Some of my entries for the fairs this year...

The Howard County Fair and Maryland State Fair are very big in my life. I've always entered them in Home Arts and I usually volunteer at both. I just wanted to share a few of my entries before I enter them later this week. Here are the two I'm most proud of:


Kangaroo and her Joey

It turned out great, but it was a bit of a pain to attach everything.










Black-eyed Susan Man

The building theme for the Home Arts Dept at the HoCo Fair this year is our state flower. I usually don't enter the building theme, but this year I had a good idea so I went for it. This is my design, but I took some of the pieces from other patterns as follows:
Legs - Squiggy, specifically
Head
Petals (this pattern has moved or has been completely removed as of 1/5/13)




The kangaroo got first and the black-eyed susan man got third at the Howard County Fair.
At the Maryland State Fair, the kangaroo got Honorable Mention and the black-eyed susan man got third. I never do as well in crochet as I do at the HoCo Fair.

Free Patterns and Finished Projects

I thought I would upload some pictures of some of the patterns I have completed over the summer.

One Skein Bunny, Caron
A wonderful pattern. I definitely recommend trying it. It is 29" x 10" x 7". It won first place in Adult Crochet, Needle Arts in the Home Arts Department at the Howard County Fair. 

Kitten, MarmaladeRose
It is about 6" long. This pattern uses British stitch notations, not American. This means that the "dc" in the pattern is actually "sc" to an American. But a very cute pattern indeed. :3

3 Piece Baby Set
Simple Baby Set, Lion Brand Yarn (sweater only)
Booties, from Crocheted Gifts: Irresistible Projects to Make & Give (not free, unfortunately)
Hat, see Ribbed Winter Hat post

Bunny Baby Blanket, Lion Brand Yarn
It's about 24" x 18". I had to alter the pattern a little by including more rows and more chain stitches because 10 ch sts is too few to knot. Also, I recommend making the ears first and attach them to the head before starting the blanket. If the ears and the face are on the head, you can stuff it when finished and sc it shut to act as the first row of the blanket instead of attaching the head to the blanket later. Hopefully, that made sense.