Have you ever felt frustrated with a project? Or not satisfied with the result of hours of work? The mermaid tail which I’ve been working on for a couple of weeks is causing me a headache! The pattern, which is free and really well backed up with videos, has fallen out with me. I had 600g of yarn, and realised after using 400g that I was in a game of yarn chicken. You see, the pattern it’s worked from the top down to the bottom, where it decreases and joins.
I measured what I’d done against my 5 years old as his cousin is the same age. It came to his ankles so I began the decreases, knowing I still had the tail to make. I’d estimated how many rows I could work with the yarn I had left, including making the fin. What I failed to take into account was that the decrease rounds (the clue is in the name) had less stitches and therefore used less yarn. My panic was unnecessary as I finished the body and the fin. I then persuaded my son to try it on again. (Bribery was needed this time, he wasn’t impressed with the girliness!)
It was too short. Not by a little bit, but by a lot. I also had ‘quite a lot’ of yarn left. So now I had a ‘finished’ project that wasn’t finished, and half of a ball of yarn that wasn’t enough to make anything else with. I’d followed the pattern carefully, but perhaps my hook size was different or my gauge was out compared to theirs. I can’t fault the pattern, which is by Yarnutopia.
Now was the time to let my inner perfectionist have a battle with my practical mind. I had three choices.
1) I could have frogged it but it was ‘done’, and there was no way I was going to give all that work up; it wasn’t that bad.
2) The first row of the top was treble crochets, before the shells were worked. I could add more shells to the top of the ban, thpugh they would mirror the rest of the shells rather than going in the same direction.
3) Do the same as in step 2 but with a different stitch to avoid the mirrored shells looking odd.
In the end I went for option 2 as I couldn’t think of another stitch with the same count. I used the other shells as a guide for the first row so that they matched perfectly. I then mirrored the shells and used the same pattern until I ran out of yarn. Simple!

I was worried initially that it would look ridiculous with shells going in both directions. Then I decided that, since it was done neatly and mirrored the others, my niece would probably not notice (or care!) Also, it helped to fix the problem, I no longer had ‘spare’ yarn and it had a shell top rather than a straight one.

It was a tricky one at the time, but I’m choosing to see it as an adaptation to the pattern rather than a total failure!
Have you ever modified a pattern? Was it through necessity or choice? What did you do?
Proudly linking up with Wool on Sundays with Janine at Rainbow Hare.
Looks great!
I often use a pattern to get the general idea and then modify it to my own requirements. I love figuring things out for myself too.
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Thank you π I very rarely follow a pattern to the letter!
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I can honestly say no, I have never had that problem-I am not skilled enough! Ha! you quite impress me and that mermaid will be thrilled-it is just beautiful!
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Thank you for the lovely comment. I have a feeling that the mermaid’s little sister may fight her for it!
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uh oh Guess you have some experience now-as you make the next one! ha!
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Haha, luckily my youngest niece is only 2 and a half so it would be a quick make! π
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I think your mermaid will be happy as a clam with this! Absolutely nothing wrong with the shells going in a different direction. A bit of water resistance is vital to a mermaid. It’s like an inbuilt swimming braking system!
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pretty π Excellent solution in the end
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Thank you π
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Excellent plan, if she notices I will tell her that! Thank you, I do love the colours in the yarn.
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The tail looks beautiful, gorgeous colours π
Years ago I had a knitting pattern for a sort of neckwarmer thingy, as I started to work the pattern I realised it would only fit around my neck if I was prepared to stop breathing! There were several versions of the pattern onlne, the one I had said DK weight yarn, but it was actually for chunky yarn, but I’d already lost interest and never bothered re-knitting it!
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Oh no! I was going to use this pattern before when I had dk yarn and decided against it. It works well for chunky, just not when playing yarn chicken!
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It looks great, I love the colours!
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Thank you π
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I think your mermaid tail is beautiful! The little mermaid is going to love it for sure!!
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Thanks, I’m hoping so!
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That looks very good! And yes I have adapted patterns simply because they did not quite work out how I thought they would. Always takes a bit of pondering and tweaking when that happens.
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It does, puzzling it out is almost part of three fun! π
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Beautiful. Great solution and I donβt think she will notice!
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Thank you, I think the yarn colours hide it well too.
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Good call -she is going to love wearing this.
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Thank you π
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You are a genius. Congratulations and on a super finish.
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Aw, thank you, it’s not quite how I envisaged it but I do think the scales look so pretty in that yarn.π
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I enjoy playing with patterns to make them work, but i only got the confidence to do that when I first worked with a pattern that was wrong and I started to figure it out but then had help to shift the rest of it. Then I played with the pattern for my slippers as my feet were too big fot their biggest size. There is a huge sense of satisfaction in modifying something so it works how you want it to.
I love how you fixed the mermaid tail, and with all the colours I don’t think it looks odd at all. I love your phrase yarn chicken!
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Thank you, yarn chicken is a popular game thanks to my ability to underestimate! You did a great job altering the slipper pattern. π
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Thank you. I’m going to have to adapt it again when I make a pair for my friend, in order to make the cuffs fit a bit more snugly… Think I’ll write out what I plan to do first and try to make sure i get the maths right!
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Good idea! I’m sure you’ll have it sorted in no time π
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I hope so!
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You did a great job – well done! Yes, I have had the same situation – a short sleeved cardigan came out too short and too narrow across the chest – I bought more yarn and added a bottom border and a wider button band!
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Thank you. Your solution sounds like it worked really well. π
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I looked at that photo for like 5 minutes trying to find the original edge, and I’m still not entirely sure I’ve got it! I’m positive your little mermaid won’t notice it – she’ll be too busy admiring the gorgeous colours!
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Haha, it’s a very purple line. Glad it was hard to spot, marble yarn is a wonderful thing! π
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I love Yarnutopia patterns – Nadia is very talented! Every project I start seems to end up either playing yarn chicken or for some bizarre reason my hook develops a mind of it’s own and goes rogue! I think it came out lovely – the ends always justify the means – and then you get to weave them in!! π
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Thank you, I think there are still one or two rogue ends to sew in, now you mention it!
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Great save! This has turned out beautifully π
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Thank you π
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Oh it turned out beautifully!!! Your niece will love it and I don’t even think she would notice the difference. You did a great job and handled the mishap professionally! I would not have attempted to try to fix as I am not that confident with my crochet skills. I would have to tear it all out and re-start. But you handled it well and it looks fabulous!
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Thank you, I would have given up if I’d had to frog it!
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Wow. It looks amazing. I’m a knitter, not a crocheter but am concerned a project I am working on will be too short too. I’d have gone for option 2 as well and I think the finished item is amazing. She’ll adore it!
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Thank you, it did the job! π
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The mermaid tail is gorgeous! Thank you for this. The other day I had trouble with two projects in a row. It’s nice to know even veterans occasionally have problems :).
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Thank you, you made me smile with the veteran thing π. Everyone learns from mistakes (even if what you learn is that now is not the right time for that pattern!)
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Your mermaid blanket is wonderful, the yarn is amazing! I love your improvisation, I’m always fiddling with patterns because I never check my gauge or I rarely use the right size yarn, so I always have to do something to fix it lol. I think it just makes it more personal, it’s unique now β€
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Thank you, I rarely.follow a pattern to the letter (usually because I’ve made a mistake!)
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It looks great! Mermaid tails are on my list for this winter, thing is I have two little girls so of course must make two tails, so I’d best get cracking π
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Thank you, they are pretty quick to whip up, luckily. What colours will you use?
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Don’t know yet. I try to escape the pink as much as possible but they do love it so! I’m very limited in yarn choice where I live but I want to start soon, I’ll make the 60k round trip to our only ‘big box’ for 100s of kms and see what’s available this weekend – I do despair of their lack of choice (and have started ordering yarn online instead) but I have a voucher to use so they got me this time π
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Hope you find something you love then! π
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Looks beautiful, I wonder if that’s the pattern my mum used to make my daughter one, that was too short too
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It may well be. I think it’s hard to calculate the final length when working from the top down as you don’t know how long the decrease part will be.
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