Thursday, August 13, 2009

State Fair entries

With some wonderful cooperation from people at work – a boss who didn’t object to my knitting when there were no customers, and the customers who seemed to be taking a week off from relentless vacationing - I got my fair stuff finished in time to go to bed tonight... eventually.

Last weekend I was tatting almost non-stop (except for an afternoon spent spinning with our spinning group) and finished my tatted gloves – this is an original design. The tatted doily, 15” from point to point, is a pattern Doretha Albee published in 1995, in her newsletter “Knots and “Notes.”


The fair donates baby quilts to good causes, and this year’s sounded like an especially good one – “Friends of Karen” provides quilts and comfort for critically-ill children and their siblings, and I had a small brainstorm that felt original to me. I sewed flat tubes of cotton fabric and interwove them, then tied them together so they didn’t wiggle too much and added a border. I thought this might make a lightweight blankie for a feverish child or simply be a comfort in warm weather. It took more time than I expected, but came out well.


Have to admit I’ve been carrying my knitting with me everywhere in this past week, and finally finished the sweater yesterday. This is mohair I spun, dyed and knitted, the sweater pattern is as “original” as a top-down raglan could be, and I think it will be a good and useful thing to wear when the weather gets cold, with sleeves that won’t drag into other things I do, including cooking and needlework. I found the buttons - which won't show up unless you click on the image to enlarge it - at a JoAnn Fabric store that was shutting down, and really like the way they complement the sweater.


Lastly, the butterfly bear, which is also a sort of catalog of the various fiber things I do. This is also an original design, sportweight wool (from a sheep I knew) crocheted and felted, stuffed with wool, too. Then its clothing was knitted, the butterfly net crocheted and stiffened, and a small straw hat decorated with tatting. Can you see a tatted butterfly sewn onto its sweater, and another attached to the net?

Tomorrow I meet Ginny early in the morning outside the Amish market and we’ll be going up to deliver our things together. Ginny is putting in some amazing tatting she’s worked on for years… maybe she’ll get Best of Show and leave me a ribbon or two?

5 comments:

Sherry aka Celtic Dream Weaver said...

Hi Karey,
All of your things are just beautiful. What I wouldn't give to have lace weight yarn dyed in the same colorway you did for the sweater you made from your dyed yarn that you spun. Very pretty! If you have any lace weight yarn maybe you could dye me up some to make a shawl out of before Palmetto event gets here. Just kidding. I just wanted to say how really nice everything looks. Good luck in winning some ribbons.

Unknown said...

Your tatted pineapple doily and gloves are lovely! Good luck in the fair. I'm sure you'll do very well. :)

victats@gmail.com said...

Deciding between your work and Ginny's is going to be fiercly difficult for the judges. I think their Heads will explode! The gloves look great and so does the doily. Good luck.

Tanya said...

Karey,
What lovely tatted gloves and pineapple doily. Great work! I love the sweater, good color choice.The quilt will be much appreciated I am sure by the critically ill children and their families. Best of luck in the fair!!

connie said...

Those gloves are crazy beautiful, congratulations they are so deserving of a blue ribbon.
Connie
(bringing those for show and tell at palmetto?)