Small Doily Crochet Video

This small doily was literally my very first attempt at writing doily patterns years ago. I've come a long way since then. 

But we all start somewhere when just learning or trying ourselves at something new. 

This is a very simple pattern and maybe it will be someone's very first attempt at thread or doily crochet. 

This doily measures about 5 inches across. I used Aunt Lydia's crochet cotton thread size 10 and a steel hook 1.5 mm. 

The written pattern is here: Small Flower Doily 

and I also made a video tutorial on Youtube. 

Anastasia Square Doily, My New Crochet Design

On the New Year 2018, I made a resolution to design 100 doilies! 

I haven't fulfilled my resolution in one year, but I continue working on it. 

This is my doily design number 18! 

Until now I was designing round doilies, but I wanted to try something different! 

So I made a square doily! 

My challenge was to make it look like a doily, not just a square crochet motif. 

Crochet square motives usually look like they need to be connected to form a bigger piece. A crochet motif has an unfinished look on its own. 

But a square doily should look complete on its own. I think my Anastasia doily does!

There aren't any fancy or complicated stitches in this pattern; however, I wouldn't recommend it to beginners! 

There are lots of repeating instructions within repeating instructions, which make the pattern long and complicated. 

But I did try to make it as detailed as possible, and I included lots of explanatory notes, as well as pictures for visual help. 

The pattern is written using the US crochet terminology.

Skill Level: Intermediate 

Measurements: about 13 inches square

Materials: steel hook 1.5 mm; crochet cotton thread size 10, about 300 yards

My pattern is available in my Etsy and Ravelry shops: 

Also, did you know that I started a YouTube channel? I even made one video in Russian, and plan to make one in Spanish! Isn't that cool? :) 

Simple Beginner's Doily, Crochet Video Tutorial

This small doily was one of my very first attempts at designing doilies and writing patterns. I made it back in 2013. 

Now that I started my youtube channel, I wanted to film a video for it. 

Oh boy, there were quite a lot of mistakes in the pattern! But I fixed them all now! 

It's a very simple doily, measures about 8.5 inches after blocking. 

My original written pattern is here: Small Doily in Cream Color

Ninfa Doily, My New Crochet Pattern

I am excited to present my new doily design! 

It is a small doily (only 10 inches across after blocking), which features lots of popcorns.

This doily is quick and easy to make, and only takes about 100 yards of thread. 

I name my doilies after my friends, so I named this doily Ninfa after my very good friend. 

I only met Ninfa last year, but we became instant friends. We live in the same neighborhood, go to the gym together, occasionally meet for coffee at our local Starbucks, go hiking, and text each other every day! 

Yesterday we went on a hike up on the foothills behind my house. We've been having a lot of rain here in Northern California, and the hills turned so lusciously green! What a joy to go for a walk with a good friend to enjoy the nature and fresh air! 

My Ninfa Doily pattern is available in my shops on Etsy and Ravelry! 

Alina Crochet Doily in White, Blue, and Pale Green

This is my most recent design - Alina Doily (I name my doilies after my friends). 

Most of the time, I make my doilies in white, as it's at the classic color for doilies. When browsing through vintage patterns, you will see that they are exclusively white. 

But it's fun to experiment with colors! 

I have to admit I'm not very good at creating interesting color combinations. But I am pleased with the colors I chose for this doily. 

I really like it! Feels very fresh and crisp, just like the winter air outside of my home right now! 

The pattern is available in my Etsy, Craftsy, and Ravelry shops.

Alina Doily, My New Crochet Pattern

Finally I have a new doily pattern! I named this doily after a friend of mine. I now made it a tradition to name my doilies after friends, and I like this idea. 

This doily measures about 16 inches across (after blocking). I used Aunt Lydia's classic cotton thread size ten and a 1.5 mm steel hook. 

I like the way my doily looks in white, and right now I'm working on another Alina doily in blue, white, and green. It's coming out lovely. 

But just look how pretty it looks in variegated thread! The doily shown below was made by Jovette, who tested the pattern for me. Thank you Jovette!

The pattern is available in my Etsy, Craftsy, and Ravelry shops.

For the next few days, the price is 50% off. 

I'm also having a giveaway for this pattern on my Facebook page. To enter my giveaway, follow/like my FB page and leave a comment on the post about this doily pattern. I will draw three people at random and announce the winners on Wednesday morning (December 12). 

Pattern Giveaway: Pineapple Bouquet Doily

Hello blogging friends! 

Those of you who have been blogging or following blogs for many years probably have noticed that it has changed dramatically! 

A lot of wonderful bloggers have left the blogland, others moved to different platforms like Facebook and Youtube. 

Do you remember the fun times of link parties and giveaways? I don't see very many of those either. 

My own blog and blogging style have changed too! I started by blog as a way to connect with other women and share my work. 

But with time it grew from hobby to a small business. And of course, there is nothing wrong with making money from one's work; we all need to pay our bills and buy our food. But there are days when I miss blogging just for the joy of it!

Reminiscing for the past days, I decided to have a Giveaway!

This doily is called Pineapple Bouquet and I designed it earlier this year. I am giving away my pattern to three winners. 

To enter my giveaway, please visit my Facebook Page, follow me (if you are not a follower yet) and leave me a comment on the post about this giveaway! 

Olga Poltava on Facebook 

I will announce the winners on my Facebook page tomorrow morning, so hurry up! 

This Pineapple bouquet was made by Jovette. I really like the ombre color of the edging. Very pretty! 

And this one was made by Preetha of Pretty Expressions. I like it in this color too; very delicate!

Thank you for stopping by! 

Happy blogging and crocheting! 

Autumn Leaves

I designed this doily last spring and named it Spring Leaves. 

But it can be autumn leaves just as well!

My son picked up some colorful leaves on his way back home from school! 

And I set a little autumn display! 

The pattern for the doily is available in my shops: Etsy, Craftsy, and Ravelry 

I'm linking this post to

Link Your Stuff @ Annamarie's Haakblog

Home Sweet Home Friday @The Charm of Home,
Cooking and Crafting with J & J @ Julie's Lifestyle
Ginx Wooly Linx Part @ Ginx Craft

Ziva Doily by Preetha Jeyaram Mohan

Textured doilies have become quite popular in the last few/several years. I've made probably over a hundred doilies, but I had never made a textured one until now!

This is my first textured doily! 

The pattern is Ziva by Preetha Jeyaram Mohan.

Preetha has tested a lot of my crochet patterns, and I was glad and excited to test a pattern for her. 

This was a challenging project and I learned a couple of new interesting stitches along the way. 

I absolutely love the way my Ziva doily turned out! I used aunt Lydia's classic thread in size ten and a 1.75 mm steel hook. My doily turned out 10 inches.

I was worried that when I block my Ziva doily, the dark blue color might bleed. And it did!

But I actually like the way it looks! 

Preetha's pattern for Ziva Doily is available for sale on Ravelry for only $1.00

You can also follow Preetha and see more of her crochet work on Facebook! 

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In my previous posts I've shared some personal struggles that my family and I are going through. A lot of you have been very supportive. I greatly appreciate that! 

This summer has been very difficult for me. I live in constant state of stress and anxiety. And now there is also so much worry and sadness in my heart. 

About a month ago, my father had an open heart surgery. The doctors said it went well, but his recovery has been very difficult. He was admitted to the hospital twice after the surgery. He had fever for many days and was very weak and fatigued, yet the doctors were saying it's just a part of the recovery process. 

Finally, when he was back at the hospital for the third time, they discovered there was an infection and they had to perform another urgent surgery. 

It's been a few days now, and my dad is still in the hospital in a critical condition. 

I'm really scared and worried. And I just don't know how to deal with all these feelings and emotions! 

Crocheting doesn't help at the moment as I can't focus and keep making stitching mistakes. 

I did a lot of gardening today. That seemed to help a little. 

Tomorrow I'm going to drive two hours to visit my dad. 

Please, keep my dad, my family, and me in your prayers and positive thoughts. Just knowing you are there for me helps. Thank you! 

Happy Summer and Vintage Doily

It's the first day of summer! Hooray! 

I'm in a very cheerful and high spirited mood! 

Look what I found tucked away in my craft box! A beautiful vintage doily that I made a few years ago!

I did a post about it and shared the free vintage pattern back in 2015. You can see it in this old post!

But I honestly don't like the pictures I took back then. So creepy! They don't do any justice to this beautiful doily!

Thus, I wanted to take new photos, bright and cheerful! And the first day of summer is perfect for it! 

The gladioluses are from my garden! Many years ago I bought five bulbs from a dollar store, and since then I have beautiful, cheerful gladioluses every year! Good investment! 

The apples are not from my garden! I just thought they would fit nicely in the pictures! 

But I do have some golf ball sized apples on the tree in my backyard! I'm so excited and cannot wait for them to grow and ripen! 

Happy First Day of Summer! 

What's going on in your garden? 

Katrina Doily, New Crochet Pattern

First of all, I want to thank you for your kind comments, advice, suggestions, and virtual hugs in respond to my previous post! 

I read and re-read your comments several times! It helps! Your kindness and support mean a lot to me! Thank you!

And now I want to share my new doily design! 

All those picots were very tedious to make. Then they were even more tedious to block!

But the final result is worth it! I love how airy and light my new doily is!

It's a medium size doily that measures about 15 inches across (after blocking). I used Aunt Lydia's classic cotton thread size ten and a 1.5 mm steel hook. 

The pattern is available in my shops: Etsy, Craftsy, and Ravelry. 

I'm linking this post to

Craft Schooling Sunday @ Crative Jewish Mom

Link Your Stuff @ Annamarie's Haakblog

Coloring to Keep My Mind Calm

When I started this blog back in 2011, I couldn't have imagined that crochet will become such a huge part of my life.

Back then it was simply a relaxing activity, something I did just for fun!

But now it's my job! I am grateful for my blog and my pattern shop, for people who follow me, buy my patterns, encourage and support me! 

Crocheting is still highly enjoyable for me, but it's no longer relaxing. Now there is always some pressure present - to make a new post with a free pattern, to release a new paid pattern, to get back to a customer who needs help as soon as I can, etc. But all of these issues are just a part of having a small online business, so I'm not complaining, not at all. 

But over the past year I've been dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety related to my personal life, which greatly impact my mental and emotional health. 

One of the biggest issues is that I have trouble sleeping at night. There are always so many thoughts racing through my mind, keeping me awake! 

I've been trying to find activities that could help me stay calm. 

I tried meditation, but it's very difficult actually. I do keep trying. 

And now I found one activity that is calming and enjoyable just the way crocheting used to be. 

Coloring! 

I find it very soothing. I do it just for the sake of doing it. No pressure! 

I bought a book of 20 postcards, and I color every day. When I finish a card, I write a short note and send it to a family member or a friend, just wising them a good day or thanking them for being in my life. That too helps to calm myself, just knowing that I am not alone, that I have a lot of people who care about me. 

I gave up drinking coffee, and now I mostly drink tea. A lot of tea! 

But black tea still has caffein, so I should probably switch to green tea.

I hope this post wasn't too depressing. If you have any advice, please do share. 

The doily in the photo above is the Spring Bloom Doily, a free design that I posted earlier this year. You can see my free pattern here.

Stay calm and happy!   

Valentina Doily, New Crochet Pattern

Growing up back in Ukraine, when I was 15-16 years old, I took machine embroidery classes, making this beautiful cutwork embroidery called Richelieu. 

Unfortunately, I no longer have that skill, but I had an idea to make a crochet doily with a similar look/feel to it. 

I absolutely love the way my doily turned out! 

Coming up with a unique and suitable name for my doilies is always a big challenge. After some thinking, I decided to start naming my doilies after my friends! 

So this one is Valentina! 

The finished doily measures about 17 inches across. I used the steel hook size 1.5 mm and Aunt Lydia's classic cotton thread size 10 (about 320 yards). 

Only basic stitches are used in this pattern: chain, slip stitch, single crochet, double crochet, and treble crochet. 

The pattern is available in my Etsy, Craftsy and Ravelry shops.