doily study 0 - project notes

#decorative-crochet #doily-study #status_ongoing

I started this doily study at the start of 2026. My goal is to (1) advance my skills by working with more elaborate, difficult patterns and (2) develop a formula/technique for designing my own doily pattern.

So far, I've made 5 doilies, which are tagged with the #doily-study tag. (I'm still adding records for earlier projects.)

Things I've learned from this study so far:

• The number of stitches in the starting round is usually a multiple of 8. The final doily usually has 8 major "points" with an optional 8 minor "points" in between.
• Many patterns use a ch2 for the first dc, but I've been using the alternate dc instead. It's easier to work into and it's nearly undetectable in the final work. (I've got a link to a stitch tutorial in my -- crochet link directory -- under Hacks and Other Techniques.)
• If you want to end/start a round in middle of a chain space, join the round with a stitch instead a chain + slst. For example, if the round has ch1 spaces, work the last ch1 as a hdc into the first stitch. Use larger stitches for longer chains:
  • Ch1 → Hdc
  • Ch2 → Dc
  • Ch3 → Tr
  • Ch4 → Dtr
  • And so on...
• You can use a hook as small as 1mm with #10 thread. I previously believed 1.75mm was as small as I could go.
• Textured stitches don't show up very well in doilies meant to be wall hangings. Flatter stitches work better. Therefore, if it made sense to omit a textured stitch, I did so.