Wednesday 13 March 2013

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!



Sunday 10 March 2013

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 . . .