Ok, not all my knitting projects need their own blog post, I don't think. But this one is an exception! I fell in love with this pattern, by Helen Hamann, out of "Expectant Little Knits" long before I knew Jacob was on the way. I just had to have it, so I ordered the same wool the sample was knitted out of in the book, from http://www.elann.com/ , and thought about starting on it right away. But other projects got in the way. Anyways, then we found out we were expecting this new little one. I wanted to bump this project up to high priority, but I was a little nervous to do so, in case we lost the baby. So I didn't start on it til I was over 13 weeks along. It seemed like it would go fairly quick n easy anyways, and the sumptuous alpaca yarn and the many rows of relaxing, simple stockinette made it a very enjoyable knit, and so I had high hopes to have it done in time for Christmas wearing. I took it along on a quick, one day trip to Calgary, hoping to score lots of knitting time that way-only to run into a snag with the pattern about an hour into the trip (and of course I hadn't brought another project along either-phooey!). It wasn't so much that the pattern wasn't clear, as that I was constantly 2nd guessing it-my problem here was I wasn't sure if the designer really wanted me to work the stitches I'd put on waste yarn, in the short rows on the Right Front section. Even after consultation with a knowledgeable lady at my LYS, and with the editor of the book, who kindly wrote me back on Ravelry, I was still confused. I ended up actually getting to have a conversation with the pattern designer herself! Anyways, it turns out that, yup, I did need to work a few of the stitches that were in the waste yarn row. So, that hurdle jumped, I continued on. I didn't expect to have trouble working the short rows either, having done lots using the Sheepy pants pattern . However, the method for those didn't seem to work that well with this pattern, so I had to do a little internet searching- (BTW-the short row tutorial I found most helpful for this project was from Knitting Rose's blog ). The next place I ran into difficulty was picking up the stitches for the underarm. I ended up deciding to pick up half of the stitches one way, and half the other way, for that was the only sense I could make of the directions. Not sure if I'm right about that or not though....
I never was able to get 116 stitches that the pattern said I should have though-I only was able to get 106. Still, the sleeve length worked out alright, so I guess it wasn't as major as I worried about at the time. Then came working the cuff BO!! That was frustration embodied!! I didn't get the part where, on Row 1, the designer was insinuating I TURN THE WORK after performing the directions stated. After starting, trying, and frogging multiple times, I finally went searching for help! Luckily, some wonderful knitters on Ravelry were able to figure this out quite quickly, and once I followed their advice, I ended up with very nicely finished cuffs. I'm so grateful for all the smart knitters on Ravelry!! Now I know I could've been a rebel, and just BO the cuffs normally-but this designer is brilliant and I really wanted to see it turn out like she had designed. So I was thrilled with the help from fellow Ravelers!!
The skirt, while very easy and enjoyable to knit, took a LONG TIME to do-much longer than I thought it would!! Finally, the pleats that needed to be stitched in gave me fits-I couldn't find much about sewing pleats in knitting at all on the net. I finally just bit the bullet, did a back and forth kind of stitch on the pleats, and secured them. I'm still not completely happy with the job I did on one shoulder with the pleats (but I think that's balanced out by me being thrilled by the job I did on the other side-LOL!). I just quit overthinking the pattern and followed the directions the designer gave for doing the pleats-and they turned out all right. I wish she would have included pix of the pleating process, as it would have given me less stress-but really, her directions were fine if I could just bring myself to completely trust that she knew what she was doing (ya think?LOL!) and just do what the pattern said.
The easiest part (but the one that looked hardest to begin with!) was doing the "twist" that makes up the front of this dress. That was a really simple matter, made more clearer to me b/c of my practice sewing the Jalie Twist top patterns.
All these places where I had to stop and ponder what to do next cost me time on knitting this dress-I had to put it in "time out" several times, b/c I was getting too frustrated with it!!
All this to say-I have FINALLY finished the dress (but nope, it's not blocked!) and, thanks to baby being a bit late, I was even able to get a few shots of a baby bump in it!! I do really like the dress, and am glad I went through all the stress to get it done-but darn, I wish I had my whole pregnancy to enjoy it!! Especially as the Yarn Harlot's theory about how babies don't come til after a major project get's finished played out just like that in this case-I barely finished the dress, and had the baby in the wee hours of the folllowing morning!!!
Anyways, here's a couple pix of me in my Little Red Twist Top Maternity Dress:
(photos kindly taken by Leroy, who said I looked great in it-probably a wise move for a man living with a rather hormonal, emotional woman, who is pregnant with a baby who is not ready to arrive just yet, even though I was expecting him/her to do so a week earlier....)
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