Record Non-Attendance, Maybe?

Day 330: Don't get me wrong. I am grateful to Kevin and Kelli for taking me to the Fair so that I could see the "Judges' Craftsmanship" ribbon attached to my tartan shawl and a disappointing third-place on my "Friend Evelyn" overshot yardage, but the Fair just ain't what it used to be, and apparently I'm not the only one who feels that way. In years past, this spot would have been so crammed with people lining up to buy scones that you could hardly elbow your way through them. Scones, of course, were 75 cents in those days, not $3 like today (up from $1.75 five years ago), but very few of the vender stalls had customers in them, whether they were selling motorized recliners or cheap Fair trinkets. One of the first things I noticed (besides the absence of people) was that the displays were smaller, even those in the Home Arts Pavilion. Rock and gem clubs had only a 12' x 12' space and two showcases instead of half a room. International and regional photography exhibits were smaller by half, poorly lighted. Animal barns were closed or had only a few critters...a few pens of pygmy goats, no sheep, no poultry, no exotics. The grange displays are in another poorly lit building, but they were moved there several years ago. Perhaps the most shocking symptom of declining attendance was the fact that there were only a handful of people admiring the piglets in the pig palace. Generally, that's a spot where you need sharp elbows to even get close to the pens. As for Home Arts, I don't want to be accused of sour grapes, but I do think we must have a new round of inexperienced judges. I did not enter anything in the spinning category this year, and was stunned to see a skein of lumpy, poorly twisted two-ply grey wool with a first place award when right next to it was a skein of very fine singles done with an expert hand...and no ribbon. At double the prices of previous years, you could buy bubble guns, local honey, a hot tub, shiny fake jewelry, get a quote for insurance or eat, the last option being the one most people seemed to prefer. I had my usual gyros, which was served on the stalest pita I have ever had the misfortune of trying to bite through.

A Proud McLeod

Day 278: My mother would be proud of me. I just took my McLeod of Lewis tartan shawl off the loom. This was a "bucket list" project for me: my family tartan made with authentic tartan wool (16/2) from Scotland. The fringe still needs twisting, and that will take a few days, what with 1024 threads to twist on each end in groups of eight (at least I think that's how I want to do it), but I have already filled out the paperwork to put this one in the Washington State Fair. It measures 32" wide by 78" long, and if I decide to wet-finish and waulk it, there will be some small amount of shrinkage. That said, I don't plan to do either. I have enough left to make a long scarf if I use the thrums as warp and the remainder on the cones for weft, but that will be a project for another time.

Friend Evelyn Goes To The Fair

Day 216: "Friend Evelyn" is going to the Washington State Fair in September. This overshot is from "A Handweaver's Pattern Book" (green version), and I think it may be my all-time favourite despite the fact that the reverse side is rather plain. The draft creates four distinctly different square motifs in a 2 x 2 grid, making the piece look far more complicated to weave than it actually is. I chose to use lime green 8/2 cotton for the tabby and warp, sett at 18 ends per inch. The overshot passes are dark green 5/2 cotton. This combination gave me almost perfect squares. When I took Evelyn off the loom, the cloth measured 248" x 21". Shrinkage in washing and drying resulted in a final measurement of 216" (six yards) x 18.75" after ironing. I haven't decided how I'll use this piece. Options include new curtains for my bedroom, or a tablecloth. The pattern broke easily in the center of the motifs, so joining it as panels should be a breeze.

Best Year Yet

Day 348: Forgive me for a moment of vanity, but I think I've earned some bragging rights. The Washington State Fair (also known as the Puyallup Fair) is one of the ten largest fairs in the world. "World," I said, and this year, each of my three entries (two in weaving and one in spinning) took first place. The judges' comments included "Excellent seam join" (that on the overshot which required joining three panels invisibly), "nice even beat" (same piece), "lovely work" (the bamboo fingering weight yarn) and "beautiful selvedges" (for a distance of five yards, I might add!). Each piece scored 97 points out of a possible 100. This has been my best performance in the six years I have been entering the competitions, the first time I have taken first place for every category in which I submitted my work. I have received one or more blue ribbons in weaving, spinning, tatting, hardanger, bobbin lace, knitting and crocheting, as well as several second-place awards. I generally submit two or three pieces each year, and have earned ribbons for every one. I've never entered a quilt!

The Results Are In!

Day 348: The results are in! The Washington State Fair is done for another year, and I brought home two first prizes and two seconds. I was suprised that the waffle-weave throw took a first because it wasn't particularly difficult to weave. The judge's comment? "Great colors! Nice hem finish." It earned 97 points of a possible 100, and was obviously the top entry in its class with that score. My spinning entries each scored higher, with the green yarn made on a drop spindle achieving 99 points and a first prize. The judge said, "Very nicely spun!" The maroon skein also received 99 points for a second-place win, with the judge commenting, "Beautiful skein! You did a fantastic job." Lastly, the socks received 98 points, but took a second place because the judge felt I should have reinforced the heel, and I admit I probably should have done so. All in all, I'm feeling pretty smug. It's not every day you bring home two blue ribbons!

Almost Showtime!

Day 296: Two weeks from now, these four items will be delivered to the Washington State Fair (Puyallup Fair). The waffle-weave coverlet is my sole entry in the Weaving Division. The other three will be competing in Spinning in the classes Socks, Blended Fibers (the center skein) and Drop Spindle. The Fair runs from September 1-24, open every day except Tuesdays and Sept. 6. Unfortunately, my reservations with regard to COVID and being in public places will mean that I do not attend, but I'll be using the time wisely, working on pieces for the 2024 season.

A Fair Showing

Day 349: The results are in. I am pleased to announce that I took a second-place ribbon in "Weaving - Shawl, Stole or Shrug" and a FIRST PLACE in "Lace Openwork - Crochet Garments, Thread" in the Washington State Fair (Puyallup Fair). I had my doubts about the McLeod shawl taking a ribbon, knowing that I had not beaten the weft to be perfectly square in the yellow sections and, in fact, that was where I lost points although I still scored high enough to earn the second place in the category. The first place for the apron was a pleasant surprise, and when I went in to pick it up, two of the Fair officials came up to me to offer their compliments. A comment on the judges' score card said, "This is very eye-catching!" These were my only two submissions this year, and I'd say I put up a pretty Fair showing!

Fair Time

Day 309: After two years' absence due to the pandemic, I will be submitting two pieces to the Puyallup Fair (Washington State Fair) in Home Arts: a crocheted maid's apron made from a 1940s-era pattern and a shawl woven in my family tartan (McLeod of Lewis). That said, I will not be attending the Fair due to risk of covid, so if any of my readers happen to spot my work on display, I hope you'll send me photos.

My husband was always after me to put my crafts in the Fair, and I always resisted, feeling that my skills were not good enough for competition at the State level. It didn't help that the submission process was rather complicated (this was before internet, you see), and I didn't understand terms like "division" and "class" in the show context. Admittedly, when I finally broke down and decided to enter my works the first time, I had to have some guidance in order to classify the pieces I intended to submit. Even now, it can be a little daunting. Is an apron a garment or an accessory? I have also discovered that selecting the best option when a piece fits into one or more categories can help bring home a ribbon. So far, none of the pieces I've submitted over the last seven or eight years has failed to win a prize. I have to think Bruce would be proud.

Washington State Fair 2019

Day 347: I entered three pieces in the Washington State Fair's Home Arts "Textiles" competition this year: a hardanger centerpiece, a tatted doily and a handwoven bag with a shoulder strap. Of the three pieces, the one I didn't think the judges would even give a second glance was the bag. Okay, I wove the body and the strap on two different types of looms (floor loom and backstrap), and it was fully lined, but it was just a simple tabby weave. Surprisingly, it brought me a first-place ribbon. The hardanger and tatting both took second place in their class. This was my second year at the Fair. Last year's entries also took two seconds and a first. I'm already at work on entries for 2020!

Exhibit A

Day 167: By the time I'd made a dozen of the rosette motifs which form the wide border of this 9" doily, I had memorized the pattern and was having trouble motivating myself to complete one each day. Made with size 40 cotton, this needle-tatted lace will be one of my submissions to the Washington State Fair this year. Last year, I entered two weavings and a handkerchief edged with bobbin lace, and took one first prize and two second prizes. I'll be changing up the types of needlework this time around, at the very least subbing in tatting and hardanger, although I may also include one woven piece as my "signature" item. Last year was the first time I'd entered the Fair, and hindsight being so much sharper than foresight, I now regret not listening to my husband as he encouraged me to submit something, anything to demonstrate my skills. I'd walked through the exhibits, mentally comparing my work to those of the long-time competitors and figured that nothing I'd made would make it out of the starting gate. When I saw the award ribbons next to those first submissions, my first thought was of Bruce. I wish he could have shared in my delight. And just as a personal footnote here, it was Bruce's grandma who helped me perfect my tatting technique. I was thinking of her while I was making this doily, remembering how she used to put a mark on her finger with indelible ink as a guide for the length of her picots. I didn't go quite that far, although I used a gauge for the chains in this piece.

Cat Hair And All

Day 347: I picked up my Home Arts submissions from the Washington State Fair today and finally got to read the judging cards. The judging criteria include craftsmanship, degree of difficulty, design (proportion, line, colour, individuality) and presentation, the judges may elect to suggest areas which need improvement in stitch evenness, tension, blocking, cleanliness, seaming, ends and outer edges (selvedges). Both of my woven pieces drew comments of high praise for the selvedges, an area which is a major issue with many weavers. I received high marks for craftsmanship in my weaving, but since both pieces were relatively straightforward designs, the degree of difficulty score was not as high as it could have been. I am quite pleased with the way the judges scored the weavings.

Although the bobbin lace piece took first prize with a nearly perfect score in craftsmanship (missed by one point out of 40), it was down-pointed for cleanliness, which puzzled me until I read the judge's comments. It seems some "fibers" were caught in my work, something other than the threads used in making the lace. It took me a second to realize that the judge was referring to the unavoidable. Yep, it was cat hair. I'm thoroughly amused.

Fair Duty Done

Day 342: The Washington State Fair doesn't close until Sept. 23, but my tour of duty in the Park's booth concluded today. I made one last sweep of the fairgrounds, spending most of my time with the sheep and goats. To me, livestock, produce and home arts are what a fair is about, whether it's state or county. I am not interested in the plastic gewgaws hawked from dozens of identical booths, nor do I give even a passing glance to hot tubs, vacuum cleaners, mattresses or wood stoves being sold at "fair" (read, "jacked up") prices. In fact, the Fair has become so commercial that the visitor has to wind through a maze of vendors to find the few true exhibitions. Even a few of those ask an additional entrance fee. That said, the best things in life are still free, at least after you've paid your basic admission. You can see piglets less than 24 hours old, cows, sheep, goats, chickens, horses, dogs, flowers, bonsai, vegetables, photography, quilts, needlearts, craft displays, collectibles...oh yes, there's plenty to do if you can find your way between the food stalls and brightly coloured sucker-bait. My eyes are good at ignoring vendors, but my feet get weary following the circuitous paths which lead from one point of interest to the next. After a few hours of junk-avoidance, I feel like Ms. Angora here, just plain tuckered and ready for a nap. G'night, Fair. See you next year!

Results Are In

Day 328: Today was my first day of duty at the Washington State Fair (Puyallup Fair) for 2018, and I was finally able to find out if I'd taken any prizes for the two pieces of weaving and a bobbin-lace edged handkerchief I'd entered. I've never participated in Home Arts before, although I did take "Honorable Mention" in an annual national-level hardanger contest three times. Last year, I noticed that the Fair was chronically short of bobbin lace, so after talking to one of the docents, I resolved to put in an entry. The process was a little confusing, having to select a "division" and a "class" without a clear idea of what those terms meant, but I got it figured out. I delivered the works to the Fair office last month and settled in to wait, not really expecting to receive any awards. The Fair does not post results on line, so today was the first chance I'd had to find out. I located the green overshot weaving first and squealed like a piglet when I saw a "Second Prize" ribbon hanging from it, but I was having trouble finding the other two pieces. A docent came to my rescue, and to my great delight, I found another "Second Prize" ribbon on the second weaving and a "First Prize" on the bobbin lace. I will definitely be entering again next year!

Fair Entries

Day 212: It's official! I will have at least two entries in the Washington State Fair this year, a woven table runner and a mounted bobbin lace handkerchief edging. It will be the first time I've entered anything in Home Arts. Okay, I'm still a foot or so away from having the table runners off the loom (I warped for three), but if push came to shove, I could have it done in two days. I have lots of time. Entries are to be delivered to the Fair August 17-19. Last year, there were only two examples of bobbin lace. These may not be my only entries. Registration will remain open through July. Maybe I can even get another weaving project done by then!

Sheep Show

Day 344: I came into the Fair through the Green Gate as I usually do when I'm working at the Park's booth, and the first sound to greet me was a lengthy and distressed "Baaaaaaaaa!" from the new Agricultural Arena. I quickly diverged from my planned line toward the Piglet Palace and discovered  handful of black sheep being judged. The complex next door was filled with all sorts of bleating voices, making me glad I'd gone in early. Yes! Apparently the main "sheep show" had been saved for the last days of the Fair!

I do miss having sheep, although I'm wise enough not to go down that path again for a variety of reasons. That said, looking at all these fine animals (wool and meat breeds both) made me long for the days when I ran Romney-Suffolk crosses. The cross gave me the best of both worlds. I like mutton stew and "lamb-burger," so I'd raise my flock long enough to get two shearings and a new crop of lambs before turning the older sheep into freezer fare. I wasn't raising them for profit, but one year I ran the numbers and figured out that I was breaking even, the expenses of food and shearing balanced out against what I got in terms of fleeces sold to Pendleton Mills and local weaving shops, and meat for my table.

The Show Must Go On

Day 340: This is not exactly the post I intended to write about Marco and Heather Landin. I first saw them performing at the Puyallup Fair as green-clad "Florasapiens" several years ago, Naturally, I took photos and posted one of Heather on Flickr with no idea of their real names. I was suprised to get a message from Marco a few weeks later after he just happened to see the photo come up in Flickr's rotation, complimenting me on the rave review I had given them. They are indeed fantastic, and perform a lot more widely than I'd realized. Marco has toured with Cirque du Soleil as a solo fire-performance artist, and the pair frequently appear in Las Vegas (visit dreamcityvegas.com for more information about their acts and characters).

It was during the process of searching for their webpage that I found out that Marco had been badly injured in June of last year when an unidentified man approached him from behind to grab Marco around his stilted legs and lift him off the ground. His center of balance thrown off, Marco pitched forward, thrusting out his arms instinctively to protect himself in the fall. Both his arms were broken and his wrists were shattered. His assailant (who had been harassing other performers during the Electric Daisy Carnival) was never apprehended after his companions forcibly freed him from grounds security people. Police closed the case because they had no leads. Marco underwent a long series of surgeries and was told it would be at least a year before he would be performing again. Consumate artist that he is, Marco Landin is in the air again, bringing his especial magic to all who see him. The show must go on.

Separating The...

Day 339: Several years ago, I was told by a Fair employee that sheep were only brought in at the end of the Fair's run due to the possibility of disease being cross-communicated to cattle. In my years of raising sheep, I had never heard of any such thing, but I figured Fair officials knew what they were talking about. Consequently, I nearly always missed the sheep exhibit. Oddly, this year the restriction seemed not to apply. Sheep were scheduled for mid-month, and to my delight, the show overlapped one of my duty days. Again to my surprise, goats were housed in the same barn concurrently. Apparently the Fair no longer separates the sheep from the goats!

I've often thought about getting a goat. When I moved here thirty years ago, I brought two sheep with me, only to learn a hard lesson when they were attacked by neighbourhood dogs. A sheep is a docile animal, a goat not so much so. Unless taken down while in a small enclosure, a goat can stand its own against a dog or coyote. But sheep are grazers, good for keeping your lawn mowed. Goats are browsers, and will eat almost anything from knee-level up as high as they can reach, standing on their back legs to to do. I don't have a lot of brush, and wouldn't want them devouring my ornamentals. In any event, I feel that staking a goat on a tether is unkind to the critter. A little Angora is tempting, though.

Geology Sandbox Interactive Display

Day 338: Working in the Outdoor Building at the Puyallup Fair, I might have missed this ultra-super-cool interactive display in the Department of Natural Resources exhibit had it not been for someone on the next shift drawing my attention to it. It's basically just a sandbox for grown-ups, but oh, what fun for a map lover! An overhead projector beams colours and contour lines onto the surface, and as you push the sand around or pile it up, you get a feel for how physical topography works. A pit dug over here fills with the blue of water, green forested zones grow or shrink as rocky red ridges and mountains are built up or torn down. The challenge I took was to create a mountain tall enough to maintain a snowcap (not easy with shifting sand!), and here you see the result.

Grange Displays

Day 331: Another feature of the Fair which I always try to see before the crowds arrive is the vegetable displays put on by the various granges in the area. These are housed in the Floral Building, and this year, they had improved the lighting substantially. A lot of work goes into the arrangement and maintenance of the produce during the Fair's three-week run.

To me, agriculture is the soul of any county or state fair. Unfortunately, the Puyallup Fair seems to be shoving it farther and farther into the wings each year, especially since becoming the Washington State Fair. The trend is toward commercialism, and I'm not talking about $5 cones of cotton candy and $4.75 caramel apples. Even the unique vendors (sellers of lavender products and orchard honies) are being pushed out by soulless mega-corporations like Verizon. What few merchants aren't hawking hot tubs and mattresses are pushing the same cheaply made products from three or four booths in different locations around the venue. Once around the Fair was enough for me. I'll visit the critters again, but as far as I'm concerned, they might as well close the doors on the Multiplex.

Piggies!

Day 331: At the end of last year's Washington State Fair (aka the Puyallup Fair), I decided that the driving involved in taking two shifts per week was a bit more than I could handle, so this year, I just signed up for Fridays. Yesterday I had the early shift and as usual, came in through the green gate so I could stop at the Pig Palace before I went to my duty station in the Park's information booth. There were two sets of piglets on display, the little white guys (lower left) only a day old. Later in the day as I walked around the rest of the fair, I found more piggies in another barn.

So what is the univeral appeal which pigs seem to command? I think it's because they always look like they're smiling. A pig in clean straw is a paradigm of contentment, and the proverbial "hog in mud" seems happy enough to have generated a catch phrase. Even when they're squabbling over whose turn it is at the teat, a nestful of squealing, wriggling piglets is a sight to brighten any case of the blues.