in which i ask for crochet advice
May 7, 2020
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?
Bitches Get Stitches 
May 7, 2020 at 3:47 pm
Thick solution of OxyClean? That’s gnarlier than I have succeeded on old doilies of my MIL… I’m not good enough with crochet to FIX the broken area, but the method would be to follow the stitches of the same area of the design on a different point… You probably figured that out yourself.
May 7, 2020 at 3:48 pm
100% didn’t figure that out myself, because i am shit at crochet but i’m adding it to my notes on this!
May 7, 2020 at 3:49 pm
“In which” probably goes back to Shakespeare or earlier!
May 7, 2020 at 4:44 pm
Oxiclean is a good idea. I had my very old wedding gown & removed all the discolored lace, soaked it a few days in Oxiclean and the lace came out beautifully; used it on my daughter’s gown. However, the lace wasn’t cotton, so cotton may hold a stain differently. Found this website for fabric restoration: https://englesideproducts.com/product/restoration-fabric-restorer/
May 7, 2020 at 4:46 pm
So helpful! Thank you!!
May 8, 2020 at 8:43 am
As old as this treasure is likely to be, the cotton fibers have already begun to break down and might not stand up to anything strong. I’d try lemon juice first, myself. As for the tiny rip, I’d just ignore it. If you repair it with new thread, the repair would show up more than the hole, and you would end up with tails you couldn’t hide.