The Fair, Part I

It's fair time! I am a total sucker for the Sonoma County fair. Love it! :) I have a ton of pictures, so I'm going to split up my posts and start with (big surprise) the kid and fibery stuff.

Besides entering his rabbit in the show this year, #1 Son entered a stool made in the 4H woodworking class the toymaker and fine furniture/cabinet-maker extraordinaire (aka my husband) taught this past year. And he won 1st place! Wooo!

And so did the other two kids who entered their stools from the class,

in their respective age divisions!

How cool is that?! They are all Windsor style stools, made with hand tools (including a shaving horse) and without any metal or other types of fasteners. The legs fit through the seat and are lodged tightly. They were all painted with milk paint.

This was the first year that I entered a piece of knitting in the fair, and I have my friend, blogless Dana to thank for finally getting it together! She enters every year, and she was right: the fair is way more fun when you (and your kids) enter!

I admit, part of the reason that I have never entered is the giant and probably irrational fear that they will lose my entry. And this year, it looked like they had. Honestly. I entered the original Muir, and my husband and I looked everywhere for it, but could only find one piece of lace anywhere. Then we had the fair volunteers helping. No one could find anything. They looked in the book, and it had been judged, which was a Good Thing because that meant it was, indeed, there. Somewhere. But where?

And then, someone with sharp eyes found my name attached to a shapeless blob in a display case. We all looked closely, and there it was!

Nice display, eh?

I know, I'm dripping with sarcasm, here. My new-found knitting friends Diane

and Cindy

agreed that quilters had arranged everything. And the quilts truly were gorgeous and beautifully displayed! But the knitting display really left something to be desired. Cindy's lovely Swan Lake mystery stole was folded into a nondescript little square. She had been looking right at one of her pieces beside it (she entered 8 pieces and took 7 ribbons!) and didn't even see her shawl. Her friend Diane, who overheard my panic, finally found it right after mine was located. Diane and I had a wonderful chat before the boys dragged me away from the knitting to look around more. I was so relieved that they hadn't lost my Muir that I forgot even to be happy that it won a first place!

There was a spinning display (but the picture turned out terrible) and weaving.

I was kicking myself for not entering some of my handspun. I didn't even think of it! Next year. More tomorrow!