New Appreciation: Doilies!

I've only made one doily before, and it was a Halloween one. I don't OWN any, so it's not like when I started crocheting my first thought was "Thank God, now I can make my own doilies!" Rather, doilies were the last thing on my mind.

I made this as a Christmas present, so I'm hoping the recipient won't see this post until after Christmas. Perhaps I could hold off on sharing this, but I just had so much fun, and I'm so proud of it, I just couldn't wait to share.

This is a rose doily, that came out so splendidly, I'm actually a little surprised I made it. It took a lot more yarn than I had anticipated, and even more time. Upon finishing the white doily portion, I was feeling pretty good about it, and promptly started on the roses. Little did I know it would take me more than one skein of Vanna's Choice yarn, and I was surprised how little dark green I had when I finished the leaves.

Each rose and leaf took me about 30 minutes, but I think it was totally worth it. I think the dark green and light pink came together very well, and it has a beautiful Celtic feeling to it. I'm almost sad I can't keep this for myself to place on a dark mahogany table.

I'm still not completely sure what a doily is...for. I know, I know. You can put your vases and your snack bowls on it, or whatever, but frankly, I don't have many nice things to place on top of a doily to make it look nice. There are some beautiful patterns out there, so I can't wait to explore them and make some more. My favorite part about doilies, is that, despite how intricate they look, they're actually very easy to make. I encourage everyone to try to make one, in fact, they're absolutely fantastic! Now, this one took a long time because of the flowers and leaves, but a plain doily will add some fantastic class and elegance in just a few hours.

The original pattern for this doily can be found here.