I didn’t end up submitting anything last year, using “Oh, I want to at least see one fair before I submit something” as an excuse. This year, I have no excuse, so I submitted my entry form online today.

I’ve entered two categories. The first is

Knitting: Hand-knitted sweater for adult, – variety of stitch or pattern (other than Aran, jacquard or Fair Isle), any material or color.

This is the sweater for that category:

My February Lady Sweater. I think this is one of my favorite knits, ever.

The other category is:

Knitting: Hand knitted socks (2)

Here are the socks for that category:

Hmmm. OK, so they’re not exactly completed yet. And since the entry form did specify two (2) socks, I better get to work! Luckily, I don’t have to drop off my entries until August 14th, so I should have plenty of time to finish them. Provided nothing goes wrong.

I’ll let you know if I just jinxed myself by saying that.

This is why you never say “never.” Because this week, I was very, very excited about potholders.

After sending my finished potholders in to the swap, I waited (im)patiently for my return package that would contain five potholders from various other swappers. Look at what arrived on my doorstep on Wednesday:

Are they not incredible? Wow, they’re all so different, but each of them is so fantastic.

Thank you to Lucia from Ohio, Cindy from Texas, Oiyi from New York, Heather from Massachusetts and Lulu from Colorado! These are all absolutely gorgeous, beautifully made, and so unique.

I’m not the only one who liked them, either.

Zelda action shot, trying to steal Heather’s potholder. Sneaky!

So when I received word this morning that I had won a $24 skein of yarn from a recent Woolgirl blog post contest, I was overjoyed! Jen at Woolgirl will be sending me a hank of the new Dream in Color Knitosophy yarn in the Strength colorway (and trust me, I need all the strength I can get these days!).

If you happen to be in need of some sock yarn, it looks like she just restocked her Dream in Color Smooshy and Hazel Knits Artisan Sock yarns (two of my personal favorites). I’ve ordered from Jen before, and she has amazing customer service and a really great yarn selection on her site. Jen didn’t ask me to write that, that little plug comes from the bottom of my heart. She’s got a great store!

Thanks again, Jen! You rock!

This is me, at the fairgrounds.

I didn’t take any pictures of the wares, because I know that it’s a big no-no. Unfortunately, they ran out of vendor info booklets right when I arrived (what timing!). So I can’t really discuss the vendors in too much details. But I will say that this was a fantastic festival for spinners. I saw so much roving and fleece, everything from raw and natural to carded and dyed and ready to spin. It was gorgeous.

They also had fluffy angora bunnies. Fluffy angora bunnies are hard to photograph indoors. So go here to look at pictures other people have taken of fluffy angora bunnies to fully appreciate their adorableness.

Other than the bunnies, there weren’t too many animals on site. I heard there was a scheduling conflict with the sheep shearer (bummer!). There were some cute goats, though:

I love their curly coats!

Amazingly enough, I didn’t buy ANYTHING at the fair. We’re moving soon, and my goal is to pack less, not more. Which is why I brought a HUGE bag of yarn with me to the fair to donate to charity.

Remember this post from January? When I put all of that yarn aside for donation if I didn’t use it? Well, I didn’t use it. And I added to it in the meantime. It felt really good to see that go to some folks who could knit it up for a good cause!

All in all, it was a nice excursion on a beautiful October day! Next year, I’ll definitely save my pennies and do a little more shopping!

Gratuitous foliage shot.

Since this was a Bourbon Festival, many of the crafts had a very specific bourbon theme. Here’s just a sampling of what we saw:

There were many booths dedicated to bourbon sauces, particularly barbeque sauce.

This hot sauce was – cooked? brewed? – in bourbon barrels. Mr. Martini said you could taste a hint of the bourbon in the hot sauce. After looking at the artwork on the label, I was too chicken to try it.

In keeping with the bourbon theme, some folks found ways to use bourbon bottles in unusual ways, including these oil lamps.

I found these hummingbird feeders to be particularly clever.

It was a really fun event, and we really only saw a small portion of the festivities. I know that there were concerts and tours going on, but we didn’t stick around for any of that this time, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind for next year!