Bitches Get Stitches

so i have this doily,
crocheted by some ancestor,
likely from the wealthy german,
rather than working class irish, stock.

there were a lot of doilies
among the many, many relics that
never quite make it to the curb in my family.
i hung on to this one

one of the finer examples in the lot.

though i have only the most basic crochet skills,
it seems like this might only be moderately difficult to do.
(how i wish i were as good at crochet as i am at knitting!
i’d write up the pattern from this doily
to preserve it!)

but that stain
is…pretty gnarly.
how should i clean it?
and what about blocking?

normally, i’d feel pretty comfortable with that task,
except it’s cotton not wool. and then there’s this little guy:

a break in the yarn.

so what do i do, folks?
can i even clean this?
should i risk it?
or let it live
discolored?

and why do people start of blogs with “in which”, anyway?
where the heck did that begin?