Table manners

Doilies are definitely a thing of beauty and a joy forever... Over the years I have made dozens of doilies. I find it just magical that a simple ball of thread can end up looking so intricate, exquisite, delicate and of course elegant. Oh yes... I do love doilies (or did you guess as much from my last post!).

But, once in a way I like to keep pretty aside and go for for something that is practical, something that is useful. This Table Napkin Holder is the result of one such trip down the Utility road. I had seen some pretty napkin holders on various blogs (not sure whether they are Spanish or Portuguese), but could not find a suitable pattern in English. So I decided to just make it up as I go along.

And, my dearies this is what I made.

The cream and brown colour were chosen to match our dining table. I used knitting cotton  and a 2.5 mm hook. Once it was completed I felt it looked quite plain, so thought of adding some flowers on top.

I wanted an "elegant" spray but these flowers were all I could manage before my patience ran out.

Do you think the flowers match the napkin holder? Please let me know. Maybe next time I will make different flowers and use different colours.

Here is a close-up of the flowers.

Now isn't that something pretty and handy to have on your dining table.

See you later. Do feed my fish at the bottom of this page.
Love xxx

My Favourite Book

Reading used to be the greatest passion in my life till crocheting took over. As it was simply not possible to read and crochet at the same time, books had to take the back seat. The other reason being that it is so much easier to crochet and watch TV at the same time. But I still love books very much and am always on the lookout for new books to buy.

Today I am going to show you my most favourite crochet book  Lovely Lace. 

This book was a  birthday present from my dear friend Malati, in the year 1988. Since then I have made many beautiful doilies from this book.

Here are a few pages from the book and some of my doilies;

 

This doily is now with my mom gracing her centre table.

This doily was an experiment in colour.

The last doily has since been frogged as the shaded pink was not doing justice to the beautiful pattern. As if it was not evident in the first few rounds... I completed the whole pattern before unraveling it ...duh?!

Here is a small tip for crocheters who use pattern books. I never crochet directly from the book. I always use a copy of the pattern and then put the book back in my library. I find it easier to mark my place, note down any modifications, write down the size of thread and hook etc on the copy.  So now you can see that my book is in excellent condition even after 24 years!

Did you find this tip to be useful? Do let me know.

Happy crocheting. xxx