State Fair Ribbon Edition

Yesterday was the last day of the Kentucky State Fair and that means that today I was able to bring home all the stuff I entered, along with the ribbons I earned. In case you didn't keep count of all the stuff I entered from this post, I'll go ahead and tell you I entered 12 items. I did not knit them all this year, but most of these items have been completed within the last two or three years.

 Anyway, I earned six ribbons this year, two of them blue! I'm pretty excited about that. I'd have been more excited if I'd earned a couple more, but I'm trying hard not to be all sour-grapey. Yes, the whole concept of judging means it's subjective. I mean, there are judging criteria, but there's plenty of room for a variety of opinion. And then there's the absurdity of the idea of competitive knitting, about which my husband continually reminds me when I get all bent out of shape about placing somewhere other than first.

I have heard that there are people who are well-adjusted enough to be satisfied with having given their best effort and all that, but I'm not sure I've met any of them. I can admit that I'm a competitive person, and that I hate being beaten. At anything. I like to win. And when you get right down to it, winning is better than not winning.

All that being said, there were some beautiful handknit items at the Fair this year, and not all of them were mine. Two of my friends did very well in the lace category, another did well in the hat/scarf category. There were quite a few gorgeous sweaters too (and, surprisingly, only one of them was Fair Isle). One of the things I noticed this year is that the judges didn't seem to value colorwork. There were two very well done colorwork socks, neither of which earned a ribbon. I thought that the best felted item was the one that earned the third-place ribbon. I'm not sure why this is, because it can be tricky to get proper tension with stranded knitting, and this year's examples were well done. I guess it will just have to remain a mystery.

Anyway, I've already begun thinking about what I might make for next year's fair. I'd like to earn a few more ribbons, and it would be nice if I could get some more blue ones. I think I'll have to step up my game, though. I suspect a few people will be coming for me.