State Fair Results

The 2010 Iowa State Fair is under way!  The Fair is a huge deal here in Iowa and I'll admit that I've been swept away with the excitement!  I hope to go to the fair next Saturday with Kara (picture taking) but had the delight to go to the fair grounds Tuesday night to find out the results of the photography competition and then again Wednesday night to find out the results of the knitting competition.

I am so excited about the photography competition results!  My "Hello Goat" photo took 3rd place in the Animals, Insects & Wildlife class!

The Animals,m Insects & Wildlife (color) class was the most entered class this year.  506 photographs were submitted to the class, 63 were selected for display and 13 won ribbons.  I did love the two photographs that won 2nd and 1st place so I am very happy with my 3rd place ribbon!

While my "Close Up Clematis" photo did not win a ribbon it was selected for display.

The Plants & Flowers (color) was the 3rd largest entered class this year.  There were 406 photos submitted and only 35 were displayed with only 8 of those winning ribbons.  Even though I didn't get a ribbon I'm thrilled that it was selected for display.  I do like that I put my entry ticket on the wrong corner of the mat so the photo is being displayed upside down....but I don't think you can tell!

As the award ceremony for the photography competition started the superintendent shared with us that this is the biggest photography salon ever at the state fair with 1,574 individual photographers submitting 4,802 photographs.  Of those 4,802 photos only 878 were selected for exhibit and of those exhibited only 190 were awarded ribbons.  I am still very shocked that I had two of my photos selected for display and that one won a ribbon.  I am already looking forward to entering again next year and I plan on walking through the display again next weekend to really soak in the fantastic photography! 

Wednesday night I met a few friends at the fairgrounds for the preview of the Fabric & Threads competition.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that I won two ribbons on two of the six items I entered.  I entered fairly simple things (as I didn't plan ahead this year) and my goal was to simply help build up the knitting displayed at the fair so winning two ribbons was icing on the cake!

My Cobblestone sweater won a 4th place ribbon in the "Pullover Sweater, Coarse Yarn, One Color" class.

My Op Top (the blue & black one) hat won an honorable mention ribbon in the "Cap or Hat, Two Color" class. (That awesomely cute tiger hat is Kara's and it also won honorable mention.  We loved that our hats were right next to each other!).

Many congratulations to all my friends who entered - Stacia, Amanda, Kara, & Lesley - we ALL took home ribbons!  We have some truly awesome plans for entering items next year and are actively recruiting other knitters to join us to really build up the knitting display next year!

Winning in both photography and knitting is a real honor and has really helped to build up my excitement about attending the fair this year.  Of course my need for a veggie corn dog on a stick is helping build excitement!