Columbia County Fair - Chatham, NY

What a great day we had, the weather finally cooperated, and the humidity was much lower. The fair lived up to all of my hopes, though I did skip the ice cream in favor of a new (to me, at least) junk food treat. Frozen cheesecake on a stick! This was so good, I may make some for my next summer outdoor party. Slice the cheesecake into triangles about 2" at the end, stick popsicle sticks into the end, dip in melted chocolate, and freeze. One of the best parts, especially compared to ice cream on a summer day, is that there are no drips as you eat it.

Other than a couple of breaks for food and to look at quilts and an, I was spinning in the wool booth all day, with Claudia (seen above), Wendy (a new friend and great knitter) and a bunch of the local sheepy ladies. The booth was beautiful, with the competition items and the fleeces displayed really well. And how did my items do? Not bad, out of the 5 things I entered in various classes, I got 2 firsts and a third. One of the firsts was also awarded Best Handmade Article, and for this award I will get one of the donated prizes, which will be a fun surprise to receive. Anyway, I did take some pictures, and here they are.

Birch took a first, and was also the Best Handmade Article winner. Kind of surprising, as you can see some of the other very nice firsts surrounding it.

I know, it's geeky, but I even took a picture of the awards wall, showing the Best Handmade Article announcement. Just bear with me here, okay?



And the socks that won a ribbon at MDSW took a first at this fair, redeeming themselves for losing to acrylic and commercial sock yarns at the Mass S&W. I did get a comment there that they had a "different" type of heel, guess there aren't a lot of short rows in Yankee country. They are hanging between Wendy's amazing knit quilt afghan, and a cute Shy Sheep vest (you see it, Anj?).

(the third place was awarded to the fair isle bag featured a few posts ago on the blog, it was hanging on a doorway, and didn't photograph well)

I couldn't resist taking a picture in the Quilt Booth - really wonderful quilts, amazing workmanship, and nice ladies sewing in the booth. Every possibly style, even a couple of autograph and album quilts, as well as one with appliqued butterflies that the maker's grandmother had pieced during the Depression, rescued from an old cigar box found in the attic.

A fun day, nice people and weather, and ribbons - what more could I ask for?