The third time lucky doily...

I had a ball of sparkly purple yarn and decided to make s present for my sister.  One of her rooms has a mauve and white theme and she likes to protect surfaces with cloths. I know because she sent me some to hem a few months ago.  She doesn't have a sewing machine or the time to do it herself.  I decided a doily would be perfect even though it would never be a delicate doily as the purple yarn is dk weight.

I made a couple of false starts.  My first effort was a round coaster which turned out well but was, unsurprisingly, coaster sized.  I tried a bigger pattern which gave me lots of practice but turned out very weird.  

I then hit on the idea of sticking with what I know I can make i.e. a granny square made a bit more special by the addition of a frilly edge.  The tutorial I used for the granny square is:

It is very detailed and perfect for beginners.  

I also found an easy pattern for adding a frilly edge to a granny square on the Attic 24 blog here.  There are so many clear photographs in the pattern that it is the next best thing to hand-holding.  I followed the edging pattern but didn't go as far as adding the scallops.  I tried them out and they looked great but I didn't have enough yarn left this time.  

I'm quite pleased with the way this doily turned out for a first effort.  I used all the purple yarn and some oddments of mauve and white yarn.  It doesn't compare to some of the beautiful doilies I see in Blogland.  But at 11" square it will come in useful for something.  It would look even more sparkly with a table lamp sitting on it.  I couldn't crochet until 2 years ago and it is still a complete mystery to my sister.  So I think she will be suitably impressed.