Twin Hats

As with the blankets I made for the twins, which you can see in this post, I made their hats 'the same but different'. They can choose to wear matching blue hats, or turn them the other way and have hats with different patterns. Options are always good, I reckon.

Round 10 Begun

I've made a start on Round 10  of the Spring doily. After some careful measuring, I've increased the chains on either side of the single ring to 8 ds instead of 6 ds. I think that will ensure the round lies flat, without affecting subsequent rounds too much. All the other elements follow Renulek's pattern.

Second Top Is Done

I took a selfie in the mirror, since I'm on my own right now. I think I"ve made the neck a bit wide, but otherwise I'm happy with my second top. I used this chart for the lacy stitch pattern, but otherwise didn't use a pattern.

Round 9 Is Done

I've finished Round 9 of the Spring doily. Rounds are getting longer, of course, but still capable of being completed before the next round comes out, provided life doesn't interfere with tatting time too much.

Working on Round 9

Round 9 is almost a mirror-image of round 8, but the elements are not joined together, so it's not going to cup. They look a bit floppity now, but they'll be held in place by the next row.

Front of Top Two

I wonder why I bought pink cotton yarn when I already have a pink knitted top. What was I thinking? Anyway, I'm making this up as I go along. The lacy stitch forms a pleasing scallop on every fourth row, so I turned the 'skirt' upside down to add the bodice. I plan to work the sleeves downwards so that they'll finish with the scallop edge. The double crochet (single crochet in American terms) might be a bit solid, but I like the texture and the contrast with the lacy stitch.

Surgery

I had hoped that increasing the picot size after part of the way round, as I explained here, would result in the whole round lying flat. Mmm, no, the first part still stood up, in a most unsatisfactory way:

I didn't want to redo the whole round, of course, so I cut out the section that wasn't lying flat:

I had to hide ends on both sides of the cut, and create two artificial picots, one on the previous round, where I had climbed out of the round, and one on the ring that became the first ring - it had been joined to a ring that was snipped, and I needed a picot to make the final join to. That was simple enough. Once that was done, I could work a replacement section, and, phew, the whole round now lies flat. Just in time for round 9, which Renata has now published.

Thinking about it, I suspect that my joining picots in earlier rounds were too long and that's why the picots in this round have had to be very long. I hope the next round won't require adjustments!

Sampling

I think I had 'beginner's luck' with my first crochet top - I saw a picture I liked, found the stitch, did some calculations and off I went. The second one is proving more difficult. I have tried out and unraveled a great many crochet stitches. These three are 'possible'. I decided on the bottom right one and worked a few rows in full,  but it really pulls in and makes the bottom edge look horrible. Mmm, no. I'm going to try the bottom left one in full size this evening. Here's a link to the stitch chart, it's the bottom one. 

Maids In A Row

I put Round 8 of the Spring doily on hold for a bit because I needed to finish the handkerchief and post it off. Here it is, hot off the press. The edging is Maids of Honour from Mary Konior's book Tatting with Visual Patterns, tatted in size 70 thread.

Working on Round 8

I've made a start on Round 8 of Renulek's Spring doily. It has a tendency to flip up, so I'm going to make my picots a bit longer. I don't want to get all the way round and find it doesn't lie flat.

Cotton Top

I'm not a fan of having my photo taken, but just for Diane, here I am, wearing the crochet cotton top.
I decided on a shell stitch for the edgings and  made the seams flat by working whip stitch from the outside. The shoulder seams were easier than the side seams, but as long as the needle goes through each crochet stitch consistently, it looks neat, I think:

Ready to Assemble

Well, the front took me longer to complete than the back, but it's now done. I'm happy with the neckline and my decision to 'straighten out' the top edges:

Now I must work out the best way to join the two pieces and what edging to use around the bottom, sleeve edges and neck.

Round 7

Round 7 is done, a circle of little butterflies.

Butterflies

I'm working on Round 7 of the Spring Doily, which is a series of little butterflies. I'm stabilising the butterflies using very small picots between the rings. I started by putting the vsp after one double stitch, but decided that putting it after 2 ds works better. I've a way to go, so I had better get on with it! 

Second Place

Well, my crocheted beret and scarf came second in the competition. I had had no great hopes for my entry, so I'm happy with that. The first placed one is much more colourful than mine. There were a lot more entries for the beginner crochet section, perhaps because the article was more fun - a hat for a small girl. The judge felt that some of the hat makers were not really beginners!

Milly Bag

I altered a dress yesterday, took the bodice off to make a skirt, and the colour made me think of Milly. I used some of the bodice material to make a little bag for Isabel's necklace and bracelet set. Milly will guard the treasure.

A Few More Repeats

I've made some progress on the Mary Konior Maids of Honour edging and the front of the crochet top. The light in the evenings is really not good enough to tat size 70 thread, so it's good to have the more robust crochet project to work on too.

Daisy, daisy

My granddaughter has been borrowing her mum's beaded rope necklace, which may be a sign she needs her own. She has a birthday coming up, so I've made her a necklace and matching bracelet. I found the pattern on Pinterest, here. Unfortunately, I can't see the name of the designer.

Round 6

The end of the week, time for another round of the Spring doily. This is round 6. So far, so good!

The Back

I've finished the back of my crochet top. The neckline of the front is going to take some thought, I'll figure it out when I get there. Links to the stitch used are on my previous post.