congrats to Kim as well.
Comment by Susanne Scheurwater — August 28, 2016 @ 12:21 pm
Oh my goodness, Susan! Love all your creations! I’m so tickled your name is included with each display…Pete and I always look for your entries and I’m sure we’ve missed some in years past. A big congratulations to you and Kim. Hugs!
Comment by Caryl — August 29, 2016 @ 3:07 pm
Congratulations to both of you! These are wonderful pieces. Well done and well deserved.
Comment by annie — August 29, 2016 @ 11:06 pm
Brava, Your Knitting Highnesses! And congratulations to all who entered your beautiful knitted treasures.
Comment by Catherine S. — August 30, 2016 @ 1:55 pm
Every year, I feel like I am going to the hallowed hall of knitting and this year seemed a little better than some prior years. I do have a question. In the Sweepstakes/blue ribbon area where most of Susan Rainey’s items were displayed there were some items that seemed to be knit on such small needles I was wondering whether they were machine knit. Were there any in that display case?
Comment by suzanstew — August 31, 2016 @ 6:53 pm
OMG!!! I am so in awe of your talent – both of you! Inspires me to strive for a blue ribbon of my own one day 🙂
Congrats to both of you and hopefully will see you soon. I feel I am lightyears away from current knit group news…
Comment by nadine L. — September 22, 2016 @ 2:21 pm