photos by Ace Jackalope, used with permission

Well, it was going to be watermelonhenge today, but after encountering some technical difficulties we decided to go with this brilliant entry from the 2009 Kansas State Fair: Stonehenge models made from fossil crinoid stems (crinoids are a kind of sea animal that resembles a lily, more or less, many of them anchored to the sea floor by stems). As our new friend Mister Jackalope posted, “Morgan Reves of Pottawatomie County, Kansas, treated the public to this special exhibit: two models of Stonehenge – past and present – made of fossil crinoid stems.”

Why fossil crinoid stems? We don’t know, but they are common. Presumably Morgan had a bag of them sitting around and was struck one day, as people are, with the idea that she (or he?) could make little Stonehenges with them. What we love is that the two models on display show the monument as it was, or is thought to have been, at its fullest stage, and in its modern, partially toppled condition (seen above).

As you can see on the left, diagrams and explanations of Stonehenge, and possibly of fossil crinoid stems, accompanied the models. Was this a science fair project or some other kind of display? We can only speculate, but we’re glad it was there to add to the weird materials list for Stonehenge replicas!

As relatively common and obvious as fossils are, they were bound to be noticed and used by the megalith builders at least once. While there may be others, the most famous real megalithic site to feature a fossil is the long barrow at Stoney Littleton (yes, they really give places names like that over in Great Britain–Tolkien didn’t make that up!). You can see a photo of the fossil ammonite on a stone at the front of it here. There is no chance that the builders didn’t see it, but what they thought of we can never know.

Score for these crinoid stem henges: 6½ druids. Fine work, Morgan Reves! The diagrams pick up the features, like the bluestones and the ditch and bank, that the models don’t show.

We end with a quote from an email we received from Ace Jackalope himself: “There’s a blog just for Stonehenge replicas? Surely the Internet has now fulfilled its greatest possible potential!”

Yes, it’s true. Just as in the Vonnegut book The Sirens of Titan humans were created in order to build a replacement part for a Tralfamadorian spacecraft that had broken down near Earth (and Stonehenge is a message in Tralfamadorian), so these internets were built  for this and this alone. Everything else is simply an outgrowth of this ultimate process. Enjoy!

Just returned from the Kansas State Fair in Hutchison, Kansas.  We were there for 10 days face painting from 10 am – 10 pm.  Had a lot of fun!!  Our booth was featured in the local newspaper.  The reporter wrote about how we got our start face painting and what it means to us to paint!

Pink Kitty

Today is the second day that Nicole and I have had the opportunity to spend time at the 2009 Kansas State Fair. We left on Sunday afternoon and will be headed back to Kansas City tonight. It has been a great vacation with my family of origin.

I invite you to check out http://www.kansasstatefair.com/ for more information and the source of this blog post title.

Some of my favorites from the fair:

• Pronto Pups
• Commercial Building (or whatever it is called these days)
• Browsing the Midway
• Going on at least one ride with a name like “The Scrambler” or “High Roller” or the one that looks like a spider with twirly legs.
• Ye Olde Mill
• Root beer with no ice from the big barrels

What is your favorite at the fair?

It took a serious, concerted effort the last couple of weeks, but I did manage to finish my Ithilien Brocade Jacket just in time to check it in at our state fair. My eldest daughter kept telling me that I should take that opportunity to display it, no matter what happened in the judging.  Such support and confidence must be heeded, so I submitted the entry form, without being entirely sure whether or not I could make the deadline.  It appears that I am not yet too old to pull an all-nighter! I finished steam-blocking it just in time to shower and get to work, then sewed on the buttons over my lunch hour, and took it to the fairgrounds.

But a few minutes before that, I snapped a few pictures on the easy chair in my office.  You know, just in case…

Front view

... and back view

I did wear it for a few minutes, and was gratified that it fit well!  The cabled gussets at the lower back and sides turned out to be a good way to create shaping while knitting the leaf-patterned sections in (mostly) straight panels.  The trickiest parts turned out to be mitering the cables at the front neck to form the collar, and deciding how to finish the unattached cable ends at the bottom of the front border and at the back neck.  I wonder if my sleep-deprived state made it slightly more difficult than it would have been otherwise?

Once I get it back from the fair display, I’ll take more closeup pictures and document some of the techniques I used, and share the chart for the leaf pattern.  We have a photo shoot planned, too, but in the meantime, I’m relaxing!

Oh, yes, the judging…

Best Of Show!

TEXAS TECH 6, No. 10 KANSAS STATE 0. … Current Conditions: Fair and Breezy. Fair and Breezy. 68° F. Get more. Lubbock weather � News � Local News � Business � Crime and Courts � Health News � TX State News � NM State News …[More..]


Kansas State Fair officials say Lacer

Those who went seemed to enjoy it. Graphic evidence here.

Bonus: See if you can look at the banner at the top of this blog and NOT grin.

Yesterday was the last day of the Kansas State Fair.  Our family enjoys the fair each year.  We usually set aside one day to see the exhibits and the animals and one day to do the rides.  This year was a little tricky because of all the rain, but it all worked out.  Having a degree in animal science, I especially enjoy going through the barns, telling my children about the different breeds of animals, etc…  My son really enjoys when we make animal sounds together.  I’ve been told I can make a life-like “moo.”  Must come from spending so much time around cattle in college.  One of our family favorites in the past has been the “birthing center,” although this year they only had one cow.  It was very disappointing, as they usually have 4 or 5 dairy cows and about the same number of sows.  My children have enjoyed petting the piglets and calves in the past, but didn’t get to do that this year.  The petting zoo made up for it though, as they got to pet and feed a zebra, camel, deer, giraffe, etc…  My personal favorite is seeing the Watusi cattle.  I’m just amazed at their huge horns.  I even talked to one of the breeders for a few minutes and felt led to ask him if I could be praying about anything for him.  He’ll be traveling a lot, so he asked for prayers about that.  Anyway, as far as I’m concerned, you can keep the “Midway” and all the rip off games, crowds, high priced junk food, and rides that make me sick.  I’ll stick to the country side of the fair.  Boots, Wranglers, men whose handshake is like gripping a brick covered in leather, big trucks, animal smells, stepping in “stuff”- there’s just nothing like it.   Of course, in saying that, I’ll have to say that one of my fair highlights this year was when my oldest daughter gave up the chance of riding another ride by herself in order for us to ride one together.  She only had two tickets left, and she asked me to ride one with her.  We rode ”The Blizzard,” which I was more familiar with being called the “Himalaya.”  Anyway, it goes around and around up and down really fast forwards then backwards to the sound of loud music.  Just to get her to laughing, I was putting my hands up in the air, yelling “WHOOOO” and basically acting like a goof.  It will make for good memories…   

On another note, my wife and I had talked about seeing if we could work at the fair to help make a little extra money, but didn’t pursue it.  Well, on Tuesday I got a call from a friend who had a friend who had a friend…  To make a long story short, we were offered the opportunity to work for one of the vendors.  My prayer was that it would not just be about making extra money, but that we would be able to encourage someone through it.  Not only did God bless us with the opportunity to work with a really nice Christian couple, but I met their son who trains leaders in the U.S. and in foreign countries in youth ministry.  I encouraged him by adding him to my regular weekly prayer list.  I also worked the first day with a single mom and was able to share with her about our ministry.  God is so good.  We ended up making enough to cover our September budget, and met some great people while doing it.

I worked from 3:00 to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday.  Let me just say that I’m fascinated with “people watching.”  I especially enjoy observing how parents interact with their children and how couples interact.  At the fair, there are so many different people from all walks of life.  For instance, there was the “filthy rich guy” who wouldn’t spring the extra couple of bucks for a lemonade (according to the owner), and then there was the guy who came back twice to buy pretzels and cheese for his two daughters.  When he was there the second time, I heard one of his daughters say, “Daddy, can you help me…”  To my utter dismay and disgust, he looked at her and said, “Where were you when I needed help in ‘nam?”  Seriously???  The little girl was probably 6 years old and had no clue what he was saying, just that it was mean spirited and she didn’t get the help she was asking for.  I won’t tell you the fleshly thoughts that went through my mind about what I would like to do to him, but it had to do with his head and the cast iron sandwich grill sitting next to me.  Forgive me, I was raised around good ol’ country justice…  I have since said a prayer that God would forgive me for my attitude toward him and that he would send someone into this man’s life who can mentor him.  Then, there was the boy who accidently backed up and stepped on his dad’s toe.  His dad lashed out at him, and while I couldn’t hear what he was saying, the boy’s face told the story.  He looked beaten down and belittled, and I could tell this wasn’t the first time.  Of course, on the other side of the spectrum, you could tell the children who got everything they wanted and didn’t have to do anything themselves, which isn’t healthy, either.  I saw lots of young men (dare I use that word??) who had no clue how to love and respect the young ladies (dare I use that word, too??) they were with.  I could see in their eyes and by their actions what was on their mind, and it wasn’t valuing their date.  It didn’t help that their dates were wearing next to nothing in many cases.  On both sides, I believe it’s another tragic result of the lack of godly fathering or quite possibly no fathering at all:  boys who haven’t been taught by their fathers how to treat a lady and girls who will do anything for attention.  Believe me, I’ve been there.  When my wife and I first started dating, I didn’t have a clue, either.  I often pray for my children’s future spouses because they are hopefully in training right now, and although I don’t know them, I believe God does.  I did see couples and families who seemed to be happy to be together.  In fact, I saw an older couple who looked to be as much in love today as ever.  I love to see that.  Makes me want to follow them around and learn, maybe even ask them for an interview.  I’m glad that my wife is my best friend and that we enjoy being together.  In fact, she sent me an email earlier today that said “Thanks for being my best friend.”  You don’t know what that does to my heart to hear her say that.  I once had a wise math teacher in seventh grade who said his wife enjoyed when he told her that he loved her, but REALLY appreciated when he said, “I like you.”  Well, you can see how long that has stuck with me.  And, while I don’t get it right all the time and I say or do things that I later regret, especially with my children, I’m thankful to God for His amazing grace in our weaknesses.  I want to do better at being a student of my wife and my children so I will know how to love them better.  I will put forth my honest effort, and have faith that God will bless it when I am putting Him first.  I’m thankful that Jesus is at the center of our marriage and our home.

May God bless your family today!

The body feels so drenched
Outside watching the rain fall
Streaks falling across lights
Sometimes slowing, just to pour down again

Glasses covered in water
Unable to see anything clearly
Watching and waiting
Though, there is little to watch for

Rain is so life giving
Yet sometimes it puts people out
Perhaps it follows its own schedule
Perhaps they should sell weather insurance

Work goes too slowly
Knowing the owners are losing money
Workers wet from constant rain
Watching and waiting for nothing…

The weekend comes
The sun breaks through the clouds
Every cloud is boiled away
Blue sky, bright hot sun shining

The day is perfect for the work!
Most of the day, a line forms
A good day passes
There is just one more and work is finished.

When I woke up to the sound of rain on the roof, I tried to remember why I thought a spinning demonstration at the Kansas State Fair this particular day was a good idea…

I packed up my wheel, wool, and knitted items and set off. Getting it all through the rain to the sheep barn was, um, interesting; but I achieved my first goal – nothing fell off the cart into the mud.

As soon as I set up, the spectators started coming around. Unfortunately, nice as the building is, we were right next to the arena where sheep judging was going on all day. The ring steward and judges’ comments over the loudspeaker made it really difficult to hear anything else.

The sheep shearing demonstrations started at 11:00, so I had a couple of hours to go before I had a raw fleece to work with. I was glad I brought the Kool-Aid dyed Merino top! I spun and chain-plied some of each color, worked occasionally on knitting a rainbow swatch, and also did a bit of color blending.

As the first shearing was ready to start, I got my one bathroom break for the day (thank you, Judy!!!), and came back to find my grandson waiting. His mom and dad brought him for his first fair experience, and reported later that he had a great time, especially petting a lot of animals. He was also interested in the spinning wheel, which I thought showed a high level of intelligence for a little guy who still hasn’t had his first birthday!

It really didn’t take long for me to remember why I like doing this from time to time. I’m absolutely intrigued by the wide variety of people who find handspinning interesting for an equally wide variety of reasons – from the mechanics to the magic. Of course, we talked about how drafting and twist make yarn, but also about the simple machines that are parts of a spinning wheel, da Vinci’s plans for improving flyers, various eras of history, different fibers (especially spinnable animals), knitting, how to make felt, why some wool is scratchy and some isn’t, and a whole lot of other topics. One of the most-asked questions was whether the Kool-Aid dyed wool is colorfast. (Yes.)

There was a steady flow of ‘business’ all day, and during the last sheep shearing, I even had to pick up my wheel and retreat into the corner so observers could crowd in to watch!

A number of friends dropped by, and I even got a chance to visit with most of them. I also had a couple of self-appointed apprentices off and on through the day, and I really wish I knew their names. They were personable and helpful, and the older of the two young men was even answering questions from passers-by before the day was out. All in all, it was a lovely day, in spite of the rain.

]]> http://blog.climateandenergy.org/2008/09/08/state-fair-more-pictures/ Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:54:41 +0000 climateandenergy http://blog.climateandenergy.org/2008/09/08/state-fair-more-pictures/ http://prairiespinner.com/2008/09/01/sleeve-decisions/ Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:23:45 +0000 prairiespinner http://prairiespinner.com/2008/09/01/sleeve-decisions/

There was no more putting it off… the time had come to decide from all the options available for Ithilien’s sleeves. These are the cuffs.

Ithilien's cuffs

The first decision was to make cuffs, instead of ending the sleeves (actually, beginning them) with just a hem, as the bottom of the sweater is finished. So I crunched the numbers and fudged the color rows to come out with two complete color repeats in three complete cable motifs. Now I just need to graft the ends together, then pick up stitches along one edge for the hem and the other edge for the sleeve. But first, I’m going to need to trim all those ends and see if I can semi-felt them to each other so they will stay put. Wish me luck on that – I don’t want to felt the fabric itself!

I plan to knit both sleeves at the same time, on one long circular needle, after I do a lot of measuring and charting. The measuring is to figure the increases and sleeve length. The charting is to figure out what row to start on so I’ll come to the armhole bind-off at the same place on the leaf brocade pattern and the same place in the color cycle! There will not be any room for fudging there. That was the main reason for knitting them both at once.

Then comes the tricky part… I am planning to try knitting the body and sleeves together in the round. There is nothing radical there, it’s a very popular way to do raglan sleeves – but these are going to be set-in sleeves! I am having trouble finding any examples of doing that in quite the same way that I intend, so it will be interesting to see how that all turns out. The charting will be indispensable here, too!

There are instructions out there for picking up stitches at the armhole and knitting a set-in sleeve down to the cuff, but that won’t work because the leaf pattern would look slightly different knitted the other way. I could steek the armholes (that was my original intent), but since the sweater is fitted it needs a set-in sleeve instead of a dropped sleeve, and I really didn’t like the idea of that bulkiness at the seam. As a last resort, I could knit the back, fronts and sleeve caps back-and-forth. Actually, that should could have been my first resort. But this is not a fun color pattern to purl, and besides, I’m intrigued by the idea of experimenting!

Here’s the plan: I will plot the sleeve cap and armscye shaping as for a sweater knit in flat pieces. I’ll bind off (or slip to waste yarn) the underarm stitches and work around the body and sleeves, decreasing each segment at their assigned rates at the fake seam (I’ll probably do a single purl column as with the body and sleeve ’seamlines’). Then I expect I will come to a point near the top of the sleeve cap that will require me to finally separate the sleeves and body. So I won’t be able to work them completely in the round, since I’ll need more rows on the sleeve cap, and will need to shape the shoulder slope. I won’t mind a small seamed area, as long as everything else looks right!

And if it doesn’t work, I’ll just have to rip it out and knit the pieces flat from the armholes up. Either way, I will have learned a lot!

In other news, I’ve been tapped to demonstrate spinning for a day at the Kansas State Fair. This Saturday, I’ll be hanging out in the sheep barn, as the value-added attraction (?) with the sheep shearing demonstrations. There are five scheduled times, along with people wandering through the barns all day, so I should be busy! I’ve been assured that I don’t have to sit there the whole day, but will be free to leave my things under a watchful eye and meander around as I please during non-demo times. I will take some finished items (socks and sweaters) to display, and decided to do a little Kool-Aid dyeing too, since that always grabs kids’ attention!

These are some of the fruits of my labor on this Labor Day:

Roving in primary and secondary Kool-Aid colors

I thought I’d also card some of the colors together to show blending. I had already spun and chain-plied a small skein of this same Merino roving, so I dyed it in random green/blue/purple dots (which also has the advantage of camouflaging the just-playing-around uneven spinning!) :

Kool-Aid dyed mini skein

The colors were less saturated than the roving, but I liked it better when it was finished than I thought I would! I’ll knit about half of it in a swatch to show the finished effect.

Next post, I’ll try to have some pictures of the fair. I’m keeping my fingers crossed… right now, the weather forecast indicates that we’ll have a perfectly beautiful day!

What are the universal rules of decorum that one should follow, whether in China for the Olympics or in Hutchinson for the Kansas State Fair?

Who asked? Deanna at the Greteman Group blog asked. “No pushing” heads her list.

She awaits your answer.