Someone had a frilly-lace tissue box cover that they knitted ages ago and they wanted to make another. They had lost the pattern and couldn’t remember how they did it so they got in touch with me.

I love these puzzles and happily deciphered the pattern from the sample she had. Then I knitted one myself to ‘prove’ the pattern was correct and that it made the same article she had.

As I was going through that exercise I thought of all sorts of improvements I would want to make - the way the lace was joined in and finished off, where the seam goes and how the shaping is done.

The end result still looks like a frilly-lace tissue box cover but it is, for me at least, more satisfying and fun to knit - and it fits the tissue box better too.