a visual feast ~ a post by Melissa

Advent Calendar Stole

Cranberry Capelet

What a day yesterday was.  I wish I could take pictures while I drive but I'm just not that crazy.  It started with a trip to the Evergreen State Fairgrounds to drop off my entries for this year's fair:


Rock Island Shawl

Bridgewater Shawl

I got a really early start and headed to Monroe in a thick blanket of low lying summer fog and on the way home, the upper layer had burned off and I could see brilliant blue sky ahead of me with a snow-capped Mt Baker in the distance and 2 extraordinarily colorful hot air balloons hanging above the sea of gray fog below.


It's so strange to be at the fairgrounds when there's not the buzz of vendors and presenters arriving and setting up, or an event in full swing.  It was a silence that was only broken by the occasional snorting of unseen animals that I soon learned were bulls from the grizzled gentlemanly cowboy who I stopped to ask for directions (' sorry ma'am, I'm only here guarding the bulls ') ... love it!

I met my husband for breakfast and on the way there had a rare glimpse of a crystal clear Mt Rainier far, far off in the distance.  It's always there but rarely visible at all in the haze, so on the days you do come around the bend and see it, it's enormity is always breathtaking.

We got home in time to watch pairs of F/A-18 Hornet Jets (at least that's what we think they were) do fly overs right over our neighborhood as they left Paine Field and headed west.  LOUD LOUD LOUD and so incredibly cool.

Then it was off to the Skagit Fair to meet Kelli (I demonstrated knitting til the fair closed and Kelli demonstrated 'two-handed crochet' ~ ha! ~ I'll let Kelli tell you about that!).  It's such a small fair but there were some very creative and beautiful things on display:

Kelli's Bridgewater



the KnitWit shawl shelf ~ so cool!

delicate Hardanger embroidery:

and this artistic quilted wall hanging (I covet this piece and also the skills!):

The best part of the day was sitting for 3 hours, knitting and visiting with my favorite partner in crime who I haven't seen nearly enough this year.  It was a great way to end a busy day ~ thanks, Kelli for joining me in some fun memories.  It wouldn't be the same without you there!  Too soon it was time to pack up and go, so I loaded up my entries and headed for home:

2012 Skagit County Fair results

I saw a shooting star on my ride home and remembered that it was the night of the Perseid Meteor Shower.  It's almost always too overcast in this area to see any of these nighttime events but last night was crystal clear, so when I got home we turned out all the outdoor lights and looked up to the heavens and were treated to a spectacular light show. 

What a day, what a day.  I don't think there's one thing that could have made it any better!  ~ Melissa

Some "Fair-ly" exciting news~ a post by Kelli

Oh another exciting time to be at the Skagit Fair, in Mount Vernon Washington. I'm happy to say I'm a 2nd place winner, (that would mean a silver metal) and I got no problems with that. I talked to the overseer of the stitching items, and she told me it was the hardest judge she's ever seen.... tookout her magnifying glass and all. More exhibitors got a 'particpation' ribbon then ever before. That means I got great feedback on my shawl and I'm glad to have it and glad to have my red ribbon. I'll let Melissa post her findings on her beauties. Oh and yeah the KAL, I do need to step it up and post some progress...but it might be all finished ~gulp~, but not blocked yet. With those 'world-wide games' that are going on and knitting the Prairie that is so quick and easy I don't get to the ole internet like I usually do. I hope everybody is enjoying our KAL! I do want to know others progress. Kelli~

lost in a sea of green ~ a post by Melissa

progress on my Prairie ~ you can't see detail but it's the best capture of the clover green so far:

Kelli and I dropped our entries at the Skagit County Fair today ~ I entered this grassy green Watershed Vest and this thyme green  Miralda's Triangular Shawl :

I also entered this verdant green   Ophidian Shawl :

and hold on to your hats....this not green (shocker ~ it's boring brown!) Cold Mountain shawl:

Saturday we're entering the Evergreen State Fair and I'm glad to say that I'll be entering something rose, something mushroom, something gold and something multicolored (with just the slightest hints of green).  See, I'm not completely in a rut!! 

Is anyone entering a fair this summer?  Have you in the past?  Did you love it? How did you do?  We'd love to hear your stories!

Meanwhile, knit on Prairie-pals!   ~ Melissa

The Fair(isle)est of them all....

I'm obsessed (again...) ~ between my new found love of stranded knitting, my 'finish-itis', the icy temps this weekend and hours and hours of me time, I have some new completed projects to share.

First, my crowning (ha!) achievement, Mary Scott Huff's 'Queen of Hearts' Selbuvotter mittens (details of my project including yarn and needle size can be found here on my Ravelry page.

I also started and completed a Christmas gift this weekend ~ I won't share who the recipient is since I don't want to spoil the surprise.  'Fingerless Gloves Musica' is a free pattern that can be found on Ravelry (and my project details can also be found here).

And, I'm just finishing up my Kate Davies 'Peerie Flooers' stranded hat.  I just have a few more rows of crown decreases and a few (or more) hours of weaving in all the loose ends and it will be done.  I'm so excited to share this hat ~ it's one of my favorite knits ever!  Hopefully, by this weekend I'll have some finished photos to post.  I can't wait to show you!

Have a great week, all!   ~ Melissa

Sisterly Shenanigans

Kelli and I had such a fun day yesterday!  I want to start off by saying that this:

was most definitely NOT MACHINE MADE and that every stitch was painstakingly and lovingly done by Miss Kelli, contrary to what anyone else may think, and she was very deserving of the ribbons she received at the Skagit County Fair this year.  So there.

Back to the beginning of the day yesterday......

We entered a few things in this years Evergreen State Fair and boy, do they know how to do things right!  Very organized, welcoming, friendly and encouraging, and we're both really excited to see how we did and to participate in this years Knit-In during the fair.

Then it was off to Kirkland for a shopping spree at Serial Knitter's.  That is a great shop!  We both highly recommend it and if you love Madelinetosh like we do, it's the place to go!  Here's what I came home with:

Tosh Sport in Tern for a sweater

Tosh Merino DK in Wild Mushroom for a capelet

 We met up again later in the evening at the Skagit County Fair to sit, knit and visit:

and to pick up our entries when the fair closed last night.  We both did really well but hope for many more participants next year, and I think we're going to try and get involved and see what we can do to increase entries in the future.  It's a shame that with knitting and fiber arts in general seeing such a boom in interest, that every year there seems to be less and less interest in getting your work out there and trying to encourage more people to try your craft.  We're going to have to work on that!  I'll leave you with some better photos of my entries and how I did.  It was a blast and we really encourage anyone with the slightest interest to check into the fair next year!  It's a super easy process and requires very little time or energy and it is FUN!!!  We would love to walk anyone through the signups next year if they need help.....you know where to find us!    ~ Melissa

DAT DA DA DAAA!

This years 'fair-time' fun has been another 'done good' year...
Come check out the 2011 Skagit County Fair, if you got that kinda gas money... I live close, so it works for me.
Yes let's not forget you get a ribbon just for participating, thank you, that's my 'fish tale' scarf,thank you, thank you, thank you...um ouch, that hurt a little. But they did hang it wrong! Hello! Let's move right along to Melissa's beauty...Rock Island... it rocked(sorry), with a "Blue ribbon" and "Best of Class" lovely job! And yes I did recieve a "Blue ribbon" and a "Best in Class" also for my Skagit Valley vest...ooh ahh, I love that vest.

But the "Best Of Show","Best of Class", and a "Blue ribbon".... the best of them all!!!~goes to~ drum roll please...

congradulations Melissa for another fabulous scarf!!! It is beautiful!

(Sorry about the crummy picture it was hard to get a good shot.)

Hers were locked up in a glass case. Mine of coarse was sitting right out there for someone to take.

We have a fun time knitting, ribbons or not, it's just icing on our "cakes of knits."

...therapy...

Lousy week at work but I came home to this:

and then spent an hour doing this:

and suddenly I feel much better!

Getting ready to enter a few things in the Skagit County Fair on Sunday ~ hope to see you there!

Have a great weekend!  ~ Melissa (& Dozer)

Misty Monday

I spoke too soon yesterday ~ 2 days of sunny 70 degree weather does not a summer make!  Today is rainy and gray (again) and I actually see a few chimneys wafting wood fire smoke in the middle of a late July afternoon.  Uncle!!!

But it did make for a good day to stay inside and try my first solo canning adventure:

Getting ready.....

Done!  Sweet Cherry Jam

I only made a single batch since I wasn't sure how carried away I wanted to get without any help, so the rest of the Bings went into the dehydrator and I'll vacuum seal those in small bags to use in baking over the winter.  It's a great feeling to be stocking up for the cold months when all the foods we love are limited, expensive and definitely not from around here!

I need to find a new way of testing them to see if they're done ~ the taste test thing is a bad idea.... We may not have any dried cherries by the end of the day, let alone this winter!

I also finally sat down and figured out my fair entries and got myself registered for the Skagit County:

and also for my first go at the Evergreen State later in the month:

I'm a bit concerned they won't take my entries at the state level since the registration was a little more involved than at the county level and I'm not certain my knits ended up in the correct categories.  We shall see....  Now I need to get everything reblocked and packaged up for delivery in the next couple weeks.  What a fun way to wind up the summer and I'm glad that Kelli will be joining me again this year (although she beat me to registration this year so I guess I'm joining her!).

Busy days ahead ~ there's more canning I'd like to try my hand at while local produce is in season and it sounds like there is a huge weekend project showing up this evening that I need to get ready for!  Rumor has it there are 4 silver salmon and 1 king salmon freshly plucked from the waters of Canada that I will be smoking and they need to be filleted, cut in pieces and brined by Saturday morning.  Or is it 8 silvers and 2 kings ~ I guess I'll find out when the fish changes hands tonight!  JR, you rock!!  I can't wait to have fish in the house again!  ~ Melissa

Opportunity's been knocking.....

and it would be downright rude not to let him in, right? A fun event coming up in a couple months for us knitwits but we still have some details to iron out ~ more to come later ;)
so, until we can say more, here's another photo from the fair ~

The beauty my eye beholds.....

A Day at the Fair

From humble pi beginnings.......




to a glorious finish.......



Hands down the toughest thing I've made ~ I struggled with the cast on, dropped stitches, missed loops on the nupps, split yarn and an entire dp needle fell out of my work (!) but I was able to fix every error (a feat in itself!). Painstaking knit but a huge learning experience in my lace journey ~ and obviously well worth all the work! We found out who the judges were after we entered our knits and I have to say, they know their knitting! One of the judges used to own the yarn shop that Kelli works at now and we actually took our first class from her 3 1/2 years ago. The other is part of Thursday knit group and teaches classes and is a great person to go to for help ~ she knows everything! I heard yesterday when I picked up my entries that they couldn't find one mistake in my Snow Queen ~ that's as big a pat on the back as the 1st place blue ribbon and 2 rosettes I received ~ one for Best of Class and the other for Best of Show.

What a blast! The bar has been raised ~ we're already trying to figure out what to make for next year.....it's quite an incentive to learn more and strive for perfection.

And I should mention that the pattern was amazing, as well as just about everything this designer invents ~ you can find her creations on Ravelry and they're also available on her blog @ badcatdesigns.blogspot.com