San Diego County Fair Ribbons

I picked up my entries from the San Diego County Fair today, so I thought I'd gather them all together for a group shot with their ribbons.

On the left is the red cabled hat with brim (1st place).
The hat on the right is the one made from plastic bags made into PLARN (PLastic yARN) which came in 2nd place in the Recycled Wearable Art contest.

The two ribbons in the middle are for the afghan in the background (3rd place) and the crochet speed contest I entered (2nd place). I'm very pleased with my first attempt at entries in the Fair. The afghan and both hats are my own design, which made the wins even sweeter.

Recycled Plastic Bag Hat

I finally got around to taking a picture of my prize-winning hat.

I added a crocheted sweat-band of cotton thread for wearability.

This is the second-place finisher in the "Hat" category of "Recycled Wearable Art" at the San Diego County Fair, mentioned in an earlier post. Needless to say, I'm very proud of my first entries in the Fair.

Another Day at the Fair, another ribbon

We went to the San Diego County Fair again today. This time it was for another of the Fair's "One Day Contests". It's pretty cool - if you bring the entry form (and your entry, of course) you can get into the Fair for free! Today (July 1st) the contest was "Recycled Wearable Art". When I saw "recycled", I immediately thought of my tote made from recycled plastic grocery bags. Since the contest was for "wearable", I decided to crochet a hat out of the PLARN (PLastic yARN! A plastic hat didn't sound great, so I also decided to make a sweat band out of cotton thread. The contest rules specified that 80% of the article must be made from recycled material, so making only the sweat band from new material seemed acceptable.

OK - I'm rambling...we got there, I entered, and won 2nd place!

First place in the same category (Hat) was more of a head decoration than a hat, but I don't want to sound like a sore looser. I'm very excited about my 2nd place ribbon. I don't have a picture of it yet, but I probably will get one up tomorrow! Come back and see!

Slouchy Cotton Beret/Tam

This hat has been a WIP for months. I just finished it yesterday and posted it to Etsy. My first attempt at a slouchy beret. It turned out pretty well, at least I think it did. Here's a picture:

Tapestry Kitty Bag

I just finished this Tapestry Crochet Kitty Bag for my granddaughter.

I modified the pattern slightly:

• I opted for a shoulder strap with a stripe instead of the wrist strap specified
• used Caron Simply Soft in Black and White
• Added a white weave at the top of the bag

It was fun to make because I kept thinking about the hug I'll get...

Bragging...

I am so excited! My entries in the San Diego County Fair both won ribbons!

A round ripple afghan of my own design won 3rd place in the afghans category for entrants 62 or older. A hat won 1st place in the miscellaneous crochet for entrants 62 or older. There was no category for "hats". These were my first ever entries in any competition, so I'm obviously very proud.

On top of that, we went to the fair yesterday to see if they had won anything, and I entered a speed contest - speed is not my strong point. I won second place! Think I would have won first, had I not been so nervous and made a couple of errors, which counted against me.

Lacy Crochet Earrings

I created these crocheted hoop earrings with a small amount on #10 crochet thread and a #7 steel crochet hook over a pair of hoops. Versions shown are crocheted over 2¼ and 2½ inch hoops.

Instructions:

Materials used:
small amount of #10 crochet cotton
#7 steel crochet hook
Hoop Earrings - those pictured are 2¼ inches and 2½ inches across

Instructions:
Rnd 1: Make a loop around the hoop and sc around to cover the hoop. Crocheting over the loose end for several stitches will eliminate sewing it in later. You can cover the hoop completely, or to your taste.

Rnd 2:. Turn, (do not ch 1) sk first ch, * sc in next ch, sk two ch, sc in next ch, repeat from *. You should do these sc's a little loose to reach the next st.

Rnd 3: Turn, sk first st, * sc in next st, sk 1 st, repeat from * around.

Rnd 4: Turn, sk first st, * sl st in next st, sk next st, repeat around.
At this point, you can fasten off and sew in the loose end, or add another round. The white hoops above were done with 3 rounds and the black hoops were done with 4 rounds. The more rounds you add, the lacier the look becomes.

Enjoy!