I have been tempted to write about this project several times over the past few months but I wanted to wait until it was finished. It all started back in February 2017 when I received a phone call from my sister, K.C.. She told me that she had been talking to a friend, I’ll call her G, and G told her that she wanted to find someone to make her a crocheted tablecloth. K.C. had told G that I crochet. She wasn’t sure that I would/could crochet a tablecloth or if I would have the time since Spring was just around the corner. “I gave G your phone number, she will be calling you,” K.C. told me.

Well that was something to think about. My past crochet projects have pretty much been done with some of the basic stitches and are small projects that can be completed in a few days to few weeks, slippers, washcloths, hats, baby afghans and such, although lately I had been trying new things, learning new stitches and increasing my skills.  I have always admired crocheted doilies and have several that were made by my mother and my husbands grandmother. They are made with fine crochet cotton and delicate yet complex stitch combinations to create a beautiful motif. Never had I considered making one. Crocheting a tablecloth would be like crocheting a doily only much bigger. I wondered if I could do this.

I didn’t have long to think about it because the next day G called me. She told me she wanted a table cloth, her table was round and measured 48 inches across, she didn’t have a pattern. She was a knitter but when she tried to knit one she discovered that it was more complicated than she thought. I explained that I had never done anything like that before, but I was willing to try. I really didn’t know how long it would take or how much time I could put into it because things get busy on the farm in spring and summer. She said there was no hurry, so we agreed to both look for a pattern that she liked and would fit her table. After a week or so of searching online for crochet tablecloth patterns and emailing back and forth we decided on this pineapple pattern. She was a bit concerned because she wanted the tablecloth to measure 48 inches while this pattern made a 54 inch tablecloth. I told her that I could adjust the pattern to fit by leaving out some of the rows on the edging. That should be easy enough … I thought.

My next step was to obtain the materials I needed. I have all of my Mom’s old crochet hooks so I was certain that I had the right size hook but when I checked the pattern for the type of thread used I discovered that J.P. Coats Luster Sheen is no longer made. Although I searched I couldn’t really find any answers as to what would be comparable and I had no idea how much was in one ball. So I was own my own to decide what to use and prayerfully guestimate how much I would need.

I selected this large roll of Aunt Lydia’s size 10 merchandized cotton. While I was certain that this was a finer thread than what the pattern called for, I liked the length that it was available in (2730 YD/2495 M). Longer thread meant less joins in the tablecloth and with something this thin joins would be difficult to conceal. Since the thread was finer than what was called for I also went with a smaller hook 1.25mm. Yes, believe it or not, there is a hook on the end of that little metal stick.

It was sometime in early March before I actually sat down and got started. In the beginning rounds I struggled to get the stitches tight and even, I crocheted 6 or 8 rounds then ripped it out and started over. I did this several times. Eventually I moved on. I also struggled a lot in the beginning with my eyesight. I was not used to focusing on anything so small, and in reality throughout the whole process I rarely saw the actual hook. It was more of getting a feel for it and realizing that if I didn’t pick up the string on the hook, I was holding the hook backwards and needed to turn it around and try again.

With relatively few exceptions, I worked on this project for an hour or two each day usually in the evening but some days I would work on it for an hour or so after lunch as well. It was shortly after I had started it that our power was out  for a couple of days, and I wasn’t able to work on the tablecloth at all because even in the daylight hours I needed supplemental light to work on this project.

There was, what I consider, another major flaw in this pattern. Most crochet patterns that I have used have a stitch count at the end of each row. When a row is complete it is prudent to stop crocheting and count all of the stitches in the row that was just finished. This way the one knows they are on track and won’t discover after completing the next row, or two, or three, that they have made a mistake. As you can imagine it is much easier to go back only into that row to correct errors than to take out and redo two or more rows. This pattern did not have stitch counts listed and there were several times throughout the process that I would come to a point and find that my previous row was wrong, thus I would have to pull out all of the work I had done after making the error in order to correct my mistake. The worst time was when I discovered the error was three rows back. I wanted to cry, but working with wet crochet cotton would only make things more difficult. I truly learned to the importance of stitch counts being listed on the patterns.

As the tablecloth grew my husband determined that it looked like a spider web. He began calling me Charlotte in reference to the book Charlotte’s Web. Each evening, when he would see me crocheting, he would ask “How’s your web coming Charlotte?” My reply “good” or “slow” or “it’s coming” was usually accompanied by a chuckle and sometimes I would hold up the tablecloth to show him my progress.

I was lucky that my own dinning room table was the same size as the table I was making this for, so occasionally I would place it on my table for a fitting. I would usually snap a photo and email it to G to show her how it was progressing. She was patiently waiting and at one time I told her if she decided to find something else I would certainly understand. By this time I had decided if for any reason she didn’t want it I would be happy to keep it for myself. G assured me that she wanted this tablecloth and would be happy to wait as long as it took.

After completing the second round of pineapple’s I put the tablecloth on my table and it was obvious that I would need to add some rounds (that were not in the pattern) in order to make the tablecloth big enough. My initial thought was to add another round of pineapples, but after studying the pattern I could not figure it out. Rather than give myself a major headache and perhaps end up in tears over it I decided that I could add as many rounds of loops as needed to the area outside of the pineapples. I did end up adding several rows of loops.

I also ended up adding several rows of border. I was concerned that it would look weird that the border did not line up with the edge of the table, but I actually like the way it turned out. I could have continued adding border rows so it would be longer but this the size that G wanted. Although I was enjoying making it, I also really wanted to finish it. The larger it got the longer it took to complete a round. With the boarder rounds it was taking me three evenings of crocheting to complete one round.

On December 23 shortly after 2:00 P.M. I crocheted the final stitch and wove in the ends. I was elated. I really I don’t know if I can tell you how good it felt to have this project completed. After putting it on my table and taking some pictures and showing my husband, who was more than impressed, I called G. She wasn’t home at the time and I had to wait until the following day to deliver it. She was very pleased with the results as well.

After it was all done I couldn’t help but do some calculating. I had 20 yards of thread left on the spool so I had used 2710 yards. Using an online conversion site I learned that 2710 yard = 1.539773 or just over 1.5 miles or for those outside of the U.S. 2.478024 Kilometers. Which doesn’t seem far when you are driving or even walking but it becomes a heck of a long way when you are getting there 1.25 mm at a time. While I didn’t punch a time clock my estimated time based on 2 an average of two hours a day for 10 months is 600 hours. Even subtracting an approximated 30 days that I didn’t work on it I would have well over 500 hundred hours into it.

I have to say that it was a great learning experience, and I am so pleased that I took on and successfully completed this challenge. Then the question arises – will I do another one? I learned a long time ago never to say never, but I have no plans to make another one anytime soon. I do feel, however, that finishing this tablecloth before the end of 2017 has prepared me to take on the challenges of 2018.

I wish all of you reading this a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. God Bless!