When Doilies Go Bad

The doily in serious need of fixing.

So a crocheted doily was given to one of my lace friends to pass on to one of our other friends who is embarking on a major project requiring a lot of handmade lace doilies. This particular doily came with a note from the sending explaining that it was a rushed job and that it didn't come out very well.

Five treble crochet stitches on the same crochet chain. I think she stitched four too many stitches here.

We all agreed that the doily was indeed stitched in a rush. The maker complained about the fact that she did not like the crochet hook that she used. Our complaint was that the piece was made with obvious missing/dropped stitches which made it look wonky and caused the piece to overlap on itself in some places.

Here is an entire extra set of stitches that don't belong. That explains the bunching up and overlapping here.

Speaking from experience, I knew there was not enough starch this side of the Mississippi to correct the mistakes. There were really only two options- toss the doily or unravel it and restitch the rows where things obviously went horribly wrong.

And another set of stitches that need to be removed. I'll blame this on bad counting.

I volunteered to save the doily. Luckily it is a fairly small doily and to be honest, I really do love a good challenge. It will take unraveling several rows to correct the mistake and get the doily looking presentable.

And here is the row where things took a turn for the worst. But don't worry. We can rebuild you. We can make you better!

I just can't bear to see a doily get trashed. I know the maker meant well and anyone who has made lace long enough knows that sometimes good lace does go bad.