2010 WIP#1 Dogwood Blossoms Bolero Design Work Continues

Design work progresses slowly. Symmetry in crochet is tedious for me. I don't know if other garment crochet designers (experienced ones) find this to be so. My problem has to do with dealing with the directional orientation of crochet stitches. What I mean by this is that stitches lean to the left for right handed crocheter and lean to the right for left-handed crocheter. It affects the symmetry of a garment. and it is hard to do mirror image of left and right, without doing some corrective slight variation of the opposite panel of the garment. What I meant by this again is that the opposite panel does not have exact crochet stitches direction as the first panel. What I've read in some classic crochet pattern is that the designers don't write out the instructions for the opposite side. Of course, this was a long time ago, maybe designers today are writing out the instructions for both.

Since most crocheters, myself included can only crochet either right-handed or lefthanded but not both, symmetry in a panel that is worked in rows is really not achievable. A crocheter must be able to crochet towards both directions (left and or right) without turning the crocheted fabric to achieve a perfect symmetry. But, enough about this, back to the WIP at hand: In the photo, I have joined the motifs at the center back and shoulders together so that, now I have shaped the neckline of the bolero. See photo Above.



The above photo shows the back bodice of the bolero. The crocheted fabric is folded at the center back. I do this in order to check for symmetry to make sure that the left and right side of the back bodice matches. It keeps me from recounting stitches every row. The red yarn temporarily holds the fabric together as I work and match left and right sides together. I will remove these when the back bodice is done, except the back center mark.

As you can see, I'm almost done. So far, I have not put this one aside as a UFO. If I can make this as one of my resolution this year--not keeping any UFO's around the house, I will be in good crocheting shape. I have to finish this one soon, before my interest dwindles down.