Blue Ribbon Day
Julie and I just came home from the Minnesota State Fair. Well, actually, I put her down for a nap and scrubbed out the nasty Deep Freeze, and then sat down to write.
I didn't feel like I had knit very many nice things this year, and had to sort of scrounge around to find things that hadn't already been worn, given as gifts, or loaned to yarn shops for display. Still, even not expecting to get any ribbons, it's always so exciting to go and seek out all my items hanging in the massive knitting displays in the Creative Activities Building. It's even more exciting when there are ribbons hanging on them.
The first things I noticed were the Lacy Stripe Socks, which were in the big-prize-winner display. They won a fourth place ribbon, and I thought "Whew. At least I got a ribbon for something." Then I noticed that they had a giant green ribbon attached to them as well. They won the prize for best original sock design. Wow! This is my second time winning that prize. I looked around some more and spotted my child-sized Box the Compass Sweater (you have to scroll down the page to see the one that's in the fair). It had a red ribbon on it. Wow! Even better.
Here we pause in the story to note that at this point in the telling, Julie awoke from her nap and I am just getting back to writing this blog entry more than 24 hours later.
So, I continue looking around a bit, while trying to keep Julie from having a meltdown in the stroller. What else had I entered? Oh, the green hat! Where was it? Up and down the display a couple more times, then I glanced over to where the socks were again. Oh! The hat was sitting on a mannequin head about two feet from the socks. And it had a BLUE ribbon hanging from it. I was floored. I said "Julie, look! Mommy won a blue ribbon!" That attracted some attention from a couple nice old ladies who were looking at the display, and they had me show them my other items as well.
Julie was getting restless and whiny - and who can blame her when she needed a nurse and a nap and was instead strapped into a stroller. So we quickly headed back to the area where all the baby items are displayed. I wanted to check on my last two items. Sorry, folks, I didn't get around to taking pictures of these items before they went to the fair. I'll put some up later. I spotted the little fair isle hat first. No ribbon. Well, I could handle that after all the other winnings. We strolled around to the other side of the display and OHMYGOSH! The little striped sweater that I had just finished knitting and almost didn't enter was hanging prominently at the end - with another blue ribbon attached. Yowza. I almost cried. I was especially surprised as this sweater was very plainly knit, the yarn is self-striping and does all the work. This particular category has stiff competition, too. Go figure.
Julie had had enough. I looked around and tried to find a good place to nurse her discreetly. I have no problems with nursing in public, and Minnesota State Law specifically states that it's okay, even if you flash some nipple. Still, a quiet spot is best for her so she's not constantly distracted, and I don't particularly like to go out of my way to make people uncomfortable. The best I could find was the empty bench in front of a demonstration booth. 10 minutes, some very distracted nursing and only one or two "looks" from strangers, and she wasn't exactly ready to get back in the stroller, but at least put up with it. We found an outdoor diaper-deck that was gross but serviceable, and then she was comfortable enough to let me push her around the fair grounds a little longer.
We paid a visit to the barn where animals give birth and you can see the baby cows and sheep. I think she was excited when she saw the sheep and cows. She even said "baa" when she saw the lambs. How cool is that?
On our way out, we stopped and got a corn dog and a roasted ear of corn. I could have spent the whole day at the fair, but Julie was ready to come home. So we did.
I didn't feel like I had knit very many nice things this year, and had to sort of scrounge around to find things that hadn't already been worn, given as gifts, or loaned to yarn shops for display. Still, even not expecting to get any ribbons, it's always so exciting to go and seek out all my items hanging in the massive knitting displays in the Creative Activities Building. It's even more exciting when there are ribbons hanging on them.
The first things I noticed were the Lacy Stripe Socks, which were in the big-prize-winner display. They won a fourth place ribbon, and I thought "Whew. At least I got a ribbon for something." Then I noticed that they had a giant green ribbon attached to them as well. They won the prize for best original sock design. Wow! This is my second time winning that prize. I looked around some more and spotted my child-sized Box the Compass Sweater (you have to scroll down the page to see the one that's in the fair). It had a red ribbon on it. Wow! Even better.
Here we pause in the story to note that at this point in the telling, Julie awoke from her nap and I am just getting back to writing this blog entry more than 24 hours later.
So, I continue looking around a bit, while trying to keep Julie from having a meltdown in the stroller. What else had I entered? Oh, the green hat! Where was it? Up and down the display a couple more times, then I glanced over to where the socks were again. Oh! The hat was sitting on a mannequin head about two feet from the socks. And it had a BLUE ribbon hanging from it. I was floored. I said "Julie, look! Mommy won a blue ribbon!" That attracted some attention from a couple nice old ladies who were looking at the display, and they had me show them my other items as well.
Julie was getting restless and whiny - and who can blame her when she needed a nurse and a nap and was instead strapped into a stroller. So we quickly headed back to the area where all the baby items are displayed. I wanted to check on my last two items. Sorry, folks, I didn't get around to taking pictures of these items before they went to the fair. I'll put some up later. I spotted the little fair isle hat first. No ribbon. Well, I could handle that after all the other winnings. We strolled around to the other side of the display and OHMYGOSH! The little striped sweater that I had just finished knitting and almost didn't enter was hanging prominently at the end - with another blue ribbon attached. Yowza. I almost cried. I was especially surprised as this sweater was very plainly knit, the yarn is self-striping and does all the work. This particular category has stiff competition, too. Go figure.
Julie had had enough. I looked around and tried to find a good place to nurse her discreetly. I have no problems with nursing in public, and Minnesota State Law specifically states that it's okay, even if you flash some nipple. Still, a quiet spot is best for her so she's not constantly distracted, and I don't particularly like to go out of my way to make people uncomfortable. The best I could find was the empty bench in front of a demonstration booth. 10 minutes, some very distracted nursing and only one or two "looks" from strangers, and she wasn't exactly ready to get back in the stroller, but at least put up with it. We found an outdoor diaper-deck that was gross but serviceable, and then she was comfortable enough to let me push her around the fair grounds a little longer.
We paid a visit to the barn where animals give birth and you can see the baby cows and sheep. I think she was excited when she saw the sheep and cows. She even said "baa" when she saw the lambs. How cool is that?
On our way out, we stopped and got a corn dog and a roasted ear of corn. I could have spent the whole day at the fair, but Julie was ready to come home. So we did.
posted by Shelly Kang at 8:06 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home