Skirting the issue

Yes, that weekly thing . . . didn’t quite work out, did it? No matter. I shall try again.

Today, I’m going to talk about the skirt I’m crocheting for my daughter. I saw a photo of a rainbow doily with a dual-spiral shape on Facebook, and in the comments for that photo, the person who had crocheted it pointed to the pattern on Ravelry she’d used (Fractal by Essi Varis). My daughter loves rainbow colors, and it occurred to me that if I just made the center circle bigger, I could turn the doily into a skirt.

It’s been a little more complicated than that, of course. I added a few extra rows to the central portion, to make certain it’s going to be long enough to cover her at its shortest proportions. Because it’s wider around, instead of doing two vanes, I’m doing ten (currently working on the third one, which should give you some idea how long this project’s going to take to finish). And, of course, I’m going to need to line the skirt when it gets done. The biggest complication is that the vane is crocheted in such a way that I’m working with all the colors simultaneously, binding off each as it grows in length.

Also — it’s going to be heavier than I was expecting. That’s a lot of crochet thread.

So now, to the pictures:

open-work crochet

I’ve posted this before — the start of the central portion of the skirt. The plan is to run ribbon through the pink at the top, making it somewhat adjustable in size.

close-up of color mistake in skirt

Sometimes I goof, as I did with the purples here. Once I realized I’d made the mistake with one color, it was easier to make it symmetric, with the other color swapping, too, than to take it out and fix it.

crocheted skirt panel

A complete vane for the skirt, running from barely there pink to rather long purple. There will be ten of these in the final skirt. (Also, you can see more clearly why the central portion needs to be lined.)

Have you ever taken on a project that turned out to be much bigger than you’d thought it would be?

6 thoughts on “Skirting the issue

  1. Wow. I love this Erin. I remember the doily that inspired the skirt. I’m thrilled that it moved you to start this project. You inspire me. I learned a new word from your project description: “vane”. So 10 of these, eh? Won’t that make the skirt rather heavy? What is your material? Crochet cotton? What size? What size hook are you using?

    • Thank you, Norma! “Vane” is the word the pattern author used, and I couldn’t think of a better one, so that’s the one I use, too.

      Yes, I’m afraid the skirt is going to be rather heavy. It’s #20 crochet cotton, with a US 0/2.55 mm hook. If I were starting again, I wouldn’t do anything heavier than a #30 cotton, I think, (maybe even #100) and I’d probably pick a total of ten colors, and just do each vane in a separate color — it would be so much simpler!

      • I can hardly wait to see the finished garment. You must post a picture of your daughter wearing it (at least from the waist down if you’re concerned about privacy issues).
        Have only use anything smaller than a #10 once and my eyes definitely did not thank me for it. Just thinking of #100 makes my eyes (and brain) bleed.
        Good luck. You are certainly a good way along to getting this done. I find that once I’ve got one unit done, the other repetitions go much faster because I know what to expect and have developed methods of handling stuff that crops up.

        • My eyes are getting to the point where they’re not going to thank me for working with fine stuff; I know the next time I go to get glasses, they’ll prescribe bifocals (or progressives). I may have to get one of those magnifiers!

          Thank you for all the encouraging words, and I will post pictures when I’m done!

  2. That’s absolutely gorgeous, Erin! Are you using #10 thread? I don’t think I’ve ever taken on anything that complicated. Goodfor you

    • Thanks, Chris! Actually, I think it’s #20. Well, mostly. One of the pinks is #10, but it’s a small amount, so probably doesn’t add much to the weight.

      And you just crocheted a beautiful blanket for your mother!

Comments are closed.