I make a lot of doilies. There’s a collection of them on our dining table, and we use them as place mats and coasters. Yesterday after my daughters finished the dishes, I found one of the doilies left on the counter, half-wet, with rice stuck to it. It was made with moss-green KnitPicks Curio size 10 thread, a daisy design, not particularly difficult, but striking.
“Just throw it in the washer,” someone said.
“No! That will shrink it and ruin it.”
“So, just make another one.”
…!
This doily took several evenings to finish. If I had to tally up the hours, probably 12 hours in total. I prefer quality over quantity – other crocheters might be faster. The faster I go, the worse my stitch quality gets. It’s not a race unless you’re Lily Chin competing for the World’s Fastest Crocheter title.
With all those hours and at my usual professional rate, that’s about $500 worth of my time. That’s a $500 doily! Only to me, obviously.
It’s amazing how little value is placed on these beautiful objects, works of art that take so much time and care to make. In my view, it is a reflection of the minimal value placed on women’s time.
The Wool Witches of Castlegar 