Workbasket Magazine - October 1954 Rose Necklace

For this week, I made the Rose Necklace. The model uses size 30 thread and a size 12 (1mm) crochet hook. I had size 30 thread, so I decided to give this pattern a chance. The pattern says that you could use anything in place of the rose, and you could even make earrings by making two roses and adding an earring back. They suggest stiffening the necklace with clear nail polish or liquid plastic starch. 

The rose was easy to crochet. I've done other similar flowers, so the size of the thread didn't give me any trouble. It's about 1 3/4 inches in diameter in the size 30 thread. The chain, which would normally be the easiest part, was harder. Finding the tiny little stitch to make two double crochets into was difficult, and when it was done, it didn't twist quite right like it does in the illustration. I think there were areas where I stitched in a slightly different part of the chain that caused the problem. Blocking solved some of that problem. I soaked the two pieces, and after pinning the rose down, I put a pin in one end of the twisted chain and slowly kept twisting it until it looked like the photo. 

That seemed to work pretty well. The flower piece has it's own loop that you thread the chain through. The directions wanted snap fasteners sewn to the ends of the chain. I haven't done that yet and may not, depending on what I decide to do with the necklace. I also didn't stiffen the flower or the chain as they suggested.  I don't know why you would stiffen the chain. The flower is soft but not floppy so I don't think it needs it at this point. If you were going to wear it often and didn't want to keep blocking it, it probably could benefit from something to keep it in shape longer.

Scoring:
Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes. 1.0
If there was a gauge, could I match it? There was no gauge and no indication of how big it would be aside from the illustration. 0.5
Does it look like the illustration? Yes. 1.0
Would someone wear this? I think so. I don't love the chain part but the flower as a pendant is pretty. 0.5
Did I enjoy making it? Yes, even though the thread was tiny. 1.0

​Total Score: 3.5