Sailor Dress - Pleats and Problems

I picked up two lovely, silky skeins of Think Bamboo midnight blue lace weight at Black Sheep a couple weeks ago and was inspired to make Chloe a sweet little sailor dress for this summer. I found a pattern I liked as a starting point over at Patons, but I wanted to make several changes for maximum class and cuteness -

• shorter, diaper-skimming skirt section
• inverted box pleats instead of knife pleats
• different cable pattern for the body
• sleeveless, with narrower shoulders
• i-cord collar edging instead of the back-flap collar
• matching i-cord edging around the armholes

I originally intended to leave narrow open spaces  (4 stitches wide) between my box pleats, and I did my stitch math accordingly. However, after working a few pleats that way, I decided I really didn't like the look, and switched to regular inverted box pleats. Stupidly, I completely failed to note that this would dramatically alter my final stitch count. I finished the pleating round and realized I was now working with a 16" waist instead of the 20.5" I was supposed to have. While I think I can get away with the waistband having this much negative ease, I really don't want it that tight through the chest.

Inverted box pleats - half done

So, rather than fiddle with too many increases and making it look baggy, I've chosen a light fingering weight white yarn I had in my stash already to do the cabled top portion of the dress. The gauge change will not be dramatic, but I'm hoping it will be enough to make the dress fit comfortably. If I have to rip this out entirely and start over, I may not finish it in time for her to wear on our trip to visit family this summer.   

Spring is Coming!

The sun is shining more often than not, the flowers are starting to peek out - 'tis the season for knit lace!

Chloe is wearing the Esme pullover knit from Patons Beehive Baby Fingering in the color Vintage Lace - I just love it when the color matches the project so well. :)

Entrelac in the Round

I have decided to add a new sub-skill to one of my favorite techniques - entrelac! I've been sitting on two skeins of Knit Picks Chroma Worsted in Paperback - a soft, subtle blend of greys and tans, and while the original plan was to knit a scarf for sale, I now have a much more exciting, if less profitable idea - legwarmers!

Chroma looks GORGEOUS in entrelac, and having just knit some legwarmers for a friend, I'm feeling the need for some of my own.  The weather is getting colder, I just bought some new skinny jeans, and I have the totally awesome book Entrelac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting to guide me.

I have pretty large calves, so much so that I have a lot of difficulty finding tall boots that fit, and knee-high sock patterns always have to be extensively modified, so this will be quite the challenge.  Do I make the legwarmers loose all around and then drawstring them at the knee? That could be cute, especially if I put little pompoms on the drawstring.  Or do I want to do some shaping? And if so, how do I handle shaping with entrelac? Do I switch needle sizes? Do I increase internally in the squares?  I can't wait to get started!

Oh and by the way, how freaking cute does my daughter look in her her knitwear?

Yarn Kisses

The last time I posted here, I had just found out that I was pregnant.  Finally pregnant, after nine months of trying. After knitting for other people's babies. After stocking up on baby pattern books, baby yarns, and baby buttons in anticipation.  I was finally pregnant.

And I didn't stop knitting.  Oh, far from it.  Between last October and today, I've completed two dozen projects.  Several were gifts or commissions, a few were just for me, but ten of them have been for my precious, beautiful, amazing, perfect little girl.  I just can't stop knitting for her.   Even knowing that she'll grow out of any and all of it much faster than I'd like.  Even though one of the projects never properly fit her at all.

In the beginning, before we knew if we'd be getting a prince or a princess, it was gender neutral accessories:

Then, once we knew we were having a girl, I started in on the lovely sweaters - and who says powder blue isn't a gorgeous color for a girl's winter ensemble?

Then, with a book of toy patterns received at the baby shower, I suddenly went nuts for knitted plushies!

Most recently I completed a lace pullover that will hopefully fit her next spring.  This project was the one that bridged the great divide between pregnancy and motherhood. Cast on in June, just a week before my due date, and finally finished a little over a week ago.

And a house-elf hat for her costume for our upcoming Harry Potter cosparty:

And this kid is only ten and a half weeks old! By the time she starts kindergarten, she won't leave the house but sporting at least one thing handmade for her.

In June 2011, I posted a letter from Eunny Jang entitled "Living a Handmade Life," in which she describes the thoughtfulness and care that goes into a handmade project, how crafts like knitting teach us to appreciate quality and sincere effort, and to be better problem solvers and risk takers, and that ultimately, knitters are a positive, creative force in the world.  We add, rather than subtract.

And that is a lesson that I look forward to teaching my daughter, while I'm wrapping her up in yarn kisses.

Baby Fever

Lately, whenever I browse knitting patterns on Ravelry or pattern books in shops, I'm drawn to the baby patterns. I've never had a reason to knit anything for a baby or even a child, but these days it seems like everyone around me is pregnant or carrying around a little one. And the patterns themselves, of course, are absolutely precious. So, when I saw that I had a respectable amount saved up, I splurged on two books:

Now, it's no secret to those of you that know me that I'm, well, a snobby knitter. Unless I'm learning a completely new technique, I refuse to knit anything that has the word "easy" or "quick" in its name, or comes from a book with a similar title. When the people around me see what I've wrought, they won't merely say "Oh hey, you learned how to knit. Neat." Oh no. They will be amazed that human hands could have created such a masterpiece! I seek out the marvelous, the impressive, the maddeningly complex.

It may not come as a shock to anyone that a book full of patterns like that would not sell easily. So I often settle for a book full of "pretty and interesting" with a handful of "sufficiently difficult looking."

A few days ago, I decided to purchase something I'd been lusting after. Until now, I'd been carrying all my circulars, dpns, and notions around the house in the clear vinyl pouch that came with Knit Picks interchangeable set. But really, it was never intended for that kind of duty, and it was just a mess. So I went for the momma of portable knitting tackleboxes:


This is the "Multi-Craft Rack System" by Creative Options, the crafty division of Plano, which makes nearly identical organizers in less girly colors for tools and such. After adding this beauty to my cart, I decided to take a look at the baby pattern books. My friend's daughter is coming up on her first birthday, which was a very convenient excuse to expand my knitting library. I chose the above books because the patterns within didn't look like they could be knitted by just anyone (well, most of them) and because the appeal of that gorgeous vintage look was very strong. Vintage Baby Knits is a collection of actual vintage patterns, adapted for modern terminology, and Vintage Knits for Modern Babies is all new, vintage-inspired patterns. Both are full of irresistibly stylish baby knits, and I'm going to have a really hard time deciding what to make for the little princess!

But I feel comfortable that whatever it is, her mommy will be blown away. :D