Little Doily for Valentine's Day

I also made a little doily from the Coats & Clarks site, called "Heart's Desire Doily". It's in a bright pink.

These pictures were scans done before blocking. So today was doily blocking day.

I set up the ironing board in one of the girls' bedrooms. Hey, one is at college, the other working in Alaska for 3 months. I have a few months to use both rooms as "stash supply room", craft central! Anyway, I made copies of a blocking page I have, lined them up on the ironing board and pinned waxed paper over them. I then sprayed the doilies lightly with water. I'm a gentle blocker. Some people soak the doily in liquid starch, wring it out and then start stretching & blocking. I spray it lightly with water & gently shape it. Then pin it along the blocking lines. Then I spray with a light spray starch, the kind that say "light, crisp look" or something similar. Then I hold the steam iron about 5 inches above the doily and let the steam penetrate for a few minutes. Do not let the iron touch the crochet, we're not ironing out wrinkles, we're letting the fibers get damp and warm, which causes them to relax. Then the light starch sets the doily in the position pinned. When dry, the doily is not stiff like a piece of heavy cardboard, it's still very flexible, like fabric, because that's what it is.

I use a very light, gentle hand when blocking.