Getting There

I am feeling better about these infuriating little motifs. These are my latest attempts - they are done in size 20 thread with a 1.25 mm hook, the pc is size 10.

The Shamrock - now I know that the leaves need a wide base to look good and lie flat! I think skipping 2 dc around the central picots rather than one helps. I also stopped trying to do the 3 dc & picot every 4th dc - I was losing count and it was too annoying, so I just did a picot after every 3rd dc.

I first attempted the daisy in some long lingering thread I found in a drawer - it may be size 50? I realized it wasn't going to lie flat no matter what I did - so I made a few more petals - I think I ended up with 15! As I went along I discovered that I needed to pull the pc as tight as it would go and the petals looked much better and I could complete the circle. I attached the petals through the ring rather than in the individual stitches on the ring, in the vain hope that I could fiddle them into a circle ...

The second attempt was much better - not perfect - but at least I have the right idea. I was having terrible trouble trying to make the rings for the centers - the wraps were disintegrating when I took them off whatever I wound them on. Last night I had an epiphany - there was a reason the directions called for matches! I wrapped the thread around 3 Brittany Birch dpns I had lying around - and I was able to slide my hook down through the thread and secure it with a ss before slidingthe dpns off. It made the threads hold together and the whole process much easier!

The trefoil was much easier - although I noticed I have only 7 scallops around each section. I think after I get some more practice, I'll redo all of them in a smaller thread - I do like teeny tiny thread ...