State Fair Results

Last month sometime I dropped off five projects at the state fair as part of the Entry Competition. Judging was to be completed by the time the fair opens. 

So I dropped off my items. 

4/5 entries on drop-off day!

And I waited for the fair to open. I was supposed to go with family, but in a spur of the moment decision, I ended up going on Opening Day and saved $9 on admission. 

So I went! And after much searching, I found all my entries. Here is the quick round-up:

• Singh the Lion (Crochet: Toy, Open Age) = 3rd place
• Milton the Snail (Stuffed Animal: Less than 15") = 3rd place
• Cocoa the Monkey (Stuffed Animal: Greater than 15") = 3rd place
• Scrappy, the Scrap Animal (Crochet: Scrap) = 4th place
• Granny Square Bag (Crochet: Bag) = 4th place

 For this being my first year entering projects, getting a ribbon is a great accomplishment! However, I have a few qualms about the experience. First, I doubt I will enter pieces that are important to me ever again. Singh and Milton were especially important to me, and the hosts are lucky I didn't break through the displays to get them back.

All of my amigurumi entries look like they had been manhandled; they were disfigured and horribly displayed.

Singh the Lion

Singh was squished into the case. If I were to look at it eye-level, all I could see was the body. The picture was taken with me practically kneeling in order to get his face into the picture. 

Scrappy looked fine!

Cocoa's ears and mouth made me really sad-- they didn't make him look properly displayed at all!

And poor Milton's shell looked like the unicorn next to him sat on it. 

Basically, I wish I could have set up the display myself. 

My biggest issue with the experience was that I have no idea what won 1st or 2nd in a majority of the categories. I'm fine with 3rd place-- really, I am! But I wanted to see the awesome work that won 1st and 2nd!

Couldn't find them. 

None of the displays were organized by category. They were scattered around everywhere in the huge place. I read the tags for every toy, every stuffed animal, everything that would qualify as the categories... and found nothing! 

I did find 1st place in the Scrap category, though! It was a beautifully done blanket. 

Will I make items for next year? Yeah, most likely. Will I make stuffed animals? Nope, probably not. 

Have you entered any items into a fair? What was your experience like? I want to hear!