We Went to the Fair

We went to the Lighthouse Fall Fair where we met this lovely scare crow.  She was stationed with a pair of well dressed hippies (notice the ban the bomb necklace in the background).



This is an annual event that we have been part of for many years.  We usually put on a large display with demonstrations but this year we also sponsored a special prize for a woven shawl.
This new prize augmented the existing categories in weaving, felting, spinning and knitting.

This is our sign stuck to the wall with half a roll of painters tape and placed as high as a tall husband could reach.  Sometimes you have to work with what is available.  We may be a bit crooked and haphazard but I think the red green and white combination works against the cream background.  At least you won't miss it.

This year we went with an old fashion theme with emphasis on the home.  The washday scenario made us all thankful for permanent press fabrics and a more relaxed attitude to wrinkles.


The iron in the photograph must weight 5 pounds and while it was excellent at pressing linen one needed substantial muscles and good joints to use it.  No wonder our mothers and grandmothers did not need to go to the gym to lift weights to stay in shape.

The display included a colourful collection of tea towels and table linens paired with old china (some depression glass) and kitchen wares.

Scatter rugs were something my grandmother had in abundance to cover the wooden floors in the farm house.  They added a bit of colour and warmth. In our example we have included two rag rugs made from denim strips.  The metal device with them is a manual rug beater used to remove loose dirt by whacking the rug as it hung on a line.  Often this was a job for a child.  It makes one appreciate the built in vacuum system.

The Lighthouse Fall Fair has a large variety of prize categories that celebrate traditional skills and  some non-traditional skills.  If you like to bake, preserve, ferment or brew, there is a category for your tasty products.  Likewise if you are a gardener you can try for the biggest squash, the weirdest potato or the best of produce in different vegetables groups.  Apples were popular this year.

 There are categories for various fiber arts including spinning, knitting, felting and weaving. A number of our guild members went home with ribbons and not just for fiber arts proving that they can cook too.

The two shawls illustrated were worthy of blue ribbons in the wearables and the general weaving categories.


The needle felted animals and the little girl's hat were also blue ribbon winners.

Congratulations to Pat M, Linda W, Sylvia and Jude.








The prize winner for the special weaving category for a hand woven shawl is pictured below.  It is based on a patterned double weave technique and woven in fine wool.  Congratulations to Pat C