Mandala Madness - a prize winning design

So, I decided that because I had finished my Mandala Madness blanket that I would enter it into our local show at the weekend. I had sent in my entry form the week before but on it you didn't need to say what it was that you were entering, just the class so I could if need be enter something different.
With the blanket getting finished on the Wednesday I was pleased to have a couple of days breathing space before the show but boy was that leaving it tight to get it done as we all know how life can throw you a curve ball and the best laid plans get thrown out of the window.

The week before the show I had decided that I would like to get the blanket finished if I could as I had had so many lovely compliments on it, both online and from friends. The problem I was going to have was finding enough time. The main blanket had been completed but I still needed to square the circle. I had done 11 rows out of the 29 but each row was starting to take longer as the corners worked their way towards meeting each other. Once the corners were done it was on to going around the whole blanket again and this was where it took so much longer each row, some of them taking over three hours to complete. I have been lucky with the fact that at the moment I am on holiday from my day job so could dedicate some time to getting it finished but probably not as much as I would have liked to.

Setting up for the show was exciting. I had entered into an open class as although they had one for kitted items they have not as such got one for crochet. I am hoping that this will change. This class meant that my Mandala Madness blanket was up against some amazing wood carvings, embroidery, beadwork  and also other crochet blankets. Once I was in the marquee it was a case of finding where my table was and then to lay out my blanket hoping that I had shown it off enough to impress the judges. Then it was a case of fingers crossed and then to have a look at all the other items that people had spent such time and care making (or watering and nurturing).

The show is the biggest one where I live and often attracts over 1600 entrants to the various different classes which also include home grown vegetables and flowers along with pickles, chutneys and of course, cake. I don't know where the time went but before I had known it I had spent 2 hours from the moment I had walked in to the marquee to the time I left. The standard was amazing and it was great fun trying to work out who might get a prize and finding out the next day when I went back to collect my Mandala Madness blanket.

I found out on the Sunday morning that my blanket had impressed enough to win a prize when I got a phone call from my Mum to say my sister had gone to the show and had seen that my Mum had got a prize for her patchwork blanket in her class and that my blanket had won a prize too. She couldn't wait to give us a ring to share the good news. Our Mum had got a third but my blanket had come away with a second prize! I am so thrilled as the work there was so good and it made all the hard work that I had put in worth it. That someone else had recognised it too. It is the first time I have entered any of my crochet into the show but it definitely has spurred me on to make something for next years show and also to enter more classes using some of my other craft skills.

I better start making now ...............................