Monday, September 01, 2008

A Fair Report

Yesterday was the final day of the 154th Harrow Fair and it was well worth the drive to go see it. The fair has a very strong rural and agricultural background which was evident in the exhibits, events and displays. They had many categories to enter and a lot of creative classes. The children's entries were delightful. There was a great turn out of entries in all categories. Here's what the knitting section looked like:

Yowza! I had entered 5 items and came away with 4 ribbons. The following picture shows my two firsts, one for the Rainbow Lopi sweater and the other for a boy's aran hoodie (it's hard to see the red ribbon over a red sweater).

I took second for the Shetland Garden Faroese shawl and third for my Noro stranded socks. The shawl lost out to a poncho that must have taken a great deal of will power to knit. Its in a chenille yarn and it's just huge! I was told to keep knitting lace because next year they wanted to have a separate category for lace. They thought it was like comparing apples to oranges trying to judge between these two.

Mary Jane, who guided me and helped me through the whole entry process, entered 7 items and came away with 5 ribbons. One example is this beautiful little baby sweater:

Lovely, isn't it? Makes me want to pick up some baby yarn.

On a sad note, the Western Fair is only offering knit classes for children 7-10 and 11-15. I don't understand the rhyme or reason behind these decisions. There's a article in the Londoner that sums up my feelings about the situation, but the article doesn't offer any explanations. It seems that the Western Fair is now an urban fair, with the focus on entertainment, business and products.

Thank goodness for good old-fashioned country fairs. Keep up the good work Harrow Fair!

10 comments:

  1. Congratulations! I admit I had to do a double take, as in the US blue is the color for firsts, and red for seconds. Funny how those things get ingrained in our minds!

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  2. Congrats on the ribbons -- four out of five is excellent!!

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  3. Hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot on the ribbons.

    DD was at the fair - I told her to watch for your stuff.

    A lot of the fall fairs are shrinking/fading away....Disney World is too accessible.

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  4. That is too cool. I knew the sweater would be eye catching. Worked with me back then, right? You did a great job. Keep it up.

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  5. I thought I recognized that stuff! You did a wonderful job. :)

    I grew up in Harrow so the fair has been a tradition my entire life. I hope it's still around for its 200th anniversary (that I am too, come to that).

    It will be neat to see what happens if lace knitting gets its own category. I guess I should finish spinning the yarn for my shawl so I can enter that next year.

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  6. How cool is that? Congrats on the ribbons.

    I'm really sad to hear that the Western Fair won't have anything; I always go and look to see what you've got entered. Even the CNE in Toronto still has knitting, quilting and other crafts, although I think Harrow does a better job of it.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Congratulations!!!!!

    It reminds me of the fairs I've gone to up in the Gold Country here in California and the Lincoln County Fair up in Montana.

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  8. 4 Ribbons out of 5 entries - Way to Go Laurie!!

    Red is First Place? - here in the US First is Blue. (I've always thought Red was flashier so it should be for First. I'm glad to see there are others that think the way I do.)

    Our local Fair has turned into more of a way to sell hot tubs than the Agriculture Event it use to be. The Hot Tub displays pushed the Horticulture exhibits and contests out of the open air Pavilion that was specially built for Horticulture. I'm sad to see sales events take over everything; our kids are really missing out.

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  9. Fantastic ribbon haul Laurie! I always enter knitting, plants and baking at the Ilderton Fair. I have lots of ribbons too, and I LOVE THE OLD FASHIONED FAIRS! Don't like and won't go to the London Fair.

    Congratulations on your fab knitting!

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  10. I was sad about the Western Fair as well, seems odd.

    Congrats on your wins! Missed you on Monday.

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