Ever since I got out of 4-H nearly 20 years ago I have wanted to start making things for the fair again. I know a lot of adults who do it, and they make some beautiful things, and while being judged isn’t the greatest thing ever, it is fun to win ribbons for things you made.
Kat at Just Crafty Enough knit a fabulous pair of mittens to enter into the state fair where she lives, and she’s published the pattern for anyone who wants to try them. They’re worked in lace weight yarn, have colorwork everywhere, and are worked with size 000 needles (0000 on the cuffs!) to a gauge of 15 stitches per inch. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
But they are spectacular and I certainly hope she gets a ribbon.
Do you knit or do other crafts to enter in the fair? I’d love to hear what you’re doing this year.
[Photo via Just Crafty Enough.]
Jorid Linvik’s Big Book of Knitted Mittens:
45 Distinctive Scandinavian Designs is sure to inspire you to want to knit some fun mittens, whether embellished with classic motifs like birds, hearts, moose and classic colorwork designs or those with a more modern feel liks guitars and skulls, a giraffe, penguins or a turquoise lizard.
The book includes a lot of instructions on how to make your mittens come out right, including a discussion of how different gauges can give you different sizes of mittens (and which mittens can be worked to different sizes for kids and adults). The charts are a little different from others you might have seen in that they show how to divide the stitches on the needles and where to place the thumb.
Looking for more knitting patterns for Mittens? Check these out on Etsy.
I’ve been a needlework judge for our local fair for more than a decade and have never seen anything as intricate as this entered. It would be awesome if there were projects of this caliber at my fair.
I was in 4-H and my kids were also said n 4-H. We all had our different projects to enter and what fun when judging day arrived…couldn’t wait to see what color ribbon we got. My mom was a stickler for perfection and neatness. At the time I didn’t realize how important it was but now I am so glad she taught me that because without it I wouldn’t understand fair quality. I’m in my 60’s now (though I feel much younger.) I still enter projects into the county fair and every chance I get I encourage people to be creative and enter as the excitement is so fun. This year I am entering projects in knitting, crochet, cookies, and for the first time I am entering yarn I have spun. My niece, who I introduced to the exhibiting world when she was 10, has admitted that she had so much fun entering an exhitbit that year as to why she has introduced her children to and has continued to be a part of the fair. Each year we are excited to see each other’s projects and what we garnered for a ribbon. It is 2 weeks till fair entry day and I can hardly wait–but I still have the finishing touches to put on many of the projects.
4-H + adult entries for every craft, food, & animal category are very, very, very low at our county fair for years – ever since they made the decision to only book the fair info & booklets online only. As a fair goer, it’s pitiful when you see every project in the knit, crochet, & sewn categories win a first prize, regardless of highly visible flaws, because those were the only entries. (No, I never enter, because it’s way too much time & effort to keep checking to see if the booklet is online yet, then to scroll thru page after page to find the entry date, entry categories, etc.)