08-30-2020

Yarn finally arrived and I cleared the deck for this project. And then I read the project notes of others. And it scared me. So many people said it was hard to follow.

Decided to steel myself and jump in - and I’m so glad I did. The pattern is completely clear, well written, and precisely documented.

I think the issue is that it reads more like a knitting pattern than a crochet pattern. Since I’m a knitter first, and only a crocheter for the last couple of months, this is perfect for me. Every other crochet pattern I’ve done I had to seek out help on the internet for something. Not this one - it’s spot on precise so that I know exactly where to place the stitches, what my stitch count should be and when to stop so that I know where I am when I pick back up.

Through the first heart and the rest of the double crochet section, just did the first shell row. So far I’m in love with the design just as before - but I do wonder if I should go up a hook size, my work is pretty dense at the moment. I won’t change at this point, because I know I can add rows at the end to use up the yarn, but she may end up smaller than called for if this first part is an indicator.

09-12-2020

Through row 27 today. Pretty straightforward and repetitive at this point, all DC all the way around. Still not seeing much color shift yet, I’m guessing I’ll need to extend the end to ensure I use up all the yarn.

10-21-2020

Picked this one back up after a break - it’s slow going just because it’s very repetitive and with the long rows I don’t see progress so I have no motivation. Through row 32 now.

10-22-2020

Through row 33 - and that felt like I worked on it for a long time. And I still have a ton of yarn left.

10-31-2020

Finished! Ended up with 45 total rows - did row 46, but fell short by 5 points.

After finishing the pattern as written, did the following:

Rows 39-42, increase to 5 stitches for each extended point
Rows 43-45, increase to 6 stitches for each extended point

Maintain the center increase through the extra rows by doing it on every even row.

The first row during an increase you only have 2 stitches to skip in between points - after that it’s back to 4 stitches to skip.

11-14-2020

Blocked this as aggressively as possible, and she’s still small, and honestly, a bit stiff. I guess I needed to go up several hook sizes. Ended up about 36” by 36” using every last bit of yarn. I love the look, I love the design, my execution sucks from a finished object usability.