HKF

It's another Stay-At-Home Hand Knit Friday. What hand made pieces are you wearing today? I wore my Malabrigo Scrunchable scarf on my morning walk. I can't believe I made this 12 years ago! Stay safe.

HKF

It’s Shelter-In-Place Hand Knit Friday! What hand knits are you wearing today?


Cal Pincha - Pincha Pattern on Knitty.

Closing the chapter

The CA State Fair closed at the end of July and my entry was returned this week. I tore open the box and pulled out an envelope that contained the ribbon and judge's scoresheet.





The judge's comments are,

Wow! This is a wonderful piece of double knitting. I'm amazed at how well you maintained your tension with so much going on! Good job!

I had to read it twice because I thought if anything was going to knock me down a few notches, it was going to be the tension. I guess not. And it was good to hear that she recognized the technique and the level of difficulty. So, that closes the the chapter on this year's entry. As I'm working on next year's entry, I'm thinking, "Why do I put myself through this?" lol

Here are the rest of the photos I took at the fair. Enjoy the amazing work by these talented makers and other sights from the fair!


Lunch on a stick


Kabobs


Meat on the grill


Cow wash


Best of Show
Decorated Cake, Tiered Cake
Wine Country Vines and Flowers
Shay Weisbrich


Best of Class
Decorated Cupcakes, Uniform Cupcakes
Hamburger
Joana Rodriguez


Winners in Leavened Bread, Non-Leavened Bread, and Quick Bread


Best of Division
Decorated Cookies, Themed Cookie Set
Golden State Sweets
Cynthia Torres


First Place
Decorated Cookies, Themed Cookie Set
Sunshine & Summertime
Kimberly Vadenais


Best of Class
Youth Decorated Cake, Age 16-18
Chess Cake
Sara Cheng


King Arthur Flour gluten free baking contest
First Place
Mexican Corn Stick
Jennine Quiring

Second Place
Strawberry Cabernet Cake
Rachael Ryen

Third Place
Brown Butter & Mixed Berries Mini Cakes
Peggy Linberg


Second Place
Models, Buildings and Rooms
Fallingwater
Bill Reese
Sacramento


Third Place
Models, Buildings and Rooms
Caveman Camping
Kevin Knight
Sacramento


Best of Division, Embroidery (Counted Techniques)
Judge's Choice
First Place
Mother of Winter
Lona Bradford
Sacramento








Award of Excellence
3-D Artworks
Patience
Molly Brown
Sacramento


First Place
Handspun Yarn, Wool
Sock Yarn
Melissa Plummer
Amador


Second Place
Handspun Yarn, Wool
Derby Girl
Rachel Coffman
Placer


First Place
Handspun Yarn, Art/Textured Yarn
Christmas!
Betty Henderson-Sparks
Sacramento


Second Place
Handspun Yarn, Art/Textured Yarn
Fairy Queen
Ha Dang
Sacramento


Honorable Mention
Handspun Yarn, Luxury Fibers
Sunset Silk
Tabitha Warren
Marin


Honorable Mention
Other Fiber Art, Weaving
Amethyst in the sunshine
Pamela McSmith
Riverside


Honorable Mention
Other Fiber Art, Weaving
Color: I can't help myself!
Roberta Valdez
Santa Cruz


First Place
Modern Quilts, Two or More People -Medium/Large
Alissa McBain
Sacramento


Honorable Mention
Crochet, Crocheted Afghans
2017 Temperature Blanket
Josephine Salazar
San Joaquin


First Place
Crochet, Any Other Crocheted Item
Bed Doily
Suzanne Sullivan
Sacramento


First Place
Crochet, Crocheted Wearing Apparel
Judge's Choice
Forest Fairy
Suzanne Sullivan
Sacramento


Second Place
Crochet, Crocheted Wearing Apparel
Summer Vest
Suzanne Sullivan
Sacramento


Honorable Mention
Crochet, Crocheted Wearing Apparel
Sacramento Crochet Guild Award
Royal Baby
Noelia Briones
Sacramento


First Place
Dolls and Toys, Amigurumi
Wakanda Forever
Adwoa Cooper
Solano


First Place & Third Place
Crafting a Brighter Future, Newborns in Need: Any Baby Hat or Booties
Melinda Wong
Sacramento

1, 2, 3, 4!

Yesterday was a perfect day to go to the California State Fair. The weather was cooler than normal--high 80's to low 90's--and there was a slight breeze. We arrived early enough to get one of the coveted parking spaces under the solar panels. Hooray!



Our first stop was the CA Crafts Competition. They moved it to a different exhibit hall and my initial impression was that there were a lot fewer pieces on display. But now I'm not sure--it could be that the different space and layout just made it seem that way. Anyway, I'll get right to the results of the Knitting, Scarves & Shawls competition since so many of my friends want to see the winners--


First Place
Brittany Birch Knitting Award
Amille Wedding Shaw
Kate Vanderslice
Sacramento


Second Place
Homage Shawl
Jillian Jackson
Butte


Third Place
Woven Friends Shawl
Denise Boyce
Placer

and of course,


Fourth Place
52 Pickup + 2 Jokers
Janice Kang

I liked all of the pieces that placed higher than mine and my favorite was the 3rd place shawl. The color choice and the woven sections made it stand out. Pretty and smart.

I wished I could have seen the first place wedding shawl in all its glory. Displaying it folded up didn't show off the size or detail of the piece.

Speaking of displays... the way my piece was displayed was more than unfortunate, it completely obliterated one of the coolest features of double knitting--that there is no "wrong" side to the scarf! Typically double knitting is done in 2 colors and one side is the negative of the other. But this scarf not only has no "wrong" side, each side of the scarf is a completely different pattern and all is worked in 3 colors. Unfortunately, the way it was displayed showed only one side of the scarf so the complexity and "how'd she do that?" mystery was hidden. It really bothered me. I could not let it stand.

Now it is fixed.



I have more photos from our visit to the fair and I'll post them in the next few days.

In the top 1/3

This year's California State Fair results are in. My entry this year was the 52 Pickup Scarf, a piece that I would rank as ridiculous in level of difficulty, at least for me. This is a double knit scarf with twisted stitches throughout, knit in a light fingering weight yarn. All of that wouldn't be so tough, but there are 3 colors and different designs on both sides of the piece. For me, that blasted 3rd color and the pattern made tension practically impossible to keep consistent. But those who know me know that I'm not one to shy away from a challenge.

Here it is right before I sent it to the judges. It is blocked--I had to block the ends twice--and shaved.





Of the 12 entries in the Knitting Division, Shawls & Scarves Class, 52 Pickup placed 4th. This Class has 12 entries that are being displayed this year (1st through 4th and 8 Honorable Mentions) so the glass-half-full way to look at this is I placed in the top 1/3. Who knows how many entries there were overall? It is impossible to know and there are so many talented knitters in California, there must have been many that didn't make the top 12.

However, my true self--the one that spent 14-1/2 months almost exclusively on this project--is a tad disappointed. The last 6 weeks have been a bit frustrating. Every year it seems they change something in the competition. This year they changed how they communicate with the exhibitors. In the past, we received the results and our judges comments and scoresheets in the mail soon after the pieces were judged. This year, we received an email letting us know which pieces were accepted to the show with no placement information and no schedule for when the results would be available. I sent an email to the coordinator and she said they would announce the results the day before the fair opened. That would be okay (I guess) if there wasn't an awards presentation on the second day of the fair. If you placed highly or got one of the prestigious awards, certainly you'd want to be there. California is a big state--I'm fortunate that I'm only a 2 hours drive away (traffic willing), but what if an exhibitor lived more than 8 hours away? How could they plan? I decided that I would go with a friend if I placed 2nd or better, but we were in limbo until Thursday. Becky, thank you for being flexible, I appreciate it. So what happened on Thursday? The results were quietly posted on their web site. There was no email or notification. *sigh*

This may sound like sour grapes, but honestly I'm not taking anything away from the winners or the judges. I am aware of all the things that could have been better with my piece and with stiff competition in previous years, I'm confident that the accepted entries are magnificent. I'm also sure that picking and ranking the top 12 out of many entries was not an easy task. I know what it is like to have a piece NOT be accepted to the fair and that is not a good feeling, let me tell you.

If and when I receive the judges' comments and scoresheets, I'll share them with you.

I don't like being judged, ...

but I like winning.

I blocked 52 Pickup and removed about 1/2 cup of fuzz from it using a sweater shaver. IMHO, it has never looked better. The judges at the California State Fair will do what they do and results will be posted on Wednesday. *deep breath*

HKF

It’s a Stitches West Hand Knit Friday. What hand knit pieces are you wearing today?

Is this the first time TWO 52 Pickup scarves are captured in one photo? We think so. Fallingblox Designs #extremedoubleknitting #stitcheswest #magnumopus

Still chugging along

A super busy month at work turned "slightly ahead of schedule" to slightly behind schedule. But like many things in life, the schedule is self-imposed schedule so there's no reason to get overly stressed over it. All the same, I took the long holiday weekend to finish the row of cards that has been in process for the last month. Today I have 13 rows of cards finished and "only" 5 rows of cards to go. I think I can, I think I can.

Ahead of schedule

How about a little knitting content? Okay! Here's the progress of the 3-color double knit scarf called "52 Pickup". There are 12 rows of cards, so taking a photo of the scarf all stretched out is a challenge. When I started this project, I made a goal of finishing 1 row of cards every 3 weeks, or the equivalent of 1 card per week. I'm happy to report that I'm slightly ahead of schedule after finishing 36 cards. Hooray! Onward.