Has anyone bought this pattern from the Crochet Shop? The sweater on the model shows the bottom edge very lacy with chains in between the double crochets. The pattern says that the body is worked from the bottom edge upwards. Yet the foundation row, which would be the bottom edge of the sweater calls for only foundation double crochets and picots, the foundation row does not even come close to looking like the bottom edge of the sweater. It makes it impossible to continue. Has anyone done this sweater. What changes did you have to make?
Crochet Floral Lace Shell
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Have you read all the way through the pattern? It may be that it starts with foundation dc and that edging bit is worked on all around last? I have just been working on a sweater that is made that way. I often find that even though a pattern doesn't seem to make sense at first, if I go ahead and follow it, it works out.
You might also try contacting the designer (usually contact info is on the pattern or the site) to ask about it.
You might also try contacting the designer (usually contact info is on the pattern or the site) to ask about it.
I have gone all thru the pattern and it does not have an edging that is added later on. It starts with the bottom and goes upward, but with the first row not looking anything like the model, I can't go on. Look up the picture I will post that at a later time.
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Hmm...maybe work a few more rows and see what develops? Will you be pulling in the bottom, for instance, by using decreases, to make it more ruffly? Or will the picots be used in some way? I am really curious about this but can't really visualize it...sorry. 
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Going by the picture the picots are either formed in the very first row, (maybe you misread something on the first row) or you have to do at least one full flower before the edging is formed naturally.yarnstars said:
It could be something really simple you have misread or interpreted differently.
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Just looking at the photo, the pattern is not going to emerge until those first motifs are there. She has an unusual way of looking at crochet and designs patterns that have the motifs flowing together rather than making them separately and then sewing up. You won't see the result until you go farther.
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Wannabear is absolutely right about how Ms. Omdahl thinks motif-wise; just keeping working and comparing your work to the picture until it makes sense. I made a scarf from one of the patterns in her book "Seamless Crochet", and even with the charts and descriptions, it took me about four motifs to wrap my brain around what she was doing. (I ended up only during a scarf because I don't like the oddly-raised chains or stitches that move the yarn from the outside of one motif to the middle of the next, but that's a personal thing, not a pattern problem.)
The foundation row has only double crochets and picots. It is impossible to go on from there. I have had 3 friends of mine that have crocheted for umpteen years, try to make the foundation row look like the bottom edge of the sweater, as per the instructions. They all came up with the same thing I did. You simply cannot go on to make the whole sweater, because the foundation row is all dcs and picots, nothing like the model sweater.
I can see that yours looks good, but again does not look like the sweater the model is wearing. I like the way yours looks and I will try again to make mine look like yours, but neither yours or mine looks like the bottom edge of the sweater that the model is wearing on page 1 of the pattern.
Well here is the model picture and the ravelry picture. The ravelry work does not match the bottom edge of the sweater on the model. I did contact the designer and she insists that the bottom edge of the sweater contains the chains you see on the model sweater. I am still working on the pics
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I think a picture is worth a thousand words, when I crochet, following a pattern, I do expect the work to come out looking like the finished model. If a sweater starts from the bottom edge, then the foundation row should look like the bottom of the model's sweater.
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Aha! So everyone take a deep breath, because now we have visual evidence that none of us is crazy and the two things do not match.
Calm?
Yarnstars, I would guess that between the time that the model was produced and the time that the actual pattern was written up and sold, the designer (or maybe an editor) added a row of double crochets to make the bottom edge stronger (and possibly thinking that it is easier to work into), and the model was not redone. (In which case, one could say 'shame on them' or just 'human error' and try to forgive.)
In my not-so-humble opinion, the double crochets work to produce a consistent lower edge, but it's not the effect in the original picture. And to me, the original picture looks all messed up; the motifs aren't straight-on at the lower edge and they just look goofy, but perhaps that's a lack of blocking?
It looks to me as if the original's foundation chain has picots, and then the pattern starts right away, i.e., the very bottom is only chains and picots, not double-crochets and picots. I don't have the pattern, but could you try working the pattern without the row of double crochet?
On my computer screen, I can enlarge the window in my browser and see the stitches quite clearly, which might help doing it without the double-crochet row.
Is there a chart/graph or just written instructions? If there is no chart, could you chart the first few rows using graph paper and symbols (the graph paper helps everything stay lined up)? I don't think you should have to do that, but if that made working the pattern possible for you, would it be worth it?
I agree that it's very frustrating when the model and the directions don't match and that the designer ought to make up for it in some way (your money back would be good...)
If all else fails, sell the pattern to one of us! Even if you got some of your money back, it would be better than nothing (and wasting time and energy just fuming if you are going to give up on it.)
I hope that you can overcome this, and I apologize if any of us has offended you in the course of this discussion. I think most of us try to be good-hearted and helpful, and sometimes on-screen 'talk' doesn't convey emotion well enough.
Calm?
Yarnstars, I would guess that between the time that the model was produced and the time that the actual pattern was written up and sold, the designer (or maybe an editor) added a row of double crochets to make the bottom edge stronger (and possibly thinking that it is easier to work into), and the model was not redone. (In which case, one could say 'shame on them' or just 'human error' and try to forgive.)
In my not-so-humble opinion, the double crochets work to produce a consistent lower edge, but it's not the effect in the original picture. And to me, the original picture looks all messed up; the motifs aren't straight-on at the lower edge and they just look goofy, but perhaps that's a lack of blocking?
It looks to me as if the original's foundation chain has picots, and then the pattern starts right away, i.e., the very bottom is only chains and picots, not double-crochets and picots. I don't have the pattern, but could you try working the pattern without the row of double crochet?
On my computer screen, I can enlarge the window in my browser and see the stitches quite clearly, which might help doing it without the double-crochet row.
Is there a chart/graph or just written instructions? If there is no chart, could you chart the first few rows using graph paper and symbols (the graph paper helps everything stay lined up)? I don't think you should have to do that, but if that made working the pattern possible for you, would it be worth it?
I agree that it's very frustrating when the model and the directions don't match and that the designer ought to make up for it in some way (your money back would be good...)
If all else fails, sell the pattern to one of us! Even if you got some of your money back, it would be better than nothing (and wasting time and energy just fuming if you are going to give up on it.)
I hope that you can overcome this, and I apologize if any of us has offended you in the course of this discussion. I think most of us try to be good-hearted and helpful, and sometimes on-screen 'talk' doesn't convey emotion well enough.
You are absolutely right. And now hopefully everyone can understand my frustration. The truth is that I really did not like the bottom edge on the model. I thought it was ragged and poorly done. I have crocheted since I was 8. I really like the work on ravelry and am going to attempt the sweater again. I was just very disappointed that the designer of the sweater insisted that there are chains in the foundation, as seen on the model's sweater, when as we can see the only chains are the ones that count as a dc. She wanted to know if I used the same yarn and if I blocked the sweater. Neither idea helped the fact that the model and pattern did not match. She was not very helpful, most likely because she did not compare the pattern to the one on the model. Happy crocheting everyone.
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