Crochet Edgings Take One

 

I've finished the knitting on the body of my Jih pullover.  I bound off the knitting (to add stability at the lower edge) and proceeded to work some crochet for the edgings.  On the lower edge I worked three rounds of single crochet and then worked the tiny picot edging that I've worked on my Babette blanket and the Isobel's Antique Lace shawl.

Here is what it looks like.  The picots just kind of melted into the single crochet rows and disappeared.  I tried a couple of different variations but nothing really worked better.  After putting it on Fifi, I can tell it's a little too loose compared to the knitting, so I'll probably undo what I have and redo it on a smaller hook.  I'm hoping that will make the picots pop better because I think it's a combination of a too-big hook and soft, squishy fine yarn.

For some reason I decided to go ahead and start on the neckline too last night so after working a round of single crochet I started working the edging I had picked out.  Unfortunately, it was coming out too open and floppy again (for probably the same reasons as the lower hem issues).  I tried a couple of other things and I do like this scalloped edge, but again, it's too big for the edge.  I will be undoing this and trying again with a smaller hook over the weekend.  I need it to be just barely smaller than the neck opening so that it lies nicely and doesn't flip around.

So I'm basically going to be redoing all the crochet I've got on the sweater so far, but I'm hoping that a smaller hook will work better.  It's possible that the lace weight yarn, even doubled, is just too soft and floppy to hold a nice edge in crochet.  If anyone has any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them - just leave me a comment!