A Pink & White (not old lady-ish) Doily!

I'm admitting it here and now. I like making doilies. Doilies have a really bad reputation for being old-ladyish. But they are so very beautiful. I have started to look at them as quilts (design-wise, not use-wise!). Most people are suprised I make quilts--hey, I'm a hip young gal--because they figure quilts must be pastel and conservative and weekend-at-grandma's-ish. But there's no reason you can't make a quilt from hot pink and leopard print and black. The Amish have been making black-based quilts for centuries and theirs are some of the most striking quilts you'll ever see.

Doilies are also fun to make. Gauge is completely inconsequential. As long as you are using a hook that matches the yarn weight, you're good. They are cheap. One doily, even a large one, can be made from one ball of size 10 crochet cotton, which costs less than $2. They impress the heck out of non-crocheters (and even crocheters sometimes).

Crochet cotton used to come in ecru and white. Now it comes in a rainbow of colors, including pink and yellow and red and lavender. It even comes in balls where two coordinating shades are twisted together, giving a fun ripply effect.

So in the same way as the same skirt pattern can be used to produce a conservative knee-length navy skirt or a funky corduroy mini with flowers and big buttons sewn on, a basic doily pattern, with a little creativity, can create a really cool project.

The doily I'm working on now started out white (because that's what I had). It has 4 white medallions in the center. Last night I finished the medallions and picked up some pink to do the border. It looks so pretty! The white medallions are set off by the pink. Such a simple change and what a big difference.

The next doily is going to be black. It's a pineapple pattern and I decided that black set over a red tablecloth would be a great gothy effect.

And then I have a pattern for one with pansies around the edge. I'm thinking of making the pansies into impatiens--hot pink :-)