01-04-2017

I started making this as a gift for someone’s upcoming holiday.

The yarn is very splitty but it feels ok. The start of the pattern was very confusing. The charts really help.

I’ve added an extra repeat of the diamond pattern, otherwise it was going to be a bit boring to do.

21/4/2017
I’ve made it to the end of the front but I’m not sure what to do now. To make it long enough, I repeated the last panel. It looks nice but I’m not sure the tension guide is right. The neck hole is very small and I’m not sure that you will be able to put it over your head once the back is added. So, I’m torn about what to do next. Should I undo the whole thing or start again with a larger hook, see what happens and then undo the first part if it looks OK? I’ve used over half my yarn on the first half, so I’d have to order more to try and finish it.

I took the advice of my crochet club and did a block of trebles at the shoulder before I started the second side to try and make the neck opening larger. I ran out of yarn before I reached the bottom of the second half. I’ve now got more yarn in the same dyelot and I’ll try to finish this mammoth project. I’m not sure the mermaid can be called graceful anymore with the weight of all the yarn!

The mermaid is now complete. I’ve learned a lot from doing it and enjoyed the challenge of making a large piece. It took 20 balls in the end. I would change hook size if I did it again as I’m sure the tension was not right even though I did test it before I started.