It all started with a perfectly innocent question.
Do you have any collars for V-neck tops?
I didn’t.
I could simply have said no. That is probably what a normal person would have done.
Instead, I looked at my collars and thought: hang on, why don’t I?
And that was the end of peace and quiet.
The person who asked decided to leave it until September. I have been around long enough to know what “we’ll see in September” can mean. Maybe we will. Maybe we won’t. Maybe by September she will have forgotten all about me, the collar, and the fact that she ever owned a V-neck top in the first place.
But the idea was already in my head.
And that is much worse.
Pinterest is a dangerous place
My head isn’t some magical storage box where every crochet pattern in the world is waiting to jump out whenever I need one.
Pinterest.
That was a mistake.
Not because I couldn’t find anything. Quite the opposite. I found far too much.
One V-neck collar quickly turned into the idea of making several different ones. Because once you start experimenting, why make one when you can make four?
And that is how Must Täht, Öölill, Valge Tilk and Valge Võlv came to be.
Each one is different.
Must Täht is black with a golden metallic thread and is more of a decorative front piece.
Öölill is smaller, also in black and gold, with a crocheted rose in the centre.
Valge Tilk is made from natural white cotton and has a pearl bead at the back.
Valge Võlv is wider and straighter.
That last one is currently the collar I keep looking at and thinking: no.
It is finished.
But I don’t like it.
That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the collar. It simply means that I’ve got one of my little quirks again. I am not giving it my final approval before it has been starched. We’ll starch it and then take another look.
The others got away with just a light starching.
And now I could stop
I could.
Four different collars designed for V-necks are a perfectly adequate answer to the question of whether I have anything for a V-neck.
But in the meantime, something else appeared on Pinterest.
It’s sort of… a bib front. A chest piece. Something halfway between a collar and a piece of jewellery.
I don’t even know what I am going to call it yet.
But I know myself well enough.
This is not a good sign.
Bim and Maimu
Maimu looked at the four collars.
“They’re lovely,” she said.
Bim looked too.
For a long time.
“What is it?” Maimu asked.
“I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
“She asked for one collar.”
Maimu looked at the table.
Four collars.
Then she looked at me.
“He has a point.”
Bim looked visibly satisfied.
If one of these collars caught your eye, you can find them at Tiina Butiik.