While some people pine for the traditional four seasons of winter, spring, summer, and fall — for me, the year is divided into just two: State Fair season and the rest of the year.

The official start of the State Fair season is August 1. That is the date by which I am supposed to have settled on a design, purchased all materials I need, and be ready to move forward with the actual making of the project.

The first year I entered the state fair I had not plans to do so. It was 2004, I lived in Wilson County, and I had entered this afghan in the Wilson County Fair:

“The Sistine Afghan” as my mother called it because it was so much work, won a blue ribbon and best of show at the county fair. Buoyed by my success there, I entered it in the state fair competition where it won a second blue ribbon.

Because of various constraints, I did not enter the 2005 state fair competition, but by 2006, I was itching to try again, and this was the result of that effort:

Like the Sistine Afghan before it, this piece which came to be called the 12-day afghan (you can read how this afghan got it’s name here) also won a blue ribbon in it’s category:

From 2007 to 2010, I experienced a bit of a dry spell. My 2009 entry which has come to be called the pixelghan did not get any mention at all:

and the same was true of my 2010 entry which is based on a fractal known as the Hilbert Curve:

Then last year, I once again achieved some measure of recognition with an honorable mention for this effort:

I don’t know exactly how I will execute this year’s project, but I am beginning the work of designing the elements to be crocheted and gathering the materials I will use in the effort, and come August 1, I will be ready for the opening day of yet another state fair season.