Postscript

Thank you all so much for the positive comments about my shawl and other items. I'm really not as negative as I must have seemed... honestly! The issue with the yarn has been resolved . I had used a lovely Rowan yarn and stockists are few down here (i. e. 2!) but I called the second one yesterday morning and they had 4 skeins of the colour I needed and yes.... they were definitely dark, so I headed off on the 25 mile trip to Fishguard and snapped up one of them. When I got home, I unpicked the wrong bit and re-crocheted the edge, sewed in all my ends and then delivered it to the friend who is going to wrap it before we present it tonight. She loved it and asked if I'd make her one too. This time I declined gracefully. So I can draw a line under that one and get on with something else, but while in the wool shop I saw a mannequin wearing a fab knitted top over which was worn a similar necklace to this one above. It used the same crocheted motifs, some of which had vintage diamante buttons sewn into their centres, and it looked stunning. The owner told me it is a FREE download from Rowan so if you're interested have a look here. There are some great patterns if you love knitting and crochet or patchwork. Am I going to start crocheting one of these? No.... really I'm not..... please don't ask......