02-14-2017

So I went out to a local restaurant for boiled crawfish with my husband and some friends for Valentine’s Day, looked at the white paper towels on the table, and they were the same pattern as this twirly. I even got my phone out and pulled the picture up to look at it. It gave us all a good laugh, and I forgot to take a picture. Of course, the baby blanket will be much prettier and softer than the paper towels!

02-19-2017

I’m, I dunno. Halfway done. Baby shower is March 4th, so I’ve been working hard, though in retrospect I realize I lost a lot of time because I movie-binged while crocheting, and, well, you tend to get more done if you just listen to Pandora music. I guess this coming weekend I’ll have to swear off any movies or shows, just put some face-paced music on, and let the hook fly.

I think it takes more time to sew a motif on than it does to crochet one, and that just aggravates me to no end, I much prefer using the crochet hook, but this particular design just really needed a whip stitch.

That said, I sure will be glad to be finished with this one. And it’s evident, after trying a wet block with 3 motifs and them looking no different from the unblocked motifs, I’m going to have to steam kill this yarn to get it to lie flat. I’ll have to watch PollyPlum’s video on this again, as steam killing yarn just, yuck. I don’t like it.

02-19-2017

I do not believe this. I just found -- in my library -- an easier and faster version of this pattern! AND it has a little texture! One of Priscilla Hewitt’s Matelasse patterns (I have them all), Clichy. Dang it.

Oh well, I suppose the sc and the sport weight is more “heirloom-ish”, so I’ll trudge along as quick as I can, working in motifs whenever I can and sew them together later, if I have to do it that way.

02-22-2017

On wrong side (to help stop curling), sc around

HALF HEXAGON:
Row 1: Chain 2, ss into first stitch, 3ch (counts as 1dc), 1dc, 2ch, 1dc twice, 1dc. (all into first stitch) Turn.

Row 2: 3ch (counts as 1dc), 1dc in each dc to the 2chsp, (1dc, 2ch, 1dc) into the 2-ch sp twice, dc to end. Turn.

Row 4 and Row 6 are hdc on the wrong side, it fits better, and looks pretty. Row 6 will have 12 st each side, plus two ch-2 sp.

UNEXPECTED BONUS ON THE HALF-HEXAGONS:
If I were actually a designer, I may have anticipated this, but I’m not, so it never crossed my mind. The ch-2 corners met up exactly to the spaces that swirl in the full hexagons, and added to the design! If I could possibly have anticipated that and were a designer, I would have pulled that right up into the first part of the border by having a simple ch-1 straight up, or something, maybe.

03-01-2017

G-hook for equalizing and border.

Finally got the sides filled in, I don’t like doing that by “feel” at all. I’m now working on the DC base border for Margaret MacInnis’ Cone border, and making sure each side equals out to 150 stitches.

150 stitches total, each side.
After the math formula, I will have 2 stitches before and after each corner, before doing the “reps”, which is the actual cone pattern, to keep the pattern centered.

I missed the part on Rnd1 where the corners should be cluster-corners, and blithely made 2dc, ch-2, 2dc corners around, and when I realized it, I refused to frog and do all. that. counting again. So, corner cluster, ch-1, sk 2 st, 2 dc, then begin reps.

So, starting this border this afternoon, have to work tonight, but should be completely finished with this thing Thursday night, and block it Friday.

Baby shower = Saturday!