Oh, I've had this idea for so long. Long ago in the summer months, when there wasn't much competition at the 2005 state fair, even though I knew all you incredible stitch-n-bitches were out there making great things. And even though it's free to enter and get ribbons! Long ago in the fall, when the rain began and I thought "There's still time..." Long ago in the winter months, when I was dreaming of the sun coming back.
I thought "What we need is a State Fair Knitalong. To get people old-fashioned-crafting and honoring the grandma aesthetic of pies and lemonade and hand quilting. People all over the world can join, because even though they may not live in a state they may have a local fair. And if people live in those states where they require you to win a county fair first (though Oregon doesn't), then those people in those states can enter county fairs!"
(In my dream of a hazy crafty summer, everything is punctuated with great drama. Sorry about that.)
I thought "We'll all have such a great time knitting challenging and fulfilling works of great utility and beauty. And then we'll bring them to the fairs and get our props. Oh, and if people who do some other craft instead (table setting?) want to join, they can join too. It'll be a Fair Along!"
But did I do anything about it then? Did I invite people to join and whip up a frenzy over the idea? Oh no. I waited. Till the time was good and ripe. That would be two DAYS before the kickoff of the State Fair Knitalong that I'm co-hosting with Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks in Sellwood (Portland, OR).
So, my last-minute lovelies, please come to Abundant Yarn on Monday night at 7 pm (that's June 5th) for a kickoff party with door prizes. And if you have won anything at a fair before, please bring that thing and/or your ribbons to show off. There will be a special table set aside for such geekery.
And for all of you - Portland or not - please join this along right here, online. There will be prizes! There will be e-ribbons for anyone who enters a project anywhere in a fair to put on your blogs and websites. There will be a flickr group. There will be pie and jam and funnel cake. Deep fried twinkies, and a sense of accomplishment. What more can a crafter ask for?
Rules?
- You can knit, crochet, spin, quilt, sew, bake, make jam, raise giant pumpkins, or sheep, or set tables (in honor of Sarah, who used to do that as her sport - in junior high, was it?)
- You can enter into any kind of local or regional competition wherever you live. (More on how to enter Oregon's state fair, and links to other states and places, are coming soon).
- You must send me your name, email, and blog address in the comments below, and I will add you to a master list of fair-alongers.
- Please use the pretty button up above, and save it to your own computer before uploading to your site.
- By fall, you should plan to upload at least two good photos of your work to our soon-to-be flickr group.
- Between June 5 and July 31, if you are in Portland, you should join us at Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks at 7 pm any Monday or Thursday evening for crafting among friends.
- July 31 will be the final party at Abundant Yarn, at which there will be tiny bite-sized pies and more door prizes.
Yay! Summer is on.
And a big thank you to quiet cricket for letting me bastardize her beautiful photo of plum jam to make the button above. Would anyone be willing to take a stab at making a lovelier button out of the jam photo?
You're welcome- the photo looks wonderful as a fair-along button! This sounds like a great idea- oh how I wish I wasn't on the other side of the world to Portland!
Posted by: melissa | June 04, 2006 at 01:03
Count me in! It sounds like fun!
Posted by: Katrina | June 04, 2006 at 02:38
yep! junior high, 7th grade to be exact. now i only have to decide what my "sport" will be this summer. so many events, so little time!
Posted by: sarah gilbert | June 04, 2006 at 11:17
Oh, I have been thinking about the OR state fair ever since I read about it on your blog last year. Definitely count me in!
Posted by: Chrissy | June 04, 2006 at 17:50
That is such a fun idea! I am such a fair geek. My mom and grandma are fair judges so my earliest memories are of fairs and summers were spent camping and going from fair to fair. Needless to say I have shoboxes full of ribbons. Last year was my 1st OR State Fair experience and I won a ribbon but was disappointed by the lack of competition. Thanks for this knitalong! I don't know what I'll knit but I'll enter something!
Posted by: Casey | June 04, 2006 at 18:06
Is there a deadline on joining?
Posted by: Michelle | June 05, 2006 at 07:49
I have been knitting for about a year and a half, but I am new to community knitting. Can someone tell me about knit-alongs? I keep reading about them, and I think I get it, but I'd love it if someone would give me the hard sell and get me all excited about joining the fair-along. I am a solitary knitter... I'm itching to get out!
Thanks,
Natalie
whirleymarge@hotmail.com
Posted by: Natalie Strong | June 05, 2006 at 08:54
I'm in, Larissa! This sounds like fun. I used to enter the SC state fair all the time for tatting. I guess I'm a fair geek, too. =)
Posted by: katie | June 05, 2006 at 12:01
My husband's been trying to get me to enter the fair for years, this may be just the thing to get me to stay on task! Thanks for the great idea, Larissa!
Posted by: Janine | June 05, 2006 at 13:55
I'm in too. Now to decide what to enter!
Posted by: Heidi | June 06, 2006 at 09:35
Hi Larrisa - thanks for setting this up for the PDX locals - I enjoyed meeting everyone last night - and getting a DOOR PRIZE (Thank you Abundant Yarn!).
Sign me up - making a vest of my own design - no blog.
Cheers, Kabira
Posted by: Kabira | June 06, 2006 at 11:48
I missed the party last night, but I wanna join. Does the item I make have to be an original creation, or is it okay to use a pattern?
Posted by: Jenni | June 06, 2006 at 14:09
i've definitely decided to do a blanket! I'm going to copy my design from Truman's baby blankie, but make it bigger and fewer colorways.
(and yes Jenni you can use a pattern)
Posted by: sarah gilbert | June 06, 2006 at 14:34
I have just started keeping my blog, but I LOVE taking items to the county fair. One of the pictures you may view on my blog is of my daughter showing her steer...or practicing to show it as the official fair is around July 17th. I would love to do a fair a long!
Posted by: dobarah | June 06, 2006 at 15:15
Okay, sign me up. I won't be moving on this right away, though, because I've checked and the South Carolina State Fair doesn't run until OCTOBER. (Due to a later harvest, maybe?) But I will enter SOMETHING. I'm contemplating more than one category. Good luck to all!
Posted by: Julie | June 06, 2006 at 15:48
Okay! I am going to list what I have saved for the upcoming fairs in July.
1 pair knit childrens mittens
1 pair knit adult socks
1 knit dishcloth
1 knit bulky scarf
1 beaded caterpillar bracelet
1 crocheted hot pad
OTN
1 pair of adult mittens
Now what?!
dobarah
Posted by: dobarah | June 07, 2006 at 10:56
Larissa, count me in. This will be my first "along". Sounds like fun.
Posted by: Michelle | June 09, 2006 at 07:40
Sign me up too! I am going to enter my pretty flowery girlie sweater and possibly my cabled gloves (if I can get them done in time for the OSF). But I am really excited about the table setting . . . I had no idea I could competitively table set. I am so there!
Posted by: Katie | June 13, 2006 at 11:56
Larissa,
I went to Abundant Yarn tonight, all excited to get started. No one was there. :-(
Count me in, though.
Melody
Posted by: Melody | June 19, 2006 at 21:14
Hope it's not too late to join- I also have no idea what I'll make, but I love Abundant Yarns and want to try something- see you Thurs.
kristine.king@gmail.com
topolounge.blogspot.com
Posted by: Kristine | June 19, 2006 at 21:16
I hope it's not too late to join. I've been thinking about joining since you posted this. I have this green bag I'm knitting and gonna felt and decorate in some fashion. I'll try to make it to Abundant Yarn one of these times.
I've always wanted to enter something, but never really knew what to do.
Thanks for hosting this.
Posted by: Aimee Noel | June 20, 2006 at 17:13
I'm not sure what happened, but that didn't link to my blog.. my blog is a-chan knits: http://home.comcast.net/~chiapetdiz/blog.htm
Posted by: Aimee Noel | June 21, 2006 at 10:18
I'd love to fair-along. I'm a new Oregonian (one week!), so this sounds like a great way to just in feet first.
Posted by: Mandy | June 25, 2006 at 19:38
Is there still time to sign up? I've been checking out the LA County Fair website for a while- I'd love to join!
Posted by: Mary-Heather | June 30, 2006 at 10:36
I just lost my mind and ordered entry tags for the Iowa State Fair so count me in!
Posted by: Meghan | June 30, 2006 at 23:40
O.K. fine. Sign me up since I'm sure I'll be entering anyways. I always do. Not the state fair, but the Lincoln County Fair.
Posted by: Siri | July 04, 2006 at 09:45
Hi I am Canadian and I will be entering our provincial exhibition for the first time this year I'm just waiting for the mail to arrive with the entry forms so sign me up as well, sounds like a lot of fun
Posted by: Nanna | July 06, 2006 at 14:43
I've added this "Along" to the list of 2006 Knit-Alongs, hope you don't mind. Oh, and count me in. I'll be entering a few items into our little local fair this year. Last year I won first prize with a pair of socks!
Posted by: Natalie | July 13, 2006 at 05:41
I was just looking at my local fair and all the wonderful things you can enter and decided to give it a try this year. Having an "Along" to do it for makes it so much better. You rock! Not sure what I will enter but hooray.
Posted by: mary | July 15, 2006 at 11:45
This is excellent! I have been getting all my stuff together to enter my first county fair for the past month, and I'm sooo excited! For our fair, you can enter anything made in the past five years (I only started about 4.5 years ago!), one item per class. I'm going to be entering between 10 and 20 items! I have seven items made, three items in progress, and a digital camera in the mail...I'll be posting pictures ASAP!
Posted by: Anastasia | July 17, 2006 at 08:31
Larissa, will you host this next summer too, please? Our county fair is closing today.
PS, the button is gorgeous.
Posted by: Jeanne | July 31, 2006 at 09:26
Here are the results of my local fair! By entering this fair, I miss the State Fair...but I get to live at this local one (4H animals) so having something for me to do is worth it. I can also keep some of my better items for the state fair (next year). It will be interesting to see how the felted Lopi bag will do when there is actually a section for it! Check out my goodies here: http://rubberstamperstearoom.blogspot.com/2006/08/wanna-see-my-knitting.html
Posted by: dobarah | August 01, 2006 at 06:46
My results:
I got 2 Honorable Mentions (actually, I may have gotten a third, I couldn't see if the ribbon was on my piece or the one next to it!) which is like third place. There were a couple of things that I was annoyed about, only because it really didn't look like the winner should have won. In the baby blanket and scarf categories, I thought there should have been a different winner. I think my scarf was better than the winner's, but I know my baby blanket wouldn't have won anything! There were a couple of better blankets that didn't win anything, so that was sad. I'm glad I entered, and I will in the future, too!
Posted by: Anastasia | August 11, 2006 at 08:10