You Can Do it a Trot, You Can Do it at a Gallop

The Puyallup Fair started yesterday, and mom and I went today. The Fair has spruced up lately, there's a nice new building for the mop and gadget hawkers, and there are hand washing stations all over the grounds. Seriously--hand washing at a fair? Here's the quick summary:

What I saw:

• Quilting and knitting exhibits
• Vendors, vendors, vendors--selling Vita-Mixers, bbq sauce, mops, wickless candles, toys, tools, etc.
• Mutton Bustin' (more info below)
• Spinners spinning
• A seriously awesome antique sock knitting machine
• Boy Scout parade
• 4-H cats (an aside--we were looking for dogs, but there were only cats. As we were about to enter the cat barn, a tough-looking guy in his late 20s/early 30s looked over at the barn and said "I could really do without the cats".)
• Pygmy Goats
• Probably six kinds of ducks and chickens, including tiny baby chicks
• Giant pumpkins

What I ate:

• Fisher Scone (world famous--we brought home a dozen as well)
• Beef Empanada from "Ya Gotta Empanada," my all-time favorite food booth name
• Lemonade

What I bought:

• 125 grams of Lace Wing sock yarn, hand-dyed in WA by Pat Fly. The color is "Shades of Teal", although it is pretty muted for teal--it isn't that "color of the 1990's" teal.
• Two hanks of orangey-pinky-peachey DK weight merino Fancy Image Hand-dyed yarn. Depending on how it swatches, this might be my Sock Wars yarn--I like the idea of using a uniquely local yarn, especially if my target is far away. If my target is local, then I might use something else.

About Mutton Bustin'

This is a new thing at the fair this year. The basic premise is that you put a helmet and a protective vest on a 2 to 6 year old child (weighing less than 60 pounds), put him or her on the back of a sheep, and let them ride the sheep until they fall off. Although it is probably cruel to both the sheep AND the child, it was hilarious to watch. Here's the sign that was posted on the fence in front of the bleachers.

DO NOT TOUCH THE ANIMALS. Ride them, yes. Touch them, no.

Here's one rider, who is using a technique that seems a little dangerous. No children were trampled, but there were a couple of close calls.

I took an extremely short video, you can view it here. I would like to point out that the youngest child was only 2 years old. Yikes!