How has everyone been?
I've been quite busy myself - I'm nearing towards the end of my college years and am now looking for an internship, which has been stressful since I'm right in the middle of the process as of now. It's hard to know whether or not there will be something waiting for you in the end, but hopefully I'll have something this summer after all these interviews are complete. Not only the recruiting, but also managing my academics and extracurriculars as well. I can't imagine if I had added a part-time job onto that too (that would have been too much).
Since I've been so stressed out, I've also been crocheting more which has helped me with managing with that. Although it sounds kind of like a contradiction to crochet while I have all these other activities going on, but I consider myself a fast crocheter but relatively slow knitter, which is why I've been crocheting more recently. Large doilies probably take me 2-3 days to complete, and same goes with designing doilies as well.
So above, I've got two new doily patterns for you all! :) I've been watching two doily designers I really admire - Zoya Matyushenko and Grace Fearon, both of whom love to add texture into their doilies. I've definitely been inspired. :)
Petals (pink doily on left) is my first crochet doily design. I've designed a few coasters up to this point, but I hadn't designed a full sized doily. I really wanted to challenge myself by creating a doily that was at least 7 inches in diameter. I started Petals back in September 2017, but couldn't find a way to continue it after the middle spacing, so I dropped it for a while and picked it back up in early February.
Most recently (released today!) is Mint Crystal (green doily on left). I was staring at a ball of green thread (Rico Essentials Crochet Thread in Mint), and instantly thought of Ireland. ☘️I miss Ireland a lot, especially walking around City Centre into the stores. I walked into Kilkenny Shop many times, which is a specialty store that stocks mainly souvenirs and gifts made in Ireland.
In the front of Kilkenny would be ceramic art and crystal displays. Ireland is world-famous for their crystal vases, glasses, from the likes of Waterford, Galway, and Tipperary. I had heard of Irish Crystal before I came to Ireland, so when I saw it in person I was just in awe. I loved the delicate details on the glass, since I can't imagine how hard glass is to form (as someone who does ceramics, you can always change the form of dirt, but glass cools).
The "Mint" side of Mint Crystal was from my trips up to the hills of County Meath and Louth (north of Dublin, south of Northern Ireland). I took a tour of Newgrange that included going to the Hill of Slane and Hill of Tara.
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| The Hill of Tara |
So long story short, Mint Crystal was inspired by my trip to Ireland this past summer. :) The pattern is available as of today. My doily measures 9 inches across and is now available on Ravelry.
