The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

This year Skip and I made our annual trek into The Big City to go to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair or "Royal Winter Fair" as we call it. The entire fair is held indoors at Exhibition Place in the Horse Building, the Coliseum and the National Trade Centre. The GO train is the most convenient and stress-free way to get there.

It is such a treat to be able to go in the daytime now that I am retired. One of the first things we did was go and take a look at the winner of the biggest pumpkin contest. The winner weighed in at 1242.6 lb.

We like to go and see the livestock - llamas, cows, pigs, horses and of course, sheep. This is a Leicester Longwool which was the breed of the year at the 2009 NY Sheep and Wool Festival a couple of weeks ago.









There was quite a display of rabbits. This guy is a Flemish Giant breed. 











There was also a big pile of fleeces including the prizewinners.

I enjoyed biryani and a samosa for lunch and Skip had a lamb pot pie. We got our complimentary potatoes from the Prince Edward Island booth. Then we went to look at the poultry exhibits.

These White Crested geese were among the most unusual we saw.

I also liked the look of the curly feathers on these geese. 










Later, we explored the vendors' area. Skip bought a new (shorter) Italian leather belt crafted in Canada and I bought some pencil roving and yarn from Belle Vallée Wools.

Being able to go on a week day is great - not too crowded. There were lots of school groups there but not so many that we couldn't easily see and do what we wanted. 

One thing we like to do just before we leave is walk through the Horse Building and see where the horses go to be washed. It's brightly lit and the horses seem to enjoy the warm water and the rubbing down. There's also a convenient restroom and the exit is the closest door to the GO train station.

On the GO train ride there and home, I made quite a bit of progress on the first Icewine Mitten. Instead of the corrugated rib cuff, I used my favourite Latvian braid technique. this Jo Sharp yarn is knitting up quite nicely. I forgot to knit the mitten inside out so my floats (strands inside the mitt)  would be at their loosest however it seems to be fitting nicely right side out.

And in further knitting news ... the Every Way Wrap is coming along nicely. I'm more than halfway through the second ball of yarn. This is going to look lovely once finished and blocked. I ♥ this Cascade 200 wool.