A Finished Doily!

Well friends, I’ve completed my first doily. Overall I’m happy with the finished project. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s pretty darn good for a first try! I was able to block and dry the doily in less than 12 hours – a nice change from blocking sweaters which take 36+ hours to dry completely. It’s now tucked away in one of my craft drawers where it will be safe from my ravenous dogs. I’ll use it once I move to a house…and buy some new furniture. My plan is to slowly build up a stash of home decor items. That way when I do move, I’ll be able to decorate with handmade things!

My lovely Vintage Crochet Pineapple Doily:

It measures 9 inches across.
I started a doily for my mom, and it’s not any of the doilies I had previously picked. I decided on the Two-Tone Doily. I’m doing it in light peach and white, and it’s about 80% done. The pattern isn’t difficult, but it includes a technique that was (and still is) foreign to me: the double crochet join. I couldn’t find any information about this technique on-line, but I must admit that I didn’t search too hard. In the end I followed what the pattern said to do to the best of my ability, and I guess it looks alright. It would be nice to see a demonstration, though. In an effort to present a more detailed description of my attempt at the mysterious double crochet join, I present you with the following:

The pattern says to leave the last loop of two double crochets on the hook, yarn over, and then pull through all loops on the hook. Here’s what I did starting with the first double crochet: Yarn over, hook through stitch from row below, pull loop up, yarn over, pull through two loops on hook, yarn over, pull through one loop on hook (first double crochet done with last loop left on hook), yarn over, hook through stitch from row below, pull loop up, yarn over, pull through two loops on hook, yarn over, pull through one loop on hook (second double crochet done with last loop on hook), yarn over, pull through all three loops on hook. Geez! It looks kind of messy once it’s all typed out, doesn’t it?

I think my next doily will be the Double Pineapple Doily in black. I’m going to finish some knitting projects before I start it, though.