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. 

Wrapped In Plastic. It's Fantastic!

I'm on the mailing list for The Weaving Kind. They do monthly weave-along challenges to help inspire and develop you as a weaver. For the month of January we were asked to weave something using non-traditional/alternative materials. Even though I missed out on sharing my piece by the entry deadline, I still wanted to share my work.

I'll admit that I was at first stumped on what to weave. Being such a new weaver, I was still just starting to explore all my yarn options. My mind just had a hard time thinking beyond fiber. It was when I was digging through my bin of yarns that I stumbled upon a ball of plastic. Back in my knitting days, I was all about trying anything and everything to knit with. At some point I decided it would be cool to take a plastic clothing bag- the kind they cover your clothes with at the dry cleaners- and cut it up into strips for use as yarn. I managed to make a nice size ball of plastic yarn from just one bag, but that is as far as I got. The yarn had reminded at the bottom of the bin until I decided to give it new life as a weaving.

I decided to use cotton twine as the warp just for some contrast. Even though it is a small weaving, it took a lot more time then I thought to create. The thin strips of plastic naturally wanted to bunch up, creating a dense weave. I had to use a lighter pull and gentle lay to keep the piece from looking like a marsh pit of plastic.

I do like the transparency of the piece and the hint of color from the company logo that was on the bag. The piece is light and airy with a surprisingly nice drape. I wonder how it would look and feel on a much larger scale. (Maybe a future project to tackle).

So, if you get a moment please check out The Weaving Kind on Instagram. Their feed is just filled with pictures of some amazing pieces done by weavers all over the world .And if you're up for the challenge, sign up for their monthly weave-along. You'll find the sign-up link in their profile.