Finally a First Place!

I've been entering doilies into the Puyallup Fair since 2004. This time I scored a first place after much frustration of being awarded 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mentions. This year's other entries didn't provide much competition--at least that is how the other doilies appeared.

What is ironic about my entering this doily is that it was a last-minute decision. When I made this doily over the winter I really wasn't thinking about it being put into the fair, since it was bumpy and too complicated and too colorful. The doily I had wanted to enter into the competition didn't get completed in time, so I used this one as a back-up.

I'm still hankering to win Grand Champion, but for this year I'm pleased to finally be awarded a blue ribbon. I think that this doily is by far my best work that I've ever done. I think I'm going to mount and frame it.

The doily is Momentous Occasion from Patricia Kristoffersen's Ultimate Doilies. The thread is Olympus size 40 thread in a variegated pink and lavender. It measures about 11 inches in diameter. I do not know how many hours it took for me to make this doily as I worked on it for awhile then it went into hibernation and then I resumed working on it a couple of months later.

I can attest that there are two rounds on this doily that were a real challenge to patience and skill! It is difficult to explain what the stitch is like other than I use the metaphor that it requires a "liquid hook" to accomplish.