DIY - Hind's Mystery Doilies

Hind of Alexandria, Egypt is a regular contributor of DIYs, consistently amazing me with her remarkable recreations from poodle soap cozies, to TV scarves. And who can forget the time she turned a cheesy cactus cozy into a chic cushion cover?

And now she’s done it again! Twice!

Can you identify the single pattern that inspired both these elegant doilies?

Hint: These are dangerous things in the hands of peeved Parisian students.

Click here to find out:

Cobblestones!

But, you say, Hind’s beautiful doilies look so different! How can they both have been inspired by the same dismal, lumpy pattern?

I’ll let Hind explain:

This project is a reproduction of the cobblestone placemat from September 20, done twice. The bigger one is done in crochet following the written instructions (with some modifications) ,the other one is mostly knitted after having a better look at the photo close up (also with some modifications).

Interestingly, while Hind’s crocheted doily is more faithful to the original pattern, it’s her mostly knitted doily that comes closest to recreating the appearance of the cobblestone placemat.

Here’s the original. Note that despite having been ironed and starched to within an inch of its life, the motif still doesn’t lie completely flat. In fact, if you look closely, you can see the edges tenaciously trying to curl up even as the photo was taken. No doubt the bumpiness of this placemat was the inspiration for the pattern’s name.

Above, you can see Hind’s crocheted version, which not only lies flat, but is also ten times prettier!

Hind was kind enough to share her modified pattern:

Crocheted Cobblestone Doily

Rd 1 - Over a ring of 10 ch make 18 sc, join with a sl st.
Rd 2 - 1 ch and 1 sc over sl st, 6 ch, skip 2 sc, sc in next sc. Repeat 5 times. End with sl st in the first sc.
Rd 3 - 1 sl st into ch space, 1 more sl st, 6 ch, 5 dtr separated by 1 ch, 1 ch, 6 dtr separated by 1 ch (36 dtr + 36 ch = 72 stitches.) Join with sl st.
Rd 4 - Sl st into ch 1 space, ch 1, 2 sc into each ch 1 space. (72 sc st) Join with sl st.
Rd 5 – Ch 1. Make a Rd of 72 sc, with a 4 ch picot on every third sc. (24 picots)

Note - Picots are done in many ways. I used here the most simple version done over a previous round (Facing the right side of work), which is: 1 ch, 1 sc, 4 ch, look at the base of these 4 ch, the sc st has two front loops, the right one is horizontal while the left one is vertical, insert hook into both these loops, yo and pull a loop, yo make a sc (picot done), 3 sc, 4 ch repeat.

After last picot make 2 sc over the last sc of the previous rd, sl st in first st of rd 5, cut thread and weave end in. (When looking at the photo, you’ll notice that over each group of 6 dtr there 4 picots. I used the two middle picots for joining, leaving the first and the last ones as just an embellishment).

Hind recommends this great tutorial for learning how to make a picot stitch. Renovia’s photos make this one of the clearest explanations of a picot I’ve ever seen.

Join the motifs while working the fifth rd of the second motif, using the picots for joining as following: Upon reaching the second picot of any group, make only 2 ch, sl st into corresponding picot of the first complete motif. (It will be the third picot in the group of 4 picots, because both motifs’ backs are facing each other) 2 ch, make new picot, 3 sc, and other joining picot. Continue the motif.

Hind also generously shared her pattern for the doily that uses both knit and crochet stitches. I love the teeny tiny stockinette stitches!

Mostly Knitted Doily

Cast on 48 stitches.
1st row - Knit.
2nd row - Knit 2 stitches together, yarn over, knit 2 tog, yo, until the end of row, then add 1 stitch to keep the number of stitches even (48).
3rd row - Knit.
4th row - Purl.
5th row - Knit.
6th row - Purl.
7th row - (Hold knitting in left hand and crochet hook in right hand) Pick 3 knitted stitches onto the hook, one by one, pull hook through all 3 stitches, 3 ch, yo, pick next 3 knitted stitches, pull hook through them, make 1 dc, yo, repeat till the end of row. (There will be 16 dc including the starting 3 ch, and 15 spaces between them).
8th row - ' Turn work.' 15 sc in the 15 spaces, 1ch, 1 sc into the first sc to form a ring with 16 spaces.

Join the two sides as following: 2 sl st into dc, now hold both sides together, with wrong side facing you, join with slip stitches until you reach the 2nd knitted row, 2 sl st into the knitted st to keep the 'hole' intact, 2 ch, join the rest of the motif with a slip st.

Border of the motif: Turn motif to the right side, 2 sc in the 2 ch space, 1 sc between each two knitted stitches, 2 sc into each 'hole'. (The result will be 72 st).

Join the motifs while working this border as follows: 8 sc, pull the loop on hook a bit longer, take the hook out of the loop, insert hook in a back loop of the first motif. (You are holding the second 'unfinished' motif with your left hand and the first 'finished' motif with your right hand.) Pick up the long loop of the unfinished motif and pull it through the back loop already on hook, insert hook into the back loop of the first motif and make a sl st.

Join 3 more stitches in the same manner. This will make an almost invisible joining. After joining 4 stitches, work the rest of the round in sc like the first motif.

When joining the next motifs, remember that there is always a space of 8 sc between the 4 st joints.

The whole doily has a 2nd border, done like this:

Rd 1 - Make a sc and a ch st in every second sc of the previous rd. Between motifs make 3 ch, 1 sc in the third sc of next motif, repeat.
Rd 2 - (in crab st) From left to right, 1 crab st in 1 ch space of previous rd, 2 ch,1 crab st, 2 ch, repeat. In the 3 ch space between motifs make 1 crab st.

A video tutorial for crab stitch can be found near the end of this post.

And ta-da! You now have a knitted doily that’s guaranteed to have your friends and family saying, “How on earth did she do that?”

I recommend smiling and coyly claiming that you have access to secrets from the Mysterious East.