a bit of 'lo and beholdness' continued...

ta dah! a 'lo and beholdness' circle of crocheted goodness becomes a 'lo and beholdness' warm and woolly coat for a cold mid century stool.

yes indeedy, it never ceases to amaze me what lovely yarny grandness can come from a few balls of yarn and stick with a little hook. when my little warm and woolly coat was finished up, my little crafty heart swelled with pride. i am not saying this is a big headed kind of way, no sirree, not me. i am saying it in a 'blimey, did i really make that bit of yarny goodness with my own hands' kind of way. oh such is the fabbiness of craftiness. after all it is a circle and up until now a crocheted circle has been out of my crocheting ability reach.

once again however i am reminded, with determination and a little bit of patience and many many moments of not succeeding in the ways of being a 'roundie', my perseverance has paid off. my lovely little stool with his woolly coat is living in my crafty snug upstairs. such is my love for him i have warned all clan members, with or without fur, it is out of bounds.

within seconds of placing my little 'lo and beholdness' jacket upon my stool, Our #3 said "oh, you've finished, great can we sit on it now?" and plonked himself down on my 'moment of roundie glory'. the shriek that followed alerted him to the fact, yes it was finished and no, you cannot.

i have noted over the past few weeks the petals are slowly flattening, and at times the cover appears to have shuffled to the side a bit. i have no evidence that others are sitting on my stool, or resting their feet, however i have sneaky suspicions 'when the cat is away, the mice will play'.

if by chance you fancy yourself a little roundie woolly coat for a cold stool, or indeed just wish to continue making a larger circle of petals and head towards a lovely rug for the floor, or a smaller one to make a cushion cover, then i am happy to share how i did it.

however before we begin, let me tell you several nitty gritty things.

1. this is not a 'how-to' for the petals, i am assuming you have already studied Mille's lovely pattern for petals, she so generously shared with us the other day

2. i used chunky yarn and a size Mr Hook 6.5mm K. where i did not have chunky in the colours i wished to use, i doubled up a worsted weight yarn. in fact the aqua colour i used is made up of two different shades put together and it came out spiffily in my books (do you like that! i do too, it is so much more than just spiffy, it is most spiffily, my new favourite word)

3. if you have understood how to make Mille's petals then you will understand what i am talking about below, if you have not understood, then i fear it will all read like gobbledy de goop.

4. i did have to rip out several rounds as the circle grew to keep it flat but i was determined not to be beat. you may well have to do the same.

5. all along i continued to check the fit with my stool after every round, just to make sure i was on the right track. each stool will be different so this is just a rough guide to help you along.

so hey ho, let's go

round 1, 2 and 3: as written in Mille's pattern

round 4 and 5: repeat round 2 and 3

round 6: repeat round 2

round 7: alternate between single petals and double petals

round 8, 9 and 10: repeat round 2

i stopped here as this was big enough for the top of my stool. if you are going on to make a rug, you will have to decide if rounds of single petals or alternating between single and double petals in a round will increase the circle nicely and flatly.

after my last round of petals, i half double crocheted (US term) all the way around joining at the end of the round and chaining up 2, to begin the next. you do no wish to increase as you are now working on the edge. i ended up with seven rounds of half double crochet to fit my stool's side.

to make the cover sit still and not move around or slip off (the stool is vinyl underneath) i then did a final row of single crochet missing out every other stitch from the row before, giving it a nice almost elastic edging to it.

i carefully placed the cover over the stool, not wishing to stretch the final round of stitches too much and damage them and Voila! it flipping fitted! it was indeed a small miracle.

i think a cushion cover would be most peachy and i have plans to work on one if i can find the printed out instructions of Mille's fabby pattern. i placed them somewhere super duper safe so i would not forget to pack them for Old Blighty. so safe, i have lost them...

she is hoping it all makes sense and wishes you a few crafty moments with your Mr Hooks this weekend ~ Tif

footynote: Mr Spell Checker found over 22 issues today, he particularly found 'spiffily' to cause him fretfulness like never before