Writing Crochet Bouquet took me about nine months. Developing the flowers and leaves was the most time-consuming part. Once I settled on a particular idea, I crocheted a trial flower or leaf, taking notes as I went.
Most of the time, the flower needed some alteration to match my vision–fuller in one spot, skinnier in another. Maybe the center had to be smaller or larger, or have a different multiple of stitches to support the outside round of petals. Once I figured out what needed to be done, I crocheted it again. Then sometimes, I crocheted it a third time. A few flowers went through four or five alterations before I was satisfied with them.
Early on, I realized that I needed to keep the trial flowers, so I could see how the pattern alterations changed the shape of the flower. The photo shows most of my trials and some pretty bad errors. Luckily some of the errors gave me ideas for design elements.
Experienced crocheters can often figure out exactly what stitches will result in a certain shape. But every now and then, a person just has to sit down and crochet the first draft, no matter how rough it may be. At least it’s a starting point, and one can improve from there.