Lewis County Fair 2023

This years fair has come and gone. We didn't get to attend quite as many days as I would have liked. It turned into a pretty busy week with family time and a much needed staycation for me. I was able to submit nine entries total to this years exhibitions. I think I did quite well overall. I'll try to list these items in order as far as to when I completed them. First up in the child's hat category is a colorwork hat Prism, in three colors of Malabrigo Arroyo.

In the adult hat category another Prism, but with the colorwork charts worked a bit differently.

This was an incredibly fun pattern to knit.  It's by TinCanKnits and has a ton of color variations.  I absolutely love all of this groups patterns, they are extremely well written and worth the money for the paid patterns.

Next up in the winter scarf category is Sophie Shawl by Petite Knit.  This took Instagram by storm back in the spring and I finally jumped on the bandwagon when I saw another one knit up.  Its an easy pattern that makes a nice squishy warm shawl.  I plan to use this as an over-sized cowl when its extra windy and blustery this winter.  I made this one with Malabrigo Rios.

Next up in the sock or stocking category is Cozy House Socks.  This pattern is published in one of the One Skein Wonders books that I own.  One of my KnitYears Resolutions this year was to knit more patterns out of physical books.  I have a whole stack of actual books that I seldom use because I almost exclusively use electronic patterns.  I made this first pair for myself and then made some mods on a second pair I made for my friend Nancy.

I even got around to purchasing some sock blockers to make them look extra nice.  It did also help the fit on these as well.  I used a yarn I had received in a swap, Euro Baby Fair Isle.  Its a worsted weight sock yarn.  I really enjoyed knitting with it.  I bought another colorway to make Nancy's socks, then when I saw it was on sale at Webs, I splurged and got four more skeins.  I should have enough to keep me in the slipper sock business for many years to come.

Next up in the "specimen not listed" category a Felted Circular Hot Pad.  I made one for a swap and enjoyed it so much I made one for myself too.  Then I made three for Nancy in a bulky yarn that had been in my stash since the beginning of time.  Then I made yet another for myself; the one I put in the fair.  The two I kept for me are made from Lion Brand Fisherman's wool that I had also dyed.  

Next up in the dishcloth category, which was a new option this year.  I made two Lizard Ridge Dishcloths.  I actually don't have good pictures of the second cloth.  I used the same pattern for both, just different colors.  

The mate to this cloth was predominantly white.  

Next in the sewn bag division I did a large reversible drawstring bag.  I added a handle to this one.

I've got six or seven skeins of yarn in this bag in the second picture.  These bags are a great size for large projects.  I actually used this one to transport all my submissions to and from the fair.  

Next up in the shawl category is the project I've been working on since January.  My Find Your Fade by Andrea Mowry is done.  This thing was epic.  It was rather tricky to block as well.  I need to get myself some blocking wires.  

It was also extremely difficult to photograph.  I'm hoping to get some better glamour shots soon.  I made this with all Malabrigo sock that I got in Ravelry destashes.  I took months to accumulate all the yarn.  It used just shy if 2,000 yards and took about 70 hours of straight knitting time.

Last item for the fair, in the adult mitten category.  I finished these the morning I needed to drop my items off at the grandstand... Cabled Dad Mittens pattern by Alexis Winslow.  I used Malabrigo Rios for these.  I really enjoyed this pattern too.  It's very well written.  The pattern has three different style choices, so there's alot going on, but its all explained well. 

I'm looking forward to using these this winter too.  I think they'll be versatile.  I received a third place for Sophie Shawl, a second place for the adult Prism and then first places for all the other entries.  I was hoping to get a best on show for the Find Your Fade mostly because of all the time I put into it.  The best in show went to a mosaic colorwork shawl that looked much more complicated than mine.  I looked at all the judging and I do think everything tracked.  

Here are some not so stellar pictures of my items surrounded by some others.  The displays are always sort of hap hazard and you have to really look at the item tickets to figure out which category they belong to.  The dishcloths got hung up backward.

I look forward to competing next year.  I'm hoping to submit more sewn items, mainly a tote bag.  

Here is the obligatory Liara on the Carousel annual picture:

I don't think she realized I was taking pictures, she was looking everywhere except at me.  Until next time.  Happy crafting.

-Q