It's still not perfect, but it's the best circle I managed, and I tried more than once! I did have to start wondering how many times I could pull out the stitches without the whole thing falling apart. Next job is to reshape the half circles in the corners.
I finished off the arms with some rococo and twist, stitched in the detail with twist, with a final bit of pearl purl to hide the joins. I need to fiddle with the half circles a bit, to pull them back into shape. Might be a bit tricky but I think it will be worth it.
The pearl purl outer edge is all done now, and I think gives a really nice finished edge. Only some rococo and twist to couch down on the inside of each arm now and my homework is done! I'm a bit concerned about some pieces of felt showing under the edges of the gold, but I'm hoping Tracy can magically fix that.
