Process over Product

I’ve always loved lace. I think it’s beautiful, I love the delicate intricacies and variations. I love lace clothes, lace curtains, lace tablecloths. For my wedding I queered up my outfit by wearing a cathedral length lace veil over my butch tailored pants and vest. However, I’ve never been much into doilies. They’re pretty, but honestly they just don’t fit my aesthetic for home decor. A few weeks ago, I made a new friend on Star Island who was working on crocheting lace doilies. I’ve been wanting to explore more with crochet, and I’ve always wanted to learn to make lace, so she generously gifted me an extra crochet hook and some thread and taught me to make lace doilies. And they are SO much fun to make!

I usually put my craft towards making things of utility, most often clothing that is meant to be worn and used. Occasionally I make art like wall hangings, but usually only if I have a clear vision of exactly where it is going to be displayed or to whom it is going to be gifted. Doilies are an odd gray area in that they are meant to be decorative, but also have a use (kind of like coasters, I guess?) but they’re honestly not something I’ll personally ever use or display. It’s weird for me to spend so much time making a thing that I have no use for and no intended gift recipient of. I just finished my second, and immediately started on a third one. And I’m going to keep making them, just because they are fun to make!

I’ve been struggling a lot with my chronic depression recently, and I made a comment to my therapist a few weeks ago that knitting was starting to feel like a chore–I have to finish this sweater, not I want to knit. I know intellectually that’s my depression talking, and that continuing to practice my hobbies and make art, even when I don’t really want to, is one of the best things I can do for my mental health. I have so many projects on my to-do list (There’s another decade birthday sweater that I need to buy yarn for, I would love to actually make a sweater for myself at some point, I have a weaving project for Caitlin that is half finished, and I think I want to extend this crochet lace experiment into trying to make myself some lace clothing!) But right now, I think having a project that exists solely because I enjoy the act of creating it, with no pressure to finish or produce anything, just the joy of the process itself, is exactly what I need. So, with everything else on pause, I’m making lace doilies.

On that note– does anyone actually truly love lace doilies? I’m considering trying to sell them, but if anyone I know would genuinely get joy from using and displaying them I’d be happy to make some gifts!

• Featured project: Lace Doilies
• Medium: Crochet
• Pattern: Various from: https://freevintagecrochet.com/doilies.html
• Materials: cotton crochet thread, size 1.25mm hook
• Completed: Summer 2025
• Estimated cost at fair price: $125

#crochet #showcase #alwayslearning #mentalhealth #processoverproduct