Doily Delight

Fire in the woodstove. A mug of hot tea on the counter. Blankets in the basket. When the cold winter season comes about and more time is spent inside the house, that is when I craft the most. I love many types of crafts, but crocheting doilies is my favorite. Great Mamaw Skaggs made many beautiful doilies, and I still love to admire her work when we go to Mamaw’s house. Doilies are so elegant and lovely.

There is a doily that sat on the stack of suitcases beside the couch for the longest time. It was one of the prettiest pieces of art I’d ever seen. Mama made it, and looking at it made me think making a doily would be about the hardest thing in the world. Hooking tiny thread into a million knots making different patterns sounded impossible. Three or so dozen doilies later, I find it to be one of my favorite leisure pursuits.

Mama has taught all five of her girls to knit and crochet (and everything else) and I favored crocheting. I found a doily book among Mama’s craft books and took one glance and that was all it took to confirm my belief in the impossibility of the subject. I was probably seventeen years old when I asked Mama if she thought I could really make a doily. I opened the book right back up again with much more confidence than I did the first time and decided to look at the very first step. The prettiest one in the book happened to look the simplest. It was twenty inches in diameter, but oh, wasn’t it a lovely work of art? First step: chain four. That is easy enough. Now for the next step.

Round 1: 11 dc in 4th ch from hook (3 skipped chs count as a dc); join in 3rd ch of beg ch-4: 12 dc. Translation: WHAT!!!? Cry until 4th tear falls (counts as despair, frustration); join hands, wring in despair. Mama, please help me!

Making a doily works the same way as any other seemingly impossible task. Take it one step at a time. If that is too big, break down the first step into smaller steps. There may have been a few tears in that doily, but with a loving Mama who helped me through it, that doily sits proudly in the living room. That doily opened the door to the making of many other pieces. They make nice house-warming, or bridal/wedding shower gifts, and I keep a few on hand for that reason. Mother’s Day or Mama’s birthday, or a gift just because it’s “I Love You Day,” Mama has a lot of doilies now.

Most doilies take a few months to finish, just by picking it up here and there when I feel like it. Sometimes I crochet while listening to music, if someone is reading aloud, during a movie, or whenever my mind is occupied, and my hands are not. One doily I made for my sister-in-law-to-be Natasha’s bridal shower gift. I worked non-stop and got it started, finished, starched, pinned, dried, and wrapped in five days’ time. I listened to a lot of bluegrass music to keep me energetic and working fast.

“Little by little makes it grow,” couldn’t be truer for the making of a doily. It also takes a lot of patience but, in the end, it is all worth it. The old-fashioned beauties adorn the house so cozily. Shining brightly in all their simplicity, doilies not only add a touch of elegance to the home but are a delight to make.

~Jayla