Happy 4th!

Independence Day, my favorite!

I love this holiday, it has always meant family, swimming, cookouts and summer. My grampa's B-day was the 4th, but he passed last year...so in memory of him, I made this 4th of July Doily (it's unblocked in that photo). The pattern is from OrientalMom's crochet Holiday doily collection on Ebay.


Lace-mania: I have made a doily a week since my stay-cation in early June! Just before that, I made a pineapple lace curtain panel for my kitchen window--we just had the pear tree chopped down, so we really needed privacy and a bit of a screen for the brightness!



Next, I made a snowflake doily from one of my Japanese books:


Then, my own Shabby Chic! An Elizabeth Hiddleson design from book #6, quite the ordeal this one was:



I ran out of thread on the body of the doily, and since the thread was leftover from probably 10 years ago, I just looked for something in my stash of similar weight. But the color was off...

so I decided to overdye the doily before adding the flowers.

Not wanting to run to the store for dye, I used a concentrated coffee/tea mixture with vinegar for the mordant, then nuked it until it was steaming, and rinsed it until the water ran clear.

Before and After Dying




I blocked and dried it, then started making the flowers! Wheew, but quite happy with the results :)

I really like how the "dye" took differently to the different colors, it makes it look more "shabby"!


Last week I finished this daisy doily, from an old issue of Magic Crochet magazine. It was supposed to be a sunflower, but I don't have those colors, so I used what I had.

The stinking orange bled when it was put in hot water, but luckily I saw this right away and was able to rinse only the orange part until it ran clear. But if you look real close, you can see where it bled into the cream color (grrr).

After that episode, I tested the dark blue and red for my Independence Day Doily, and was very happy they were colorfast in hot water. I always wash my laces in hot water, and sometimes even throw them in the dryer. I like when they shrink up as much as they will...call me crazy!

Til next time!
Happy knitting and crocheting!

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