Canberra Show & A Party

Today I had the chance to speak to the Hand Knitting steward at the Royal Canberra Show. It was most helpful and insightful and, most importantly, it revealed why my Myrtle Leaf Shawl went without a ribbon.

I won’t be able to speak about it properly until I’ve collected it from the Crafts Expo stall tomorrow, but it seems I left a few threads hanging out. Honestly I’m a bit surprised to learn this. I know there was one I had to trim before I submitted it, but that there were others, considering I finished it four months ago and have worn it several times since, I’m honestly surprised. She said that they wondered, they being the judges, if I had forgotten to sew some in (unlikely) or if a couple had popped out after blocking. That’s more likely but not by much. I spent two hours on the floor last week pinning it out and stretching it quite aggressively and didn’t see one. Admittedly, if there had been forgotten threads they were on the reverse side and I was looking at the right side during the blocking process, but still…..

I’m going to have to take her word for it. And I do, because she was extremely complimentary about my shawl. The Steward spoke of how beautiful she thought it was and  how, without that flaw, it would have won. She also encouraged me to fix the flaw and re-enter next year. I will.

We also discussed the category. I entered Myrtle in the Knitted Lace Garment category which to me seemed appropriate given a shawl is a garment and therefore worn. The Steward said it could also have gone in the Article of Knitted Lace category and might have done well there (without said flaw, obviously) but that the lines were a bit blurred. Hmmmm.

She said also that next year there will be a change to some of the categories and that there will be a more reasonable incentive in the prizes. She admitted that a $10 voucher at a local wool shop was not really much of an incentive.

So we shall see!

Here’s how she was displayed in the cabinet alongside other pieces.

You can see her there just towards the foreground, black lace around a headless dummy.

So all in all, not as disappointing an experience as I thought yesterday. And yes, I’ll have a go at entering her in a one or two other local shows over the next month or so.

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The other big event this weekend was Miss Alice’s first birthday. What a lovely, fun way to spend an afternoon, down by the lake, with lots of people, big and small, who want to celebrate a year of knowing someone wonderful. Here’s the party girl in a few key shots, including with her very own cupcake. Note also the incredible cake her mum’s friend made for her. A Mad Hatter’s cake. For Alice. Get it? I didn’t at first because I am thick.

And I gave Elijah to Alice. I think she liked him. Here’s a great photo of cousins, Alice and Willem, who we’ve not seen here for a while, obviously discussing the best way to handle a toy elephant. Note the red scarf I made for him. We all agreed it made him look a little less naked!

Alice’s birthday is actually on Tuesday and I’ll be doing a photo shoot for the Helena cardigan and Elijah then. Stay tuned.

Bells