I'm crocheting a Lime Corset Halter, designed by the queen of adorable clothes for little girls, Alla Koval. The front part - the lime slices - went
really fast and was surprisingly easy. Next comes the sides and back. That was... less easy.I started the first side and ended on the wrong side of the join between two motifs (lime slices = motifs). Frogged. Tried again, this time starting in the opposite corner and patting myself on the back for my ingenuity. I ended on the wrong side again and then realized that I had started at the wrong point altogether - thought I was in the right side corner, turns out I was in the top divot. Grr. Frogged. Started yet again, this time in the correct right side corner. The instructions are to start at the top of the first motif on the right side of the fabric, but that didn't work for me, so I started in the join between the first and third motifs on the wrong side of the fabric. I was so proud of myself - I made good notes about the changes I was making to the pattern and even started to compose a smug little blog post about my brilliance in crocheting in my head. Until...
I ended on the wrong side. Again! That's when I realized: if you start at point A on the right side and then switch to starting at point B on the wrong side (opposite from point A) you end up in the same place!! Grr! Frogged!
At this point, it is really late, I'm really tired and I have to be up for work really early. But I wasn't going to let the crochet beat me so I picked up my needle with a stubborn set to my jaw and gave it one last go. I finally figured out what I had been doing wrong, but even ending in the correct spot, I somehow ended with fewer double crochet sets than the pattern called for. I should also mention that my gauge was a bit off, so instead of doing 12 rounds for the lime slices, I did 14, which, according to the pattern notes, put me in between a size 5/6 and a size 7/8. However, the 14 rows made the slices about 5 inches wide, which is actually midway between a size 3/4 and 5/6.
I have a master's degree in physics and can do differential equations, but yarn math stymies me every time. Well, any crafting math, actually. Ask me how many times I have had to "fix" a bad quilting calculation. Actually, strike that. You don't want to know the answer, I promise. It will make you feel like our university system is failing at math on a fundamental level. And it isn't. It's just me.
So, while the numbers are off, at this point I don't care. It looks okay, which is the only part I really care about. The only possible fly in the ointment will be trying to repeat the exact sequence of mistakes on the left side. ::sigh:: It's going to be another late night...
Edit: 11:21pm. I just finished both sides and have blocked the top. Tomorrow I'll be putting on tank straps, embroidering the details and finishing the edging. I should note that not only was I not able to repeat the mistakes of last night, I apparently have enough experience with the sides to have done it correctly when I did the left side. Although that meant I had to frog the right side AGAIN so that I could correct it and make them match. Guh. That's frogged 4 times for those keeping track at home. I should point out that while it seems that I have had a hard time with this pattern (true), the pattern is very well written overall and has been super fast and easy to make. Well, I'm stretching the truth just a smidge on the "easy" part, but honestly, if I wasn't an idiot I'd be done with the top already!
