This was a really fun project to make, however, I have to admit that by the end of the last round I never wanted to crochet another picot in my life!
I make alot of my stuff without patterns, so I am not great with dodgy ill-defined ones (like some of the amazing crocheter I know). I found this pattern online free, it is a vintage pattern and available at lots of different places in both US and UK terminology, I did check out the comments on the sites, and no one seemed to think that there were any problems with the pattern – a fact which I can concur with as I have now completed it. I did however, only find one chart pattern for this, and that was only a partial, so if you are a chart fanatic you may have to do some deeper research.
Although I love to crochet, and I like to admire well done dollies, I am always a little concerned that actually most people these days do not want their rooms full of these, and the may not even want one on the side board.
So yes, a doily is great to make for yourself and to show a level of achievement and skill, but I would certainly not recommend a beginner crocheter to set their sights on these are you will spend a lot of time and most people who don’t crochet will not appreciate them 🙁
One day the doily will be fashionable again, but I fear that it is not now.
So if you have perfected all the stitches for this, where do you go next? I love to crochet with cotton, but that is rather limited. If you are feeling flush then you can upgrade and go for silk and make shawls and lots of beautiful things. If however you are constrained by a budget, then you may want to try either jewelry or ornaments. Luckily for those who crochet, vintage is all the rage again, and that includes wonderful Christmas decorations hand make in cotton!!