Yeehaw, I finished it!

Well, it's done. And *I* think it's gorgeous, however note the "I'm only smiling because Mummy told me to" expression on our lovely model's face... I will try it a couple more times, but I think this dress may be destined for the model's little friend Charlotte's wardrobe.

I may actually take out the neck insert - I took some liberties with the pattern and did it in stocking stitch so it would match the bodice, however it's a tight squeeze over the little one's head and she has a tiny pea head, so if it goes to Charlotte it would need fixing anyhow, and it's not quite as perfect as the rest of the dress. But aside from that, I'm very pleased with it. Note the perfect fit! (Which, in toddler-land, means it won't fit her in 3 months anyway.)

Overall I think this was a perfect first project. I learned some stuff, I was challenged but not overwhelmed, and I really enjoyed working with this wool.

almost done!

The front, back and sleeves of the dress are finished. Unfortunately I don't have enough pins to properly block all 4 pieces, so I will have to do the rest of it tomorrow, and sew it later this week. Then I will probably knit the optional insert for the neck, which should go pretty quickly, and then it'll be done! If Her Majesty can avoid naps this week, I can have it done by the weekend I think. (Naps mean later bedtime, which means no knitting.)

The sleeves are gorgeous. Unfortunately, *somebody* left the camera connector at work, so I can't post pictures.

quick update

I've finished the front, back and one sleeve of Rowan's dress. Once the other sleeve is done, I have to sew it together and then knit quick little inserts for the front and back neck. So, soon there should be something like a picture up.

I ran out of the contrast colour and had to go back for more - of course, they were all out of that dye lot. But since the only parts that meet are meeting vertically so the light will hit them differently anyhow, it ought to be ok. I hope.

ah crap...

I was almost 2/3 done the front (or back, whatever, the other bit) for Rowan's dress when I counted the stitches to see how many more decreases I had to do... and found that I'd managed to cast on 10 extra stitches. BUGGER.

So I unravelled it all. I'm not a happy camper today.

back of dress: finished

I finished the back of Rowan's "christmas" dress today, and did the most beautiful casting-off I've done yet, which was even more impressive since it was accomplished in between toddler mini-fits.

I don't know if I should block it now or wait til it's all done - does it matter? Because the whole dress will take a lot of towel/ironing board space, it would be nice to do it one piece at a time, but if it gets gibbled up again in between blocking and sewing I'd have to do it again. Anyone? Help?

that pillow thing

The pillow cover turned out somewhat larger than I'd envisioned. It's exactly the same size as the cushions on the back of our couch, so I could attach it to one of those, and it would look pretty cool - except the couch is covered by a large quilt because it is a cheap Ikea couch and vulnerable to children and pets, so nobody would ever see it.

Also, the child rather likes it as a cape. I hope this is not the fate of ALL the knitwear I produce.

done!

I finished the knitting portion of the pillow and am blocking it. I seem to have 4 identically sized squares of knitting, although secretly in my heart I know that two of them have one more row than the other two. So I will join the same-sized ones together across, and then join those two wide pieces together up-and-down, and hopefully it will work. I don't think the height difference will be visible.

If all goes well, there will be pictures of the finished pillow tomorrow!