Too much

K,

In order to prolong the excitement, I am not going to show you everything all at once. Because...it would overload you. Let's just say I haven't quit dying or knitting. But we'll get there bit by bit, okay? Let's start from, if not the beginning, then, at least, another very good place to start. The Iowa State Fair!

I won 5 ribbons! For 5 projects! That's really exciting for me. I don't have all the pictures, but I'll share a few. Okay? Okay. Here's my teasers. So Kris and I went to the fair, and where did we travel first? To visit my knitting!


In the background there do you see a sock with pink stuff on it? That's my stockings! They got an honorable mention, because apparently they were different sizes. Perhaps they were. I know I knit them the exact same rows, stitches, everything, (I was very careful) but perhaps tension varied. Gauge is such a delicate issue. I got another honorable mention, though perfect score, on my scarf (and they commented that yes, the yarn was extremely soft). My handspun, handknit gloves got 4th place, a pink ribbon. They liked the color. Me too. Actually, it's not my favorite, but I did dye it, so I'm still proud. Not bad for first handspun. I got third place on my baby selbu mittens, which I was very proud of. Perfect scores, and the two other mittens were very impressive. First place was a lovely pair of Latvian mittens. But what about the last entry, you ask? Can you find it?


There is a very cute male blushing next to his birthday blue ribbon green gloves. What's that you said? Who got third in your category? Only the winner of the best of show last year. Oh yeah! Not that it's a competition, well, it kind of is, but I was really happy to pull a blue ribbon out. I certainly didn't expect it.


Then, of course, we visited the sheep. There was a knit in at the fair, and the wool show. But I got scared of talking to all these spinners who seemed so good and better than me, I ran away. But not before I felt the prizewinning fleeces. There were definitely some beautiful ones. Afterward I went to feel them, and there was so much lanolin on my hands, I had to go wash them straight away. Very sheepy sheep. We visited this lovely llama and other happy sheep, which I don't have pictures for right now. But you'll see. I tried to pet the Blue Faced Leicester, but she kept running away from me when I snuck close. This llama was taking a nap when we came, but stuck his head up just in time for the picture. Notice the sleepy llama eyes.


We probably spent half the day just checking out the sheep and me gazing at my blue ribbon knitting. There was also some obnoxiousness about a lemon shake up (Never, ever buy. Unless you are a fly.) Kris and I wanted lemonade, so we went and bought a 32 oz. lemonade (it said lemonade) for 5 bucks. Because it's the fair, and that's what you pay for lemonade. I watched them make it. They grabbed a cup, threw some sugar in it, threw in half a lemon, and filled it with water. Then they shook it up. Then they handed it to me. I tasted it. I had been hoping that the powder they put in was a lemonade mix. It was not. It was, literally, sugar water. 5 dollars worth of water with sugar and a half lemon in it. I took it back to the stand. I told them, this is not lemonade, this is sugar water, and I cannot drink this. A woman shucking corn in the background looked at me after a young lad had conveyed this to her. She shouted that no one had ever complained before. Perhaps others like sugar water. I don't, particularly, and told her I'd paid for lemonade, not whatever this was. She refused to give me my money back, and said I could have other things instead. The stand only sold sugar water and grilled corn on the cob. I left the sugar water on the counter and said no, but that I wouldn't accept it, and I walked away, angry. As we passed the next stand, there was another man complaining that what they'd given him was sugar water. Apparently lemon shake ups were big at the Iowa State Fair this year. Not with Amy, however. Therefore, we trecked over to the local church-run tent by the sheep barn. I always figure church people won't cheat you because they want to be on your good side. I was right. 32 oz. of lemonade, real lemonade for 3 dollah. They made me very happy. We came back for another an hour later.

I have more to tell you, but I have to go learn how to dissect a heart. And a mediastinum. Our guy had heart bypass, so it'll be interesting to see what they did, and what the heart looks like. Hope your classes are as exhausting as mine.

Love,
A