crochet + roses

It was, of course, only a matter of time before this crochet-beginner and rose-lover started crocheting roses!

I started with this pattern, can't remember why this one in particular. All went well til I reached the part where it says:
"Thread yarn needle with yarn end from beginning chain. With right side facing and beginning with first petal made, refer to photo to roll Rose; sew to secure as you roll. Then thread needle with ending yarn and sew to secure."
which makes as much sense to me as 
"osmruf820ttfh789Q23(9&yhr$gkitr$"! 
So I've got this far:

and stopped.

BUT! I also found this pattern for crochet roses, which has step-by-step instructions - with photos! - for the sewing up part.
I got this far:

dug out a needle, wove in the ends and ...

... deep breath ...

... here we go!

Several F-bombs later I have this:

Then I tried a more instinctive approach, figuring the holes in the pattern must be there for a reason. It went much better but what I got was this:

which looked like this at the back:

Ho hum, the trial continues. I think I'm onto something with using the holes and a kind of running stitch but it needs some tweaking. If only it weren't so hard to unpick it every time ...

...

to be continued ...

-x-

Update: I resorted to youtube (always a last resort for me) and found several videos that basically say 'just sew it up so it looks right' so I'm going to try that next ...

-x-