My County fair entry, Stash Buster pillow, Gellatly hat and other plans.

So, I actually won something at the Cleveland County Free Fair this year LOL

There are two categories at this fair for knitted stuff.  Coats, Sweaters, Capes and Other Clothing Knitted Articles.  My hat was in the latter category.  So that means I compete against everything else that you wear that isn't a coat, sweater or cape (and who knits capes? is that a thing?).  So last year, I competed against some socks who won first and second and probably third.  This year the sock knitters decided to stay home I guess because I didn't see any entered and I actually won second in my category!  That was pretty cool and I totes bragged about it on all my social media and even posted a picture at work lol.

This is the crochet/knitted hybrid that beat me.  Seems a little fishy that something that is mixed styles should be allowed in the knitted category but oh well.  The ladies taking the entries are volunteer and trust you to enter in the correct category and there may not be a category for crochet/ yarn articles.

This shawlet thing won third.

And this entry into the Coats, Sweaters, Capes category took best of show.  I definitely need to enter a cardigan next year and get that green ribbon!

Well, after that unexpected win and boost to my ego I completed the knitted top of my Stash Buster Pillow.  I didn't follow the pattern exactly because when I read it, it looked like it wanted me to knit when I wanted to purl and end up with a stockinette stitch for the blocks instead of garter stitch.  I was not having that so I made it to match the Ballband Dishcloth Pattern so that's what I did.  I did not want to weave in all those ends so because it will all get sewn onto the pillow back, I just tied them off and cut the strings.  I think that will be ok for this project and suit my laziness better.  I used I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby and I have so much left over!  It was fairly cheap at like 3 something a ball but now I have so much!  I might end up making another one if this one looks good sewn up lol.

I finished a Gellatly Hat and I really like it!  The yarn is super soft, Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Superwash in some gold/beeswax color that I can't remember right now.  This was the first pattern that I bought online from Ravelry and for some reason it seemed like a big deal to me even tho it was super easy.  It cost about 6 bucks and I think it was totally worth it.  I had to stop myself from going on a pattern buying binge.  I really wanna make the Beeswax Hat and also the Knox hat.  I have the perfect yarn for both!! Ugh, I really need to work on some stuff that doesn't require me to shell out 6 dollars for patterns but who know I might change my mind ;)

I bought some monster heads at Wal-Mart.  They were with the Halloween stuff and work really well as hat models LOL

I took them to work to decorate my cube :)

I finally started the Newborn Vertebrae.  I'm pretty excited about it because I really wanna make a cardigan for me so hopefully I can get down the basics with this one and then be ready to save up some big bucks for several skeins of the fanciest, softest yarn that I can afford for my cardigan :)

Actually wearing the dresses I sewed, Owl Beanie FO's and future de-stashing efforts

This pic is terrible LOL. But I was super excited to actually wear a dress that I made to work which was my initial intention so it was nice that a plan worked out :)

I have worn the three dresses I made from this pattern often and I plan to make another soon to use up some of my stash.

So, I forgot to take a pic of the finished hat before I gave it away but here are the little owls. I actually had to rip it out because I forgot to use the larger needle after knitting the ribbed brim :(. But it worked out and I finally finished it and passed it on. 

In the spirit of de-stashing I decided to use the Knit Picks Hawthorne fingering weight in Turkish Delight to make a Newborn Vertebrae Cardigan. I really want to make a cardi for myself and I figure this will be a good start in learning the process and also using up my stash.  I think I can use the Rainbow Felici for this pattern as well.

In order to make the Newborn Vertebrae I needed some smaller needles so I placed a Knit Picks order and also added some white and grey cheap fingering to the order. I want to make some accessories for my cube at work so it was absolutely necessary LOL. I also wanted the grey fingering for cuffs on another vertebrae cardi made with the rainbow Felici. That's my plan anyway. 

Well, I actually won something at the local county fair this year.  There were no socks entered this year so I think that gave my owl hat a better chance at wining a ribbon :)