Help with the Gourmet Crochet elf pattern...Please! =)

[farrahj]

Hi-

 

I've been sooo busy lately that I have been MIA...and now, I'm trying to get back into making the time to crochet stuff for Xmas. Awhile back, I bought the Gourmet Crochet Elf pattern and it starts with:

OK...what does this mean? I am lost at the point of "working on opposite side of starting ch" and don't get the "do not join" part. If you can help, I'd really appreciate it! =)

 

TIA,

Farrah

[LaurieE]

When you sc'd into the starting ch, you only went through 1 or 2 loops of the ch st. What they want you to do is to stitch into the remaining loop. You'll basically be making an oval shape with the starting chain in the middle.

 

When you get to the end, they don't want you to join because you'll be working in rounds. I usually make the first stitch of next round and then put a stitch marker into that st so I'll know where the beginning of the round is.

[mudpie]

Farrah, normally one would think that because you are making a head (a ball) that you would join the first and last stitches to form a circle. In this case you do not. After you get to the end of the chain, just turn your piece clockwise until you are looking upside down at it and the bottom is now the top (the opposite side of the starting chain). This is where you will work the remaining stitches of the round. Does that help you understand the pattern a bit more?

[farrahj]

so...I'll have a round ball with a flap?

[mudpie]

No, Farrah, you won't have a flap. And you won't have a perfectly round head, either. He's a little fathead, LOL! His head is kind of an oval shape. Take a deep breath and just try following the directions and see how it comes out. If it doesn't look right, give us another call for help.

[farrahj]

Oh...oh...I think I get it now....*see lightbulb turning on* I'm going AROUND the first 8...so I won't have that little hole in the top that I usually do.

[farrahj]

Thanks you sooo much for your help and patience...some days I'm blonde...well, I am blonde every day...but some days I act it. LOL

[mudpie]

Who says you're blonde? None of us who tried to help you actually came out and said that you'd be going "around" the chain. That would have made it very clear, wouldn't it? But that would have been the easy way, and I'm not known for doing things the easy way, LOL.

[farrahj]

LOL...sometimes what we see clearly is foggy for others and vice versa...oh...and I meant that my hair really is blonde...=)