My very first doily - tatting finished, but not quite done...

I really should have shown you this doily first. It's the first doily I started, back in March or April 2012. At that time, I didn't want to make anything bigger than a bookmark, but my tatting teacher enticed me by saying that it's so interesting to climb from round to round in a doily.

And indeed it has been interesting! Plotting the route to climb, learning the techniques (split ring and split chain). Also, learning to persevere – through thread additions and major untatting, and some periods of boredom! :-) So, the doily was only finished a few weeks ago. So then I blocked it, and now I am sewing it down onto a black cushion cover - another learning process for me. Here's a picture of the blocked doily lying on the cushion cover. Right now, the sewing is in progress, and it has a lot of tape on it, so I won't show you that!

Round Mat in Tatting, finished tatting in February 2014

Pattern: Round mat in tatting

Source: Needlewoman and Needlecraft No. 74, p. 11, April 1958

Thread: Lizbeth Spring Garden, Size 40

Size of Doily: 30 cm / 12 inches