Crystal Lace Help by Pictures

I have been getting some questions on the Crystal Lace pattern, and I thought that some pictures may help clear up the common problems everyone has. I crocheted the samples below in the small size, b/c that is what I get the most questions on. (Click on any picture to make it bigger)

1. "I joined all the granny squares to the layouts, how do I get this into a bolero?"

You fold the piece in half.

Here is the layouts together:

Here they are folded in half:

2. "How do I do the side and sleeve seam?"

You attached them just as you attached the granny squares together.

You can see the joining highlighted in the yellow yarn for contrast:
3. "How do I do the front edging for the small and large size, my layout looks different then the stitch diagram."

The edging is to create a smoother front line, so you basically join the granny squares at the front with 3 chain stitches to get that smoother look.

4. "My neck seems wide, how do I change that?"

You can join the neck together the same way you joined the grannies.

Here I joined them 1/2 the width of one granny square:

5. "How many rows of single crochet do I do per granny square?"

This is a bit hard to answer. I say to evenly crochet the rows around the sleeve and body opening, b/c all of our row heights will vary. I my bolero shown is about 4 rows for every ch-5 space and one row in the single crochet. The swatch I did below is 4 rows per ch-5 sp and none in the single crochet. You may be more and you may be less. It is up to you. My suggestion is to try 4 rows per ch-5 sp, lay it down on a table. Do you need more to fill out the space? If so crochet another row. Are 4 rows too big for the space? Crochet a row less. Do you want a gather? Crochet less rows. Want a flare? Crochet more rows.

I'm super excited that you all have been asking questions. B/c it means that you liked the piece enough to try it, which is very cool to me! Want to see another version? Go look at Ginny's at Yarning with a hook. Got another version, send me a link and I'll add it here.

Good luck everyone!