Going public with your projects

It’s that time of year again. Funnel cakes, giros, space burgers, cows, rodeos, demo cars, kiddy rides and the smells of fair.

There is an area at the fair that many of my readers know about.

Let us imagine together. You walk in and the first thing you notice is the colors. Actually, you may notice the cooler air, then the colors.

Pinks and purples. Browns, blues and blacks. Lets not forget the whites, yellows, greens and every color in between.

All colors in various combinations and patterns. Welcome to the Craft Barn at the county fair.

Someone has to create these lovely pieces of art, but who? Well, you, of course. Each year, just before fair, you are able to enter your projects into categories. They have to be created in that year between fairs.

Many county fairs now have web pages you can visit to see their fair books, exhibitor guides or whatever it is they call them. These guides tell you about the categories you can enter items into the fair.

First off, you have to find the department and section you are going to enter your project(s) into. Second, you find within that department a class your project applies to. Then, it is as simple as filling out the exhibitor’s form for that fair.

These are placed around the Craft Barn and displayed for visitors during the fair.

So maybe you don’t want to enter into the fair. Don’t worry, there are other places you can enter you projects.

Many of the craft magazines and web sites offer contests you can enter. Not to mention if you have a guild in the area. For the “tech savvy” readers, there are also podcasts and blogs that hold contests.

There are many different kinds of yarn craft-related contests. You can design your own pattern. Name someone else’s pattern. You can knit-crochet along with a pattern that is revealed in parts. And many, many more.

I encourage you to have fun in whichever contest or fair you are comfortable with. Part of the excitement of knitting and crocheting is being able to share your work with others.

Since I am encouraging you to enter the local county fairs, I thought I would share the project I intend to enter this fall. I knit an afghan.

The pattern is a second-place contest winner from Mary Maxim. The pattern is called “Twin Trees Afghan” and was designed by Shirley Rhyne.

I chose to knit this pattern using Bernat Satin Solid yarn in the Star Dust colorway. The finished afghan measures 44 inches by 53 inches and is knit with almost 2,500 yards of yarn.

This afghan was a big project for me.

When I first got the pattern, I was wondering what I had got myself into — it was overwhelming.

There were four solid pages of small print detailing each panel to be knit. The two side panels were to be repeated on the other side of the blanket, two sets of the smaller twin trees and then the two larger trees in the center.

The intricate design of the twin trees and the side panels made for quite an interesting project. I enjoyed working on the afghan as much as I enjoyed watching the pattern unfold.

While I have dreams of winning a ribbon, my fondest hope is to garner feedback that will help me become a better knitter.

You can contact me by e-mail at wovenpixel@yahoo.com or visit my blog at wovenpixel.blogspot.com. I enjoy discussing my yarn habit, sharing local and Internet resources and meeting fellow yarnsters.