Getting Ready For the State Fair

This is the mess on my table after trying to get things finished for the Kansas State Fair. No actual tatting done, but at least I got a cup of tea in (Country Peach Passion - yum!)

I've been busy with getting things made and put together for several weeks now. I haven't been on the Internet much, I've been too busy tatting. And planning. There is only one class for tatting at the state fair but I wanted to get a few more items of tatting there if I could. Looking through the options I found they have a category for Christmas decorations and one for holiday decoration, one per holiday. So that makes three categories I thought I could enter.

I entered my antique motif doily (of course!). This is at a higher level than the county fair but I think it has a chance to do well. Then I had an idea for a Christmas decoration using those snowflakes I've been working on. I just couldn't get my plan to work out but entered them anyway. They still look nice but nothing spectacular. And I forgot to take a picture of it before I dropped it off.

I chose a Halloween decoration for the other entry. I had this idea of a spider on a web using one of Jane Eborall's patterns. But I just couldn't get those floating chains! *head hangs in shame* I worked on it for half a day, but running out of time I had to do something else. I did come up with a spider, making the legs out of split rings similar to the way Jane made the legs on her stork. The body has a few issues but still looks pretty good. I added a black bead for the body and glass beads for head and eyes. I had planned a black spider but felt it would not be seen well on the black background I had in mind, so it's made of gold Cebelia size 30, color 437. This actually worked better than the size 20 black that was planned, because being a smaller thread the legs worked better. The web is made of size 70 Lizbeth color 602 natural (not-quite white) and a strand of metallic coats thread, a Nylon and Polyester blend. I started once, then realized I made a bit of a mistake so had to start over. I got soooo tired of doing this. The last round is made of chains, each of 35 double stitches. Not very stimulating, and a lot of chance of mis-counting. But I'm very happy with the result.

I hope the judges at the fair like it, too. I'm going to call this #22 of my second 25 Motif Challenge. This was very much a challenge!

I might know by next week how my entries did at the fair. I've told several people who have plans to go to let me know the results if they get there before I do. The fair lasts ten days but I'm not sure what day I'll get to go. There is a lot to see and do at the fair - I'm really looking forward to it.