Decided to do a chainless foundation row instead of chaining and then a row of (US) dc…

Chainless Foundation (UK tr)
Bella Coco:
https://youtu.be/lj-LeERBoes
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Used the YouTube video mentioned in the blog:
https://youtu.be/VYZib58PjPc
This helped, because I couldn’t always picture what I needed to do (especially at the beginning), even though there are lots of photos in the pattern.
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Did a chainless foundation row of 100 sts but somehow after 2 rows I ended up with more sts before and after the midway point. No idea how that happened; decided to dec at the fold.
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Changed to 3mm hook as well.
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Used a lot of st markers and scraps of yarn to pre-count sts (for the pockets and “catching DCs” especially) because it just made everything easier for me.
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Had some issues with R11a because there was no video available for this part … important to note that the start of this row should be anchored into the ‘open side’ as the first sc (in the same way as creating the pockets) - I turned my work and went along the back edge and was therefore in the wrong place.
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Beads felt like they were too close to the top edge of the petal, so I added a row of (ch, sl st). Decided I preferred crab st though (it gives a firmer edge), so changed it. Could also use this st I found on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CthThy-AUX0/?igshid=MzRlOD...==
OR maybe use s shell st instead (saw this on another project, but without using beads).
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Row 24 : I had one less stitch than I should have had, so at the start of it I did (ch1, sl sl into same st) which meant that the petals were evenly spaced. It did however mean that my flap leant a little to the right, so it showed when the roll was closed - which I found a bit irritating - so I stitched the flap in place on the RHS.
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The video didn’t show the final finishing sc going up the RHS side (it’s mentioned in the written pattern, but bizarrely isn’t even mentioned for the LHS!) … so I did it on both sides to keep it even. I also extended it by doing a sc down the sides of the top flap on both edges - I did a sl st into the ridge, so that the foldability (?!) of the top flap wasn’t affected.
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Beads weighed 7g for 24.
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Found the perfect button - with little knorls on it like an ammonite.

Aug 19, 2023 WIP:
https://www.instagram.com/share/p/BAQwQdJ6ac

Finished object:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwM6Gnqra87/?igshid=MzRlODBiN...==

Aug 21, 2023:
https://www.instagram.com/share/p/_kmg8-iC_