I started this yesterday and promptly spent hours doing and re-doing the SC foundation row (I thought I had it licked, but turned out I was making it unnecessarily difficult). After looking at it the right way, sideways on and upside down, I eventually gave in and put a mirror next to the diagrams and got it. Ah, the joys of being a left handed crocheter. ;)

The pattern looked daunting, but it's actually quite easy once you get going. I couldn't get my head around row 4 (finish off. Make a 6 sc foundation row. *confused*), so I lay in the bath, where I entered the Cth Dimension and hey presto, I was back on track.

I got to Row 7 and realised that one of my stitch markers had fallen out. Then I panicked and thought that I hadn't done the INC-V, then I realised it was in the wrong place and ripped back to almost the beginning of Row 3. And then I realised that I hadn't got it wrong - d'oh! Ah well, it worked out OK because my Shell-in-V and V-in-Shell had gone a bit wonky. Being left handed, I'm working from the other direction, so I need to swap things around in places. The ripping was probably a blessing in disguise because I've managed to get the order almost right this time. There's still a few places where things aren't quite right, but I don't think it matters. The "fabric" is really pretty and once you get into the swing of things, it seems to crochet itself. I started with Mei-Mei because it doesn't need much yarn and I wanted something quick before I attempt Cinnabar. I'm nowhere near as daunted as I was when I first looked at the book - hey, I think I'm becoming an intermediate crochetere!

Edit:
This is link to the WIP photos. You can see the shape it takes. Finished article to follow...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/_miggins_/sets/72157603248009848/ [1]