whipPINg up …

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… a creamy frothy foamy edging around a surging sea of flowers & wooly memories !

Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to present my ta-dah post. Well, I can finally strike it off my list.  

Although completed much earlier, I am entering this as my pinterest challenge again because it took me many searches through pinterest, many cloudy moments, many trials & errors to finally settle on what was the best or closest fit for what I wanted. It is also the first time I have done something like this in crochet.

My goal : Keep it simple, but keep the focus on the elegant curves & diamond points of each motif around the edge.

When my earlier ideas didn’t quite work the way I would’ve liked them to, another option dawned on me. 

Let me walk you through the process & a few tips that work for me …

Border 1

I had some strong advice to go with lighter shades for the border. Always heed to experience & wise counsel. Decided to make the penultimate round all cream, with only a touch of colour. This made work so much easier ! I could crochet Round 1 all together; then choose the colours & crochet Round 2 ; then the cream for Round 3, attaching on the go.

This pic shows how much fun it was.

Sorry, no pics for the finished penultimate round. I was simply enjoying the rhythm and it was too cold to arrange & take pics. Also, I had begun working at a frenzied pace, coz I had to knit leg warmers before I could get back to tatting (major withdrawal symptoms ☺) Or maybe I just forgot!
Pics lower down give a fairly good idea of the penultimate round.

TIP 1 - how to remember colour choices

As I neared the last rounds of the project, colour choices & combos became more of an issue. Choosing colour combos for specific area took a lot of consideration. Then remembering those choices! I hit upon a simple way. 

After selecting, I crocheted the 1^st round & loosely attached it to the adjacent motif where I wanted it. Thus I could cover larger areas quickly & fearlessly, spreading out the shades as much as possible.

Border 2

By now I knew what was required – a cream-only half motif to fill in the triangular space.

Never done it before, and didn’t want to have to cut after every single triangle. Solved it with a couple of trials. TIP : Always use the same yarn for final trial .

Made the 2 center rounds individually; keeping only half the pattern (in center of collage)

Then the last round was crocheted around, joining to the border, and continuing to the next triangle, all in one pass. After 220 motifs (not counting the triangles), each requiring tie & cuts & hides for each of the 3 rounds, this round was a breeze! I could finally crochet all the triangles in one pass !!!

I slip stitched around the corner motif, continuing with the next side till it was all done.

TIP 2 - how to store work safely

Large projects always require stops and starts over many days. Crochet stitches are very easy to unravel – one tug by a curious child or pet, and a whole day’s work may get lost! Here’s what I do to avoid any accidents.

Start to make a chain as usual but pull out a loop long enough to pass the entire yarn/thread ball through ; tension the loop just a bit so as to avoid snarls. That’s it. Even an accidental pull will only end up tightening the ‘noose’ into a stitch; it will never unravel the previous work.

When one is ready to pick up the project again, pass the ball backwards out of the loop & continue as per pattern.

I already delineated some of my tips on how to keep large projects clean when working over a length of time.

My Rainbow !

I’ve always admired Lucy’s cheerful colour palette & wished I had those many colours/shades. Well, guess what, I did !!!

This pic is only a slice – shades chosen from the already crocheted rounds. If I had the patience, the spectrum could’ve been much better. These motifs have the crochet hook inserted through their center.

Final Edging

I had bought this beautiful blue shade just a few weeks back, and it was perfect to rein in the creamy foam of the sea of flowers. 2 rounds of slip stitch (I think). 

All ends trimmed 

So that’s it. Ta-Dah ! Hoped to block the edge before taking pics, but didn’t get around to it. I can live with it, hopefully you can too ;-P

Pattern : Floral Fiesta Afghan by Maggie Weldon. My immense thanks to her for sharing this pattern ! I enjoyed every bit , including figuring out a personalised finish !
Total Motifs : 
Main body - coloured : 12x18 = 120+36=156

Border 1 - complete motifs : 13x2 +19x2 = 26+38 = 64

Border 2 - triangles : 18+18+12+12 = 60

Crochet hook # 9 (3.50 mm)  

Final dimensions : 44" x 64” ; 112cm x 162cm (approx)

Each motif : 2.5" x 2.5" (sides) or approx. 3.25" x 3.25" ( diagonals )

 It’s already in use and is adding such a fantastic splash of colour & cheer ! Although many colours appear same or similar n the pics, in reality, there are differences, and many more shades are visible than in the pic.

It does look like a textured sea of flowers when spread out ☺☺☺☺☺

Just one more pinterest challenge left for this year. 

Let’s see what the talented pin chicks have been up to this month ….

Suzanne

Margaret

Carollyn

Margaret II

Imoshen

Related Posts :

Pinterest Challenge (click on the tag in right panel)

Memory Afghan Part 1 ; Part 2 ; Part 3 

Keeping it clean

Trying border/edging options