Wednesday 16 May 2012

Not a beaded necklace

Morning ladies.  I did mean to post yesterday, but time got away with me.  I was planning on announcing my competition but due to technical issues, I wasn't able to sort out the button etc.  I'm planning on announcing the competition at the weekend.

Back in March I bought a beading kit from the NEC Hobbycrafts show.  I loved the necklace and decided I wanted to make it for myself.  I finally got round to it at the weekend and sat down to start.  I was watching Alcatraz at the same time and must have been riveted as I noticed I'd cut 4 of the headpins in the kit to the wrong size.  Never mind, I thought, I have head pins.  Except mine were too thick for the seed beads.  As it was the weekend I knew I could get some the next day so I thought I'd make something else.  I was in a beady mood so I got my books out and had a good leaf through, marking a few necklaces I'd like to make and a few little beaded objects. 

Then I crocheted a doily.


Attention deficit disorder?  Moi?  I used this pattern.  It's written in Portuguese.  I don't speak Portuguese but with a little googling and a little Word-Referencing, I got there. 



It's crocheted in crochet thread, Anchor Aida 6 ply thread to be exact, my first time using it.  It's currently blocking itself on a towel in my craft room, I just need to starch it and... well I have no idea what I'm going to do with it!



To see the scale, I've shown it in the photo above with my t-shirt yarn crochet rug (still incompleted), the tiny little 2mm hook I used and the massive 15mm hook I'm using for the rug.


I enjoyed making this doily so much, I started another almost straight away.  I'm up to round 6 on this pattern but I'm using the recommended hook - size 4.5mm with the crochet thread and I really don't like how big and loose my chains are, so I'm going to start again and use the 2mm hook again.  Are any of you experiences doily makers?  What would you suggest?

I'm so hooked that I've been rooting out more patterns to take with me on the plane to Tunisia next week.  I need something to crochet that's just one colour (as I can't take scissors) and not as big and heavy as the crochet rug so doilies it is.  I looked online for some crochet thread and found Anchor Perle Cotton in size 8.  Now I've used this for hand quilting, but I didn't know if it was the same things as crochet thread.  Incidentally, it's 65p a ball including postage if anyone is in the market for some.  Ebay shop.  I can't vouch for them as I've never used this particular company, but if anyone does, please let me know!  I've left it too later really to arrive before I leave on Monday, so I'll be doing a quick raid on Hobbycraft where a ball is £3.95 - hence my interest in whether I can substitute the size 8 Perle.  Any and all comments on this subject are welcome as I'm a doily novice!

I wonder what Mr CA will say when I get home with a suitcase full of doilies... and again, what am I going to do with them??


Edited to add: Well, I've just discovered one of the problems.  The lovely Teresa sent me a link to crochet hook conversion chart and I realised that I'd been using a UK size 7 hook!  There's a massive difference.  I'll be ripping it out soon!
  

14 comments:

Teresa said...

To start with...let me know if you need help translating any Portuguese, I can do that for you if you need :)
Secondly... watch out because size 20 Perlé is VERY thin, as the number goes up the thickness of the thread goes down. You'll probably need a USA size 8 to 10 thread hook for it (http://www.karpstyles.com/crochet/hook-chart.html), but that depends on your tension. I used to work mainly with size 20 thread but as I got used to crochet with yarn now 12 or 8 easier to deal with...
I also prefer working with mercerized cotton for these doilies but I guess it's all a matter of preference ;)
Have fun! xxx

Teresa said...

Oooopsss... just re-read the ebay post, it's size 8 not 20! Sorry... need to get my eyes checked ;)
The price seems quite reasonable though the balls are small, 10gr (here you pay about 4euros for 50gr, so it is a good price!)

Sandra :) said...

Check on Pinterest for some ideas of what to do with doilies:
http://pinterest.com/search/?q=doilies
http://pinterest.com/search/boards/?q=doilies
I think small doilies make lovely embellishments for linen bags!

Celtic Thistle said...

Crikey that crochet hook looks like it should be in a doll's house! Love the doily, no idea what you should do with it though :)

JoJo said...

Great doilies! I wish I knew how to crochet.

Ady said...

Lovely doily. I'm in awe - I can just about manage to crochet with DK yarn and a 6mm hook. I can't imagine how fine your yarn must be - it's so delicate! Have a safe trip to Tunisia next week.

mdgtjulie said...

I love your doily. It's beautiful. My grandma used to use them under ornamentation of all sorts. A little statue? Put a doily under it. A framed picture of the grandkids? Put a doily under it. A cool mineral? You get the idea. You can put all sorts of knick knacks on a doily. I don't know of any other uses though. And I've never been able to crochet, so I can't help you with any of that either. (Yes, I'm almost useless, lol. Sorry.) Hope you have a great day!!

Allie said...

That doily is gorgeous!!!! I can't use crochet thread, my hands don't like it. I remember a funny story about doilies - a little old lady was on her deathbed, and she told her hubby that she had kept a secret from him all these years. She had him get a box from the top of her closet, and in the box was one doily and $98,000. He asked what the doily was for. She said that someone had told her that everytime she got mad at him, she should crochet a doily. He was so touched that there was only one doily in the box! He asked her what the money was from, and she said, "from selling doilies..."

Rosa said...

You did a great work with that doily!
Btw - you can use a nailclipper as scissor when you are on the plane, that thing doesn't count as a dangerous weapon:-)

Shiloh said...

It's so pretty and spiderwebby! I'm working on a T'shirt yarn rug too. I've got about 3 sections of it done. Now I'm waiting for hubby to wear out some more white shirts.:)

Hanni said...

Pretty doily! Oh and you are making a crochet rug!! This is on my to-do list too! But I am still thinking on what material should I use for it. I am so excitedly waiting how your rug turns.
Wish you a great weekend,
Hanni

Liz said...

I love the doily! Liz

Unknown said...

Such a pretty doily. I wish I could figure out how to crochet, i tried with some headbands awhile back and failed miserably lol

Stopping by from the blog hop :) Happy to be your newest follower!

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Unknown said...

This made me wish I paid more attention to my dad when he was teaching me how to crochet and knit. ^^) thanks for sharing!


hugs,
Lelanie

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