Done! at last! I started this project a month ago (or maybe more, I don't really remember...) and now my VKB blue Kimono jacket is done (this name is as good as another, isn't it?). As usual for that type of project, I was starting to be bored and willing to have it done quickly in the end. There's only the tie-ribbon left to buy and attach to the fronts.

Design :
It's a variation of Mrs Who’s shrug schematics, except that

• I used a different stitch, a thick solid one,
• for the upper part of the body, the one to be the collar, I used a different stitch, that imitates knit fabric, for a more kimono-like touch.

Problems…
The stitch I used has a wrong side!!!
I should have crocheted and sewn the sides of a rectangle to prevent the wrong side from showing in the back, like it does with the crocheting-arms-in-the-round-and-back-in_rows method I used.
Moreover, the first method of increases I used leaves a wide gap (ok, maybe I'm exgerating a bit) in the fabric. Well, never mind! It's warm and cosy as it was intended to be... Next time I'll be less of a lazy show-off and do things properly, maybe I'll even follow a pattern... maybe.

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I've almost finished my Pepe skirt, only the lining and the draw string are left to do.

I chose to make an i-cord the traditional way. Making an i-cord is very easy, I use a corker (well, in fact it's just the empty cardbord skeleton of a ribbon-yarn skein with 8 sewing needles pinned at the top... but eh! it works!) but that is very time consuming and after almost 12 days of regular i-cording, I'm still not finished ! ! ! Can you believe this!

When i-cording I was thinking maybe there was a faster way of doing it with a hook, I tried crocheting a rope making a 4 single crochets tube but I failed, it was a mess... Then I stumbled upon those links about the lobster stitch :

• Fiesta jump rope by Priscilla Hewitt
• Notes for a Crocheted Braid Written by Mary Rhodes

It looks like the best tutorial about this "lobster stitch", Daphne's tutorial, is no longer online. (Can you read frustration here?) is back on line, check it out!

Here is how Priscilla Hewitt describe the stitch :

Ch 2, sc in the 2nd ch from hook. Do not turn, but flip the stitch clockwise.
At the top of the flipped stitch you should see a single bar. Sc in the single bar; do not turn, but flip piece clockwise.
*At the top of the flipped stitch you should see a double bar (2 strands). Sc in the double bar; do not turn, but flip stitch clockwise.*
Repeat from *to*.

Uneasy to figure out just reading it... but worth a try... eventually. I think the yarn I use is too thick anyway, so I'll stick to the i-cord, but I'm glad I found those for a little change now or then.

Done! The yellow top I was crocheting for my daughter is done now! And as it's a vibrant butteryyellow, I chose the name of the yellow buttery flower that sparkles in the fields around here (don't remember its name in English buttercup in English, thanks Clearwaters )
It was fast, I only lacked time to talk about it! I'll try to write the pattern soon and in the meantime, I hope I'll have a picture of my little one modeling it... but untill then, enjoy those!

Here are the pictures of the first version. At that time, I was thinking of weaving an orange ribbon into the central pannel I just hadn't had time to buy one. I wasn't satisfied with the outcome though... too yellow to my liking... So later on I dug orange yarn out of my stash and did a little tapering.

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