END OF FALL DOILIES

Hard to believe that the official start of Winter begins just one week from today (at 6:38pm EST on 12/21 to be exact)! So I thought that if I am to show off any of my Fall doilies at all, it's pretty much now or never!

I really have very few of them that are specific to Fall, for although Spring, Summer and Winter are all VERY WELL represented in crochet doily patterns, I never seem able to find many that do justice to glorious Autumn.  Here is a beauty called Fall Leaves. 

One of my favorites is this Wheat Doily done in #30, a very thin, delicate thread that makes it look as wispy as the genuine thing. It reminds me of the dainty crops of assorted grains that dot the farmer's fields in the Fall. I love to watch as the wind swirls the plants around as it frolics merrily in amongst them.  How I would adore dancing along too, but somehow I don't think a farmer would exactly share my enthusiasm!!!   

I wasn't quite happy with this Leaf and Acorn Doily pattern as written because I thought the acorns were a little too thin and pointy for my taste, so I played around with it a little (okay...a lot!).  Also, I could only find brown threads two sizes too large, so I had to re-configure the connecting row to return to the pattern specifications.  Not being mathematical by nature, I had a rough time of it, but I think it came out nicely in the end, and I DO like MY acorns much better than theirs, so it was well worth the added effort!

And speaking of acorns, this little guy is busily 'squirreling' his away for Winter.  This pattern was originally designed to be a bookmark, but at 6" x 10" I thought I would rather turn mine into a small wall hanging!  Boy the designer must REALLY have some huge volumes to need a bookmark of  those proportions!!!!

This Wild Grapes Doily is gorgeous, but I found it quite difficult and time-consuming!  Far too many popcorn stitches and WAY too much counting!   My daughter asked me to make her one too, but I think I'll just leave her THIS one in my will!!!!  Sorry Julie, maybe we could find a more user-friendly pattern you could be happy with instead?

This Fall I participated in a Holiday exchange with my Thread Addicts crochet group and this is what I came up with for my partner. There are so many different holidays one can celebrate at this season of the year.  The biggest, of course, is the christian Christmas, but there is also Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Pagan tradition, Winter Solstice and any variation therein.  I had a hard time deciding what to make.  So I settled on a Celebration of  the Winter to come!  And this is what the package contained.

I chose the Sunburst Doily to acknowledge the gradual return of the sun which begins just after the longest Solstice night. Anyway who can't use a little additional sunshine in the Winter when the days are so very short! 

This Pine Tree Doily honors the wonderful pines that will brighten our long Winter months ahead with their various shades of delightful green in an otherwise drab, brown world.  Besides, I thought it was cool that  the motifs for the pine tree look like so many Jewish Stars of David. 

So I will end by wishing  you all a happy ending to a magnificent Fall, now that Old Man Winter is literally breathing his icy winds down our backs.  And if all the flurries we have experienced every day for about a week now, and the incredible cold of the last few days are any indication, he's got some mighty big plans up HIS sleeve!!!  I can hardly wait!!!!!