About time. These have been done and mailed more than a week ago, but I haven't bothered to blog about them.
I signed up for the swap in a fit of something, because I knew (that really should be KNEW) I didn't have the time to do it. I was in a show, and I was weaving and knitting for it, so it wasn't until the middle of May that I had time to work on these. First I started making the petal hotpads, but I got very cranky and paranoid about my ability to finish these off properly. My petals were so thin and wishy-washy that I wasn't sure how to do the finishing in a way that made them look and feel like the originals. So, I ripped out all of the hotpads I had started and went back to looking at my one stitch book. Eventually I decided to do a solid thick circle (double crochet) surrounded by stripes and then a little ruffly edge.
Mostly, I made stuff up, but made sure to make the same stuff up each time I worked it.
I think they look good, but not quite as exciting as the other ones I've seen pictures of. My crochet skills are a little better than they started out, and I'm more confident about making up a pattern for something basic than I was. It was fun, even with my confusion about the petal hotpads, and I am looking forward to hopefully receiving some pretty hotpads to live in our new house!
