Dress to Impress

It's been quite some time since I've posted as this most recent project took me about 5 weeks to finish and then it took another 2 weeks for me to finally sew a button on the back and complete the project . . . The pattern, entitled Dress to Impress, was designed by Leila McMillan and can be found in the book Stitch 'n Bitch Superstar Knitting: Go Beyond the Basics by Debbie Stoller.  I prefer to refer to it as "The dress the NDP knit" as I completed a significant portion of the project while attending the 2013 Saskatchewan NDP Leadership Convention.

Because I prefer knitting in the round, I adapted the pattern to make the design work seamlessly.   It is made from 100% acrylic yarn from my closet collection. It was knit in the round with size 5 (3.75mm) needles.  The final measurements of the dress are a 22" chest circumference and it's 16" long.  

Look out Astrid, here comes your new party dress!

A Tatted Embellishment

My most recent knit baby tunic needed an embellishment of some type.  I wanted something that would not affect the ability of the dress to be machine washed and dried so I decided that something removable would be the most practical.  I wanted something bright and cheerful to complement the darker blues of the dress and I knew that a delicate tatted flower would be perfect. It had been quite a few years since I'd done any tatting, but with the handy dandy The Learn How Book, I easily picked it up again.

This booklet belonged to my Grandmother and I consider it the quintessential go-to guide when I need to remember/relearn the basics of crocheting, knitting or tatting (I've never tried embroidery or hairpin lace . . .).

I found some of my old tatting shuttles, some crochet cotton and did a little internet searching for inspiration.  I winged it and made this little daisy.

I then attached it to a large (1cm diameter) snap.  Now on the snap, the daisy can be moved to different locations on the dress!

Baby Tunic

This cute little dress was made using the Super Simple Baby Tunic pattern. I used size 4mm (US 6) needles and chose to knit the pattern in the round. The only modification I made to the pattern was to add an extra 10 rows to the straps to make them a little bit longer.

The dress was made with some gorgeous yarn I bought at Espace Tricot while on vacation in Montreal last fall. It is hand dyed yarn by Tanis Fiber Arts, an all Canadian company.  The yarn is Yellow Label DK weight and the colour is deep sea.  One of the best parts about it is that it's 100% superwash merino and therefore machine washable and dryable (which I consider a must when I give something as a baby gift). The yarn came in a 115g (4 oz)/238m (260yds) hank and after completing the dress there is enough left over for a doll dress or other small project.

I'm happy with the dress, but I think it needs some type of embellishment to make it complete.  I'll post again when I've figured that part out . . .

Variations on an Impress Dress

In my previous post, I mentioned one of my favourite baby girl dress patterns, the Impress Dress.  The first time I knit this pattern, it was for my little neighbour's first birthday and I made her this brown and pink version of the dress.

My next experiment was a blue, white and mauve version for my goddaughter . . .

Both of the above dresses were made with acrylic yarn from my collection.  I bought Lion Brand Homespun Yarn in the colour "Herb Garden" for the next dress I made.  I love the Homespun variegated yarn colours and in addition to feeling lovely and soft, it's also safe to machine wash and dry.  And look how cute it looks on Astrid!

Entrelac

I learned about entrelac in Margaret Radcliffe's fantastic book, The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques. My first experiment with entrelac was this little hat.

I love this technique and decided I needed to take on something more ambitious.  When I heard there was a new baby girl in the neighbourhood I decided to try knitting an entrelac baby dress. I didn't use a pattern for the skirt part of the dress, but I used the collar from the pattern for this Impress Dress. I picked up stitches at the bottom to do the trim. Unfortunately I think I made some questionable colour choices for the dress . . . Luckily it was all knit with accumulated acrylic yarn from my collection (my typical choice for experiments like this one).  The outcome was a bit more avant garde than I bargained for.

I'm not sure I know the baby's mom well enough to judge if she'd think this was something that falls into the "retro-cool" category or the just plain ugly category. What do you think? Is it a knitting fail? In the mean time I've started knitting something more conventional for baby Fiona . . .

Striped Baby Dress

A friend had her first baby so this will soon be off in the mail to little Zoé! This dress could also be worn as a tunic or a vest, depending on the size/build of the child.  The skirt part was made with variegated yarn left over from a blanket I crocheted while pregnant with my first son, alternated with a random ball of blue yarn from my collection.  I used this Lanesplitter skirt pattern.  Using the ball of blue yarn, I picked up stitches at the top and made the bodice from this pattern entitled Sunshine dress. I then used the variegated yarn to do an edging around the neck.

Chunky Baby Hat

For this hat I used the leftover Sweet Georgia Yarns (summer dusk) from my Chunky Mittens for the first part of the hat, doing the ribbing pattern until the yarn ran out (9 rows).  Then I switched to an alpaca wool blend (70% alpaca, 30% wool) in a purple colour that I purchased locally from Prairie Fire Alpacas, located in Arelee, SK.

I knit the hat on size 10 (6mm) dpn and I used this free Cozy Cap - Knitting Pattern.  Because of the size of my yarn/needles/my gauge, I wound up using the size XXL cast on of 52 stitches, but followed the measurements for the infant sized hat (i.e. I knit until the hat measured 4" before doing the decrease). The top was done using the 5 stitch I-Cord suggested by the pattern's author.

Now I just need to find a chunky little baby to wear the hat!