June 30, 2026

Started trying the Firefly with different cottons as a 2nd thread (to make it more robust). Some weren’t right (turquoise/teal ones), some were OK - but all of them muted the sheen of the Firefly.

July 1, 2026

Lindsay (Wednesday craft group) had the idea of using a cotton yarn laid across the top of the stitches and crochet over the top of it.

Tried that - works OK. Then thought about using fishing line as a 2nd thread - that seems to be OK too.

Pain to frog though! Think that’s the Firefly though.

Made a leaf. Didn’t use fishing line (didn’t want it to curl), but crocheted over a thread of Drops 7 (55 Dark Moss).

July 2, 2026

Started the bag proper. The fishing line makes it a little curly - won’t use it on the edges (red Firefly). Also decided to crochet over a thread of Drops 7 (55 Dark Moss).

Seem to have had a bit of a st miscount on R15/16, only noticed when i was finishing R16 and had one extra stitch.

July 3, 2026

Still couldn’t figure out what’s going on with st count (start R15 / end R16) but I tried again anyway.

I’ve frogged the last bit multiple times but couldnt tell what happened. Don’t really want to frog 2 rows, so I’m just going to decrease at the end to make it work.
(This was ok wit the designer, just need to check everything ok when doing the 2nd panel)

Double stitch markers:
Red: R11
Purple: R16
Yellow: R17

Same thing just happened with the end of R17!! One extra st - but how?! I can’t figure it out… at one point I wondered if I was including the turning ch3, but I’ve checked and it isn’t that (as far as I can see). Aaargh!!

July 4, 2026

Found the charts quite confusing, because they were showing the WS up, which made my brain hurt :(

But Lala has flipped them now, which is much better.

July 5, 2026

It’s taking such a long time! Planning every round with stitch markers to make sure there are enough sts / in the right place, then carrying the fishing line and the cotton to add robustness. Evening light is really difficult with this yarn too…

Was up until 03:30 to finish R19-20.

July 6, 2026

Finally finished panel 1: R21-22.

Took a photo of that one side - had to pin it down because the fishing line distorts it (hope it will be OK when I’ve got things in the bag).

R1-13 of panel #2: 2h:32m:16s
This time I’m just crocheting over the fishing line and piece of cotton. It’s less time-consuming and it’s lying flatter (as expected).

I’m also understanding the pattern a bit better, so I’m putting st markers in the middle 2 sts at the tall points (rather than at the beginning & end sts of the pair of sts), so I don’t need to move as many st markers at the start of a new row.

July 7, 2026

Work today, so not as much time.
R14-17 (forgot to time it)
Need concentration for R18, so leaving it for tomorrow, to do in one fell swoop.

July 8, 2026

Finished R18 and R19 - mapping out the rows took longer than I expected. Also had another issue with a missing st on the final section (#22 onwards) of R18. No idea how - I’d counted my sts too!! Ended up having to omit the final dec, so the st count was right.

R19 worked like a dream, though I was very slow doing it!

#WIPWednesday:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Dai4yl1EQGI/?igsh=MXI5aGliYmQ...==

July 9, 2026

R20-22. It’s so hot today (33⁰C with 78% humidity) that it was really slow work for both my brain and hands.

Good news: Lala has extended the test until Saturday 11th (extended from today Thurs 9th).

Most of the stitch markers are out now!

TOP TIP:

1. When mapping out R18 (2 colours), keep the st markers in - they’ll ve needed for R19 in the same places.
2. When doing R20 FLO, put the stitch markers in the BLO and keep them there for R21 BLO.

July 10, 2026

R23-24 on panel 2. Cut the fishing line & cotton, leaving enough to go round the panel when I join them together. Removed stitch markers.

Did veins on panel 2. Took a while! Used st markers and a basting stitch with scrap yarn. Will add veins to panel 1 at some point too, but running out of time again. I ll take photos with panel 2 facing up.

Put st markers back in each panel!! Aargh I’d have left the key ones in if I’d known or thought about it. There does seem to be a slight mismatch (probs because of my stitch miscalculation on panel 1, but I’ll fix it & adjust as I go.

I made a leaf on July 1, and I’ve decided to use it as the equivalent of a button. I still have the strap to make and not enough time to make leaves first.

July 11, 2026

Spent most of the day learning Romanian Cord and trying to replicate it with my Firefly. It’s not easy with a dark yarn!! Decided to add in fishing line too, to help with durability & stability.

Started on joining the panels together, but very difficult in evening light, intense heat (33⁰C with 78% humidity) and pressure to finish ;)

July 12, 2026

Bit of a breeze today and it was so lovely to be outside finishing off the joining. Sooo much easier in the light!!
Note: used a 3mm hook to join, as it was easier to find the BLOs.

Extended the chain for the button loop by 3ch.

Spent a while taking photos to send off. Happy with them - so worth it in the end!

……………..
Weights:
N.B. 1. =panel #1 … 2. =panel #2
.
. Firefly green: 100.44g / 36.05g / (64.39g)
Leaf: 1.51g + 1. 68.12g + 2. 36.05g
.
. Firefly red: 101.53g / 31.39g / (70.14g)
1. 73.58g + 2. 45.28g + strap. 34.30g + join. 31.39g
.
. Fishing line: 55.64g / 46.84g / (8.8g)
1. 49.80g + 2. 48.76g + strap. 46.84g
.
. Drops 7 (55): 50.00g / 46.44g / (3.16g)
1. 48.17g + 2. 46.44g
. Drops 7 (48): 46.14g / 42.97g / (3.17g)
1. 44.63g + 2. 42.97g
.
Embroidery:
. Olive cotton 4ply: 17.17g / 1. 15.90g / (1.27g)
……………..

July 14, 2026

Pattern Release Day:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DayO69zEfs_/?igsh=MXZrMjVvNGF...==