Larimer County Fair, 2023

I'm in the county's new system now, so I received an email on May 16 that the county fair was ready to receive entries.

The fair itself is held in early August, but I do appreciate being reminded that it's time to think about my entries and get them finished.  :-)

I downloaded several categories and had some thoughts about branching into several of them, but ultimately decided to enter in the following categories, which I have entered before:

• Photography
• Spinning and Weaving
• Knitting, Crochet, and Felting

As we got into July, I started setting items aside as well as washing and blocking the candidates.

The entries ended up being as follows:

• Minty Mitts - these are made well and match quite closely.  I also think the thumb join was executed well.
• Inigo Socks - these have two mistakes that I know of.  One can be viewed as a design feature.  Neither are obvious, in my opinion.
• Save Our Sheep Sweater - this has one obvious mistake, but I think the overall body of work and composition is good.  It should receive high marks for the variety of yarns made and used.
• TM 2-Ply Yarn - this is one of the better Chiengora yarns I've made.
• Peek-a-boo Photo of Wilma - I love the personality of this photo, but have no feel for how photos are judged and therefore placed.

The Minty Mitts and Inigo Socks are in the same class.  I only realized that one entry per class was allowed in the Knitting/Crochet/Felting department after I completed registration.  So it seems odd that the registration system allowed for and confirmed both.

So upon confirming with the Check-in Staff and then the Special Check-in Staff my second entry was cancelled.  Then as I was speaking with the Department Steward during Drop-off, She confirmed they were both allowed because socks and mittens should not be in the same class and they would be judged separately, but they would not let her break the class, so I re-entered the second entry.

There was also a change in the Photography Department to disallow matts, even though it is called out as specifically required in the Premium List.... and to be clear, I would not have mounted my photo unless the Premium List said it was required.

I also confirmed that the Premium List Posted still states the matt is required the morning after Drop off.

Annoying on both accounts but alas, all of my entries were dropped off to their appropriate departments.

Judging happens the day after Drop Off and is open to the public.  However, I've never been able to attend judging due to day job commitments.

Upon visiting the Fair over the weekend, I saw that my entries placed about where I expected them to.  It's always fun trying to find them in the display...

My Sweater was displayed prominently, with no ribbons.

I have to acknowledge that the Sweater Competition this year was quite good.  With the Brown one receiving the Grand Champion placement.

My Tibetan Mastiff yarn received 1st place and a Special Award.

The Minty Mitts received 2nd place.

The Inigo Socks received 3rd place.

.. and Wilma's Peek-a-boo photo was placed prominently in the Amateur Domestic Animal Display (directly under the Labrador/2nd place photo), with no ribbons.

So I am pleased that my entries placed about where I expected them to as well as looking forward to getting everything home and seeing what the comments are.

The written comments received were minimal.  I did not receive the written comments/score sheet for the Mitts, but I did receive some oral comments on the photo as I was checking out.... so I now have something to focus my attention on.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Sock Madness 2023

I learned about Sock Madness over the summer.  If I remember correctly, they fielded a team for the Tour de Fleece and I thought the idea was interesting.  So I joined their Ravelry Group in June 2022 to make sure I remembered to learn more about the event later.

Toward the end of September (2022), I saw that a new thread was started for the upcoming Tournament.  So I spent time reading the rules and looking at older sock patterns.

As far as I can tell, it's a Single-Elimination Tournament that begins with a Qualifying Round.

Registration is Feb 1-14, with the Qualifying Round beginning soon after..... 1 pair of socks within ~2 weeks, to prove you can compete.  I see this as very much like the qualifying run before the Pikes Peak Marathon... you must prove a minimum level of fitness in order to compete in the actual event.

Then the tournament runs between March and typically May.

Each round has a shorter list of advancing players, which is filled in the order of successful completion of the previous round.  So it's a race.... a speed-knitting race... or essentially how Track and Field Sprint Competitions are run.... The player must place in the top X of their Heat, in order to advance to the next round, ending with the top Y players for the final race.

In reviewing the 2022 Information Thread, I learned the durations of each round:  

• Round 1 - 10 days
• Round 2 - 17 days
• Round 3 - 15 days
• Round 4 - 14 days
• Round 5 - 8 days
• Round 6 - 4 days
• Round 7 - 1 day

Each of these could be up to 2 days shorter since the announcement message always says the round will start within the next 48 hours... yikes!

It appears that the Ravelry Thread Announcement gives the general specifications and a heads-up that the next round is starting soon.  Then the detailed instructions, requirements, and pattern are sent via email.  So it appears the players do not know the exact requirements until the round is underway.

At least one of last event's patterns also includes beads.  I do not have beads in stock nor have I attempted to knit with beads before.

Also, I've not recorded actual time spent making a pair of socks.  However, I am roughly keeping track on my Clown Fish Socks (that I have not yet posted about).  I currently expect one pair of socks to take ~48 hours of work to make... or ~3 hours per day for 16 days.

This means that I would need to have a lot of time available at the start of each round, in order to have a shot at progressing very far in the competition.  I also think it would be difficult to spend that much time each day while having (1) a full-time day job, along with (2) the farm, (3) in the spring.  So I'm not certain I will enroll in this challenge this year, but I have started organizing my sock yarns and tools, in case I decide to go for it.

In thinking about how to streamline.... standardizing on a yarn and needle size or at least swatching each yarn now would mean my gauge is known ahead of time.  This means ensuring I have a selection of main, contrasting, and complimentary yarns in stock prior to the start of the Tournament... and that each are caked, swatched, and ready to go... As you can see, I'm definitely not there yet. lol.

This also means having needles and appropriate-sized stitch holders to make two socks at a time.  Therefore this means 4 16-inch circular needles in the appropriate sizes needed for the selected yarn, beads, and sock blockers to show off the finished product.  Not all of which are currently in possession.

This competition seems like a lot of fun, and I really don't think I have the time available to do it well this year... but sometimes my goal-setting self gets the best of me.  I have a couple of weeks to decide.  ;-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Dog Shows: Southern Colorado Kennel Club, 2022

After our breakthroughs at the Buckhorn Kennel Club shows last month, Wilma and I have taken up Rally... the goal here is mostly about learning to focus and capture attention on each other... we've had two classes thus far, are having fun, and our Rally work appears to be paying off.

Last weekend was the Southern Colorado Kennel Club Shows at the State Fairgrounds in Pueblo, Colorado.

Wilma is a great car dog, and this was our longest car ride thus far at about 3 hours.  One day she'll decide to nap in the car, but that has not happened yet.

Since we drove down the day before, we were one of the first to set up in the Grooming Area.

We took the opportunity to walk around the grounds so she could start to get her bearings.

This was also her first experience with a Hotel Room.

As expected, neither of us got much sleep the first night.  With all of the different sounds and it being an entirely new location, she was on guard most of the night.

Fortunately, she did nap in her kennel in the grooming area.

Wilma also came into season again.... a split season.  Seriously, what a weird year.... So we did our best to stay away from the crowd and took the opportunity to sit in the bleachers.  Watching the action from above and away from other dogs, helped her to stay relaxed.

LGDs in general, and TMs especially, prefer to watch the world from above.

She also took a nap in the bleachers, which tells me that she is trusting me more to have her back while we are at a Dog Show.... though, you can see, she still has me behind her.  ;-)

She showed extremely well, in spite of being in season again.  She was awarded Winners Bitch all three days and Best of Winners (meaning she defeated the Winners Dog) two of the three days.... adding 6 points toward her Championship.

With 9 points now, she needs six points and two majors to complete her Championship Title.

We will continue to work on her holding her stack a bit longer as well as continue to focus on focus.

I'm so incredibly proud of the progress we have made over the last two months.

Dog Shows: Buckhorn Kennel Club, 2022

Now that we're past Wilma's season, I was hoping that we could get serious about Dog Showing again... 

My schedule kept us from formal practice prior to show-weekend.  So I got there early on Saturday and got in a few practice rounds with some friends... Wilma seemed to think it was a fun game to not let anyone go over her.  :-/   I had all but resigned to not going in the ring.  However, on the encouragement of the Ring Steward, I decided to give it a go at the last minute.... She let the judge go over her, but balked at the very last step of the bite inspection... so we were excused.

If you're keeping track, that is 3 excusals in a row.   *sigh*

Thankfully, excusals are not disqualifications.  But still... frustrating,  :-/

I often say that each dog teaches us something new.   For Wilma, it seems to be helping her realize that she does not have to keep me safe while at a Dog Show and that it is my job to keep her safe.  This seems to be more important for the Indoor, and therefore more congested, shows.

As much as she enjoys seeing her human and canine friends, she is always watching everything, and very aware of where I am located.  After all... I am her flock, she is a Livestock Guardian Dog, and Livestock Guardian Dogs are pre-disposed to being wary of strangers.

So I decided to take the opportunity to have her "relax" in her crate for a while before going home on Saturday.

Fortunately, our grooming space was in the ring area, so there was a lot of activity, aka distractions. 

So she did not relax, but she did quietly watch the action until we went home.

On Sunday morning, a friend offered to help with her focus/attention using few different bait options..  This proved to be the key.

We learned that she likes Squeaky Toys and Freeze-Dried Turkey Hearts.

With this new information, we focused on focus and regaining attention with the Squeaky and new treats and continued to "relax" in her crate until our ring time.

There were no other Tibetan Mastiffs entered this weekend so no points were awarded.  However, Wilma let the judge go over her!  So these ribbons from Sunday mean everything to me.

These mean that she stood still and let the judge go over her, without balking.

The Red-ish and Purple+Gold ones also mean that she had the opportunity for Group Experience.

She performed extremely well for the judge in the Owner-Handled Working Group ring.

Then, later in the regular Working Group ring, the Group Judge was the Breed Judge who had excused us the day before.  Wilma let her perform the entire examination!

The other exceptional thing this weekend is that Wilma moved beyond "relaxing" in her kennel, to actually relaxing, and then took a nap.

We have a few weeks until the next show, so I plan to take her to Rally classes.  Where we will learn and practice other techniques for gaining and holding attention. 

Then I plan to take her to some novel locations that are busy and/or congested so we can practice in an approximate show environment.

It seems we had a couple of breakthroughs last weekend.  I am so proud of her!

Fiber Arts Friday: County Fair, 2022

It's County Fair time again.  :-)

Upon looking at the Hand Spinning and Weaving Department Premium List when it became available in early June (~6/6/22) I was surprised to realize that I did not have any yarn completed since the specified date (8/1/21).  However, it does make sense given the move and focus on the large SOS Sweater.

Then, as I started to review the premium lists for other departments and thinking about where I was on projects, I realized that I might be able to field a decent entry.

So I have three photos:

Thanks to the Tour de Fleece, Hommes and Femme, and some warmup spinning, I finished two yarn entries.... Tibetan Mastiff (Ramen) and Dorset Horn (SE2SE) to go with one Handspun+Handknit Hat.

And some last minute Strawberry Jam.

Of all of these things, only the Hat was complete between August 1, 2021 and June 6, 2022.  Everything was dropped off last week.  Judging was on Wednesday and the Fair was open Friday thru Tuesday.

I went over the weekend to see the exhibits.  There were large entries in both the Spinning/Weaving and Needlework departments... especially Needlework was much larger than in recent years.

I'm happy to report that each of my yarns received second place and were displayed on the wall with the other beautiful yarns.

    

None of my other entries received ribbons, but it was quite fun to see my photos displayed with the other entries.

  

As well as my hat and jam on the shelf displays.

 

The Best in Spinning was this remarkable Handspun-Handknit Sweater.  This did not look like handspun yarn at all.

Some of the other entries....

  

  

  

Wilma and I picked up our entries on Wednesday.  She was a very good girl while waiting in line... and very excited when we picked up the fiber projects.  :-)

The comments received mostly make sense.

For the yarn:  The majority of points lost were for not following instructions.... while I did state the intended project for the yarns, I neglected to include the intended technique... knit, crochet, weaving.  oy.

The canned goods can only come from pre-approved recipes.  This wasn't clear to me in the Premium List prior to entry.  In going back to read it again, it's still not clear to me.... Although I now have the list of approved sources, so I will take a look and then decide if I want to try again.

There were no notes on the photographs, which was disappointing.

Overall it was a good fair for me and the fibery-stitching competitions are definitely my favorite.  I have no doubt that I will continue to compete.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday: County Fair 2021, part 2

Hubba and I went to the County Fair last weekend.

My Results

Neither of my wools placed but my Tibetan Mastiff yarns received second and third place behind a beautifully spun skein of yak.

This is expected since both of the wools had quite a bit of vegetable matter (VM) in the roving, and therefore so does the yarn.  Though the judge only mentioned it on one of them.

The judge recommended a figure-eight for tying all of the skeins, which I've not done but will start.

It's interesting that the judge thought both of the wools were harsh for the intended purpose (a blanket) and recommended long-draw over short-draw as the spinning technique.... I had already decided that I want to practice the long-draw technique over the next year because it should produce a loftier yarn.  So now I have a new goal of entering a long-drawn yarn into next year's fair.  :-)

The judge also mentioned guard hair in the Tibetan Mastiff skeins as well as over/under-spun areas in each yarn.

I agree with all of the workmanship comments and I always find it interesting to see what each judge tends to focus on.

The county fair is a place where consistency and the following of best practices is rewarded.  Therefore, I believe it's an excellent place to test your skills.

Other Entries

There were a lot of beautiful yarns this year, all of which were displayed behind glass... None of these photos turned out well... I guess I should practice taking photos of things behind glass.  :-/

The grand champion was a hand-spun, hand-knit cardigan-vest with lots of cables.... really quite striking.

As always, the Quilt entries are awe-inspiring for me.  One day, I may attempt to make a quilt.  ;-)

Other Exhibits

There was a mini-Ninja Warrior course at the entrance to the Fairgrounds.  They had a big-buff dude helping kids thru the course.  It was fun to see dreams looking possible in the kids' eyes.

There was also this phone charging station.  It was set up with a variety of cables.  All you had to do was plug in and start pedaling.  Fun!

A Sign of the Times

Since Hubba and I both have first-hand knowledge of non-vaccinated people not wearing masks, and the fact that enforcement of the public health policy is not occurring, Hubba and I continue to wear masks in public... especially now with the Delta Variant surging.

AND...

Since most people were not wearing masks, and a large thunderstorm was brewing, Hubba and I decided not to stay.... so we did not visit any of the other exhibits, animals, or midway.

All of that being said, there were fewer people than we typically see at the fairgrounds while we were there.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!