Notes: made for a figure 38-1/2” bust, 34” waist, 39” hips, 10” shoulder drop, 6” fr. bustline to waist, 7” from waist to hips

May 4/16: pattern purchased today, hopefully before the CDN dollar drops even lower.

May 7/16: yarn and crochet hook purchased today.

May 9/16: consulted YouTube video for the Single Crochet Foundation chain last night.

May 13/16: gah! trying to achieve gauge on this is proving difficult. I’ve gone down from the 3.25 mm called for in-pattern to 2 mm and am still making this too tall.

May 15/16: okay, so I was able to achieve gauge with one of the S/S hooks I inherited from Aunt Rita, the 1.5mm one. My FSC chain was made with a 2.0mm hook and I’ve joined the ends. Now to figure out how to make this into a “belt-less” version.

May 17/16: finally got started last night. Ended up working row 5 before beginning the motifs, as trying to work the suggested belt-less version, starting the motifs immediately following the FSC, was just too difficult to sort out the spacing on.

May 18/16: okay, since getting over the mental block I seem to have put up around this project, I’ve been progressing quite smoothly. I don’t see this project running past next week.

May 19/16: began the back last night and realized that I had spaced the second breast-cup incorrectly due to -- stupidly -- not consulting the schematic for pineapple placement for this size. I think I’ll rip out the back section as I’ve created it this far (with a small section taken in at the back) and re-make it with a wider stitch pattern to compensate for my earlier cup-placement error, as I think I’ll prefer the look of the two cups adjoining this way, rather than with the shells in between.

May 20/16: okay, so I’ve started working the back per pattern and butting up against the right bodice. When I’m done that, I plan to rip out my work on the left bodice to start that piece over (thus, ensuring proper placement). Also, I’ve been joining the relevant side seam every other row, using slip stitches.

May 22/16: finished the back yesterday and ripped out the left bodice before I could second-guess the decision. I’m now a little under half-done that piece. It’s a lot easier to work after having completed the back -- I couldn’t get a sense of the pattern repeat before working the back. I still have to consult the chart every row, but it’s not as tedious to get through each row now.

May 24/16: completed the left front bodice yesterday and worked the SC armholes (mom doesn’t want the scalloped armholes). Still have to work the collar.

May 25/16: hallelujah! The collar has begun!

May 26/16: I haven’t the brainpower to devote to analyzing this properly, but either the pattern for the Large size is wrong or I f---ed up the FSC chain in a major way. I determined this by discovering the massive gap between the two “cups” for the front top when I butted one cup against the back piece and the other cup against the back. Unfortunately, correcting the issue by taking in the excess chain resulted in me having one 3-ch space too few at the front centre of the top, so I had to fudge that to get the motfis for the top and bottom to align. Overall, I spent a good portion of last evening seriously peeved that I even encountered this problem on a paid pattern. At least now I’m on a roll again. I placed the join for the lower portion at the left side so as to minimize any appearance of jog.

May 27/16: I thought I’d be ready to begin the scalloped edge at the hem when I was two pineapple motifs in, but that would result in a crop top, so I’ll see where I am after three motifs deep.

May 29/16: O.M.G. Each row takes so mind-numbingly long to complete! I hope to wrap up by Friday, since that’s when mom and dad are going to visit next, but I thought I’d be done by now. /whine

May 31/16: I got a laughable 3-ch done yesterday due to a headache. Yay. Gonna hafta try to plow through it today.

Jun 1/16: THANK GOD, I’M BLOCKING NOW.

Jun 2/16: dry by yesterday evening and given to mom today. Back to not crocheting! :)