HMF

It's Stay-At-Home Hand Made Friday! What hand made pieces are you wearing today?

My sister made these earrings for me. Aren't they lovely?

HMF

It’s Hand Made Friday! What hand made pieces are you wearing today?

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

HMF

It’s Hand Made Friday! What hand made pieces are you wearing today? I’m wearing a lauhala woven bangle that I made in a mini-workshop at the Bishop Museum on Oahu a few years ago, and a little whimsy of Beadlemania around my neck.

Ready, Set, Knit!

An amazing thing happened last week--I was interviewed by Kathy Elkins on the Ready, Set, Knit podcast!

How did this happen? When I received the state fair results, I dropped Kathy a line to let her know that both pieces were done in the WEBS brand, Valley Yarns. That's when she asked if I could come on the podcast. Eek. Scary. I was excited, flattered, and apprehensive. But I could do it, I could talk about knitting, right?


2017 1st Place & Best in Division
Project Details on Ravelry


2017 4th Place
Project Details on Ravelry

We agreed on a date and then I did some homework--on myself. That might sound strange, but I've been sending entries to Sacramento for years and I've been knitting since I was quite young. There are over 200 projects on my Ravelry page so I thought it would be best if I reviewed my knitting history.

I rediscovered the other Valley Yarns projects that placed at the fair in 2014:

Mixed Tide Shawl - original design

Mixed Tide shawl
Project Details on Ravelry

Honorable Mention, Division: Knitting,
Class: Knitted Wearing Apparel
Judge's Comments: Good color choice for a "tide" pattern. Better blocking would "show off" pattern more clearly. Well done for a challenging technique.

Crackle Sac

Crackle Sac
Project Details on Ravelry

2nd Place, Division: Other Fiber Art,
Class: Any Other Fiber Art
Workmanship: 20
Level of Difficulty: 19
Design: 19
Appropriate Pattern or Technique: 19
Creative use of materials or fabric: 18
Judge's Comments: Very good job! Weaving, making bag, matching pattern on seams! Well done.

When recording day came, I found a quiet spot in the house with the best cell reception, which can be iffy at best. Thankfully the phone showed 2 bars that morning. The call from Kathy came, she reviewed the process, and then I listened to her and Steve talk for a few minutes before my segment. I want to say that I waited patiently, but "patiently" doesn't describe the mass of butterflies that I swallowed with my morning coffee. Maybe I shouldn't have had so much caffeine, huh? Ya think?

Then it was my turn. [Deep breath] I did my best to slow down, listen, and think about what I was going to say before words started spewing forth. I was super nervous, but Kathy was a champ and guided me through the interview like the pro she is. Now when I listen to the podcast, I wish I didn't say "um" so many times. I wasn't even aware of it. Oh and there was the slip when I said I started the shawl in 2006 instead of 2016. Thankfully Kathy corrected that. Nerves. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with the end product.

I still can't believe that I was a guest on RSK!

Here's a link to the web site where you can hear "Ready, Set, Knit! Show 491: Kathy Talks With Janice Kang"

The Best Day Ever - Part 2: What is "Other Fiber Art"?

When filling out the entry form for the California State Fair, I am challenged when I need to choose a category for certain pieces. For example, is a shawl "Knitted Wearing Apparel" or is it "Any Other Knitted Item"? I would think that if it is worn it is considered apparel, but maybe it's considered an accessory and belongs in the "other" category. Just to be sure, I checked with the folks in Sacramento and they confirmed it was apparel. Good enough. But here's the thing--there was another shawl submitted to the "Other" category--and by the way there far fewer entries in the other category than there are in the apparel category--and that shawl won 1st place. I wonder if I didn't ask and labeled it as "other", would I have done better? Well it doesn't matter now and my sense of fairness says I did the right thing. My items were judged against other items that were made to be worn. But still... oh, never mind.

There's another division called "Other Fiber Art". I view it as a catch-all category for those pieces that don't fit into the obvious knit or crochet divisions. Within this division, there are these classes:

• Lace/Tatting
• Traditional Hooked Rugs
• Any Other Fiber Art

So we have an "other" class within an "other" division.

"Other Fiber Art" -> "Any Other Fiber Art" is where you'll find handwoven items, handspun yarn, felting, basket weaving, rag rugs, etc.. It can be a rather large and diverse class when you think about it. So why did I bring this up? Well it turns out that my sister's handwoven blanket not only took first place in the "Any Other Fiber Art" class, but it also won Best of Division for all "Other Fiber Art"!


Best of Division, 1st Place, 165 - Other Fiber Art, 03 - Any Other Fiber Art
Grace Kang
Emanation

Wow! This was the first year that she entered something in the fair and she had a fantastic result! Well deserved congratulations to Grace. Kudos!!

I'm sure this means we will be competing against each other for years to come. Not sure that I'm excited about that idea only because I don't recall that she and I competed against each other (much? ever?) in the past. This is a new thing. But at least if I come in second (or third or honorable mention) to her pieces, I can be happy for the both of us. Speaking of second place & honorable mention, that's exactly what happened this year. One of my entries in the "Any Other Fiber Art" class received a second place ribbon and another received an honorable mention.


2nd Place, 165 - Other Fiber Art, 03 - Any Other Fiber Art
Janice Kang
Crackle Sac


Honorable Mention, 165 - Other Fiber Art, 03 - Any Other Fiber Art
Janice Kang
Merino, Baby Camel, Silk

Last but not least, here are a few of the other entries in the Other Fiber Art Division. All in all I'd say we did well with 3 of 36 items that placed in this division. We have no way of knowing what the total number of submissions was.


3rd Place, 165 - Other Fiber Art, 03 - Any Other Fiber Art
Eve Broughton
Series VII #14


1st Place, 165 - Other Fiber Art, 01 - Lace/Tatting
Eve Broughton
Series VII #14


15 - Camellia City Rug Hookers Guild Award, Honorable Mention, 165 - Other Fiber Art, 02 - Traditional Hooked Rugs
Elizabeth Williams
Long Runner

Best Day Ever at the CA State Fair - Part 1

This was the last weekend of the 2014 California State Fair, so we got up bright and early for our drive to Sacramento to see our entries. Lucky for us, (can you hear the sarcasm?) it was only going to be 104 degrees in Sacramento. We look happy, don't we?


Best Day Ever

My plan was to take photos of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners as well as other entries that I liked. Well, those plans soon went out the window as I was snap, snap, snapping away and I felt like I had taken 100 photos in the first 1/4 of the exhibit hall. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos of some of this year's entries.

The exhibits looked like this:


California Crafts Exhibit


California Crafts Exhibit

Oh hey, she looks familiar! Let's take a closer look at what she's photographing.


Entries from The Kangs

And closer yet.


Best of Division, 1st Place, 165 - Other Fiber Art, 03 - Any Other Fiber Art
Grace Kang
Emanation


2nd Place, 160 - Knitting, 02 - Knitted Wearing Apparel
Janice Kang
Wind on a Wheat Field

How cool is it that they put our entries together? That was probably the highlight of the day for me.

With regards to the photos, let me say that the lighting and the colors in the room were very challenging for my (albeit limited) photographic skills. Case in point, this is probably the worst photo of my handspun ever. The persistent yellow background and glass display case wreaked havoc on the colors in the image. Believe me, the yarn looks better than this.


Honorable Mention, 165 - Other Fiber Art, 03 - Any Other Fiber Art
Janice Kang
Merino, Baby Camel, Silk


Honorable Mention, 160 - Knitting, 02 - Knitted Wearing Apparel
Janice Kang
Mixed Tide Shawl


2nd Place, 165 - Other Fiber Art, 03 - Any Other Fiber Art
Janice Kang
Crackle Sac

Those are all of our entries and what follows are the rest of the knitted & crocheted entries I took photos of. Why I there are more photos of the latter, I have no idea.


1st Place, 160 - Knitting, 02 - Knitted Wearing Apparel
Inger Blood
All About Texture


1st Place, 160 - Knitting, 03 - Any Other Knitted item
Betty Fryer
Medallion Lace Shawl


1st Place, 160 - Knitting, 01 - Knitted Afghans, 14 - Camellia City Stockinettes Sacramento Knitting Guild Award
Jardee Worcester
Sunshine Christening Blanket


1st Place, 155 - Crochet, 01 - Large Crocheted Afghans (over 3' x 4')
Kathleen Bennett
Bordeaux Matelasse


2nd Place, 155 - Crochet, 01 - Large Crocheted Afghans (over 3' x 4')
Alice Smith
California Splash Afghan


3rd Place, 155 - Crochet, 01 - Large Crocheted Afghans (over 3' x 4')
Lynda Brushia
Thread Beauty


1st Place, 155 - Crochet, 02 - Small Crocheted Afghans (under 3' x 4')
Cynthia Chally
Kevin's Peacock Kolors


1st Place, 155 - Crochet, 03 - Wearing Apparel Adult
Noelia Briones
peacock shall [sic]


3rd Place, 155 - Crochet, 03 - Wearing Apparel Adult
Wilma Keith
Birds & Blossoms Shawl


1st Place, 155 - Crochet, 05 - Coverings
Kathleen Bennett
Peacock Eyes


2nd Place, 155 - Crochet, 05 - Coverings
Kathleen Bennett
Baby Animals Filet


1st Place, 155 - Crochet, 06 - Any Other Crocheted Item
Amy Lin
Spike the Dragon


2nd Place, 155 - Crochet, 06 - Any Other Crocheted Item
Linda Olinger
Amigurumi Bunny Backback


Honorable Mention, 155 - Crochet, 06 - Any Other Crocheted Item
Kim Raven
Summer Leaves Parasol


Honorable Mention, 155 - Crochet, 06 - Any Other Crocheted Item
Kim Raven
Summer Leaves Parasol

I'll have more photos of other divisions in the next blog post.