First County Fair – Done

Home from my county fair. I’m exhausted and sore, but it was a good week. There are folks that I normally only get to see at this event, and it’s always fun to catch up with them and the ones that I get to see more often. I didn’t take any pictures while I was there (sorry) and this will be a short post because bed is calling my name.

I took both of the goats and 4 lambs (2 boys and 2 girls), plus some hand spun yarns and hand knit items, and I am happy with my results. In the sheep barn we had the same judge as last year. I didn’t show then, but I helped my friends show and kibitzed with the judge (we all do, if possible) and he remembered me from that. Last year he took a few of us out to breakfast after all the showing was done, but this year he brought his girlfriend instead, and he had told her all about us. She said we lived up to the hype. It will be fun to have him back in a few years now that we have him broke in.

One funny thing about showing the sheep was that I showed in one class, and my friend Correy (who has the same breed of sheep, except hers are much better animals) entered different classes. It worked out great, because that way I got to win too. She had entered hers as Natural Colored, and I had entered in Other Wool Breeds. The judge commented on it, and I told him it was because we didn’t have a breed class of our own. Manny ended up being Reserve Champion Ram, and Mary was Champion Ewe. He also commented a lot about how much he liked Maggie’s fleece, but he thought she had an issue with her back legs. One of Correy’s ewe lambs took overall champion ewe.

The goats showed the next day and while they didn’t do quite as well we all had fun and the goat people seemed to enjoy having us there. In their class, 6 of the 7 had the same father. Clover’s twin was second, Clover was 4th, and Clara was 6th. I relaxed and quit fussing about leg placement. Even Clover seemed to be enjoying all the attention, getting lots of petting from people walking by.

Of the hand knit items, I took in a pair of socks, baby booties and the Neibling shawl. The socks took 2nd in their class, and the other 2 both took blues. The hand spun yarns did well too. I took in skeins of alpaca, silk, mohair, and the tiny thread of merino/silk I shared last time. I wish the clerks were better about writing down the judges comments since the judging is closed to the public. I have no idea why the mohair didn’t place at all. The others all took blue ribbons in their classes, and I was thrilled to see that the merino/silk got a Superintendent’s Choice ribbon.

When we aren’t showing our animals and helping each other show theirs, we sit in the sheep barn and knit or spin. It’s a great opportunity to educate people walking through on the things we enjoy. It must be working because we had to correct a much smaller number of people this year (I am NOT sewing string on my spinning wheel!) It’s fun to see how different people react. Some are interested in the mechanics of the wheel, others are attracted to the fiber. We spend a lot of time repeating the information over and over, and I handed out lots of business cards to folks that expressed an interest in learning to spin or getting fiber. We also people watch and comment on the outfits that some of them think are acceptable. The first day we had a girl walk by with her friend. She was wearing a short dress and a back pack. The pack was making the back of the dress hike up, and it was already so high that we could see what color her panties were! Really, people, get a mirror and use it, or ask someone you trust to tell you how you look. I don’t want to see your under garments, see through probably isn’t a good idea, and if you’re a little over weight  tight clothes don’t do you any favors.

I get a little rest (starting with not setting my alarm tonite), and it all starts over next week at the fair for the next county over. It’s a more laid back affair, and I’m looking forward to it too.