Sweet little dresses

It happens every summer. Along with mosquitoes, butterflies, and lightning bugs, out comes the sewing bug. And it has bitten me, and bitten me hard.

I know I've already said this before, but sewing and I? We don't get along. I love it. It hates me. It should hate me, because, despite my love for it, I do not take my careful time with it. But still.

Anyway, you know how alot of people will knit a baby sweater to try their hand at garment knitting? Well, for some reason, it never occurred to me that I should sew little kid clothes, to get more practice while using less fabric and lighter, more manageable pieces. But it finally dawned on me as I was browsing Joann's the other day, and, armed with a little girls' dress pattern, I drove home and set to work.

My first attempt (using New Look pattern # 6688), was far from perfect. The inside edges were raggedy, the zipper (my first time installing a zipper, btw) was a bit off, but -- and herein lies the beauty of baby clothes -- the dress still turned out adorable. And it only took two evenings from cutting out the pattern to completion!

When making this dress, I had our good friends who recently moved to Hawaii in mind. I used vintage Russian fabric that my mom bought some 20 years ago. It's too loud to use for adult garments, but for a bright little girl who lives in Hawaii, it was perfect. So here is N (20 months) wearing her new dress:



(I used ribbon for the shoulder straps, without lining them with fabric. This way, they're completely adjustable.)

Of course, if I make a dress for N, I have to make one for her big sister, A (almost 7). A and I are buds. We go way back. So I thought that for her dress, I would use the same fabric that I used for my own dress. It helps that the fabric is purple! I used New Look pattern #6821, and this pattern went much better. I slowed down and took my time, and I'm actually quite proud of the way this turned out. I even learned to make tucks! And the zipper looks much better, though the thread I used to put it in shows very clearly on the inside lining. But hey, it's the inside lining, right?

The dress:



I'm happy to report that the parents love both dresses, and A loves it, too:



(I forgot to say that the amazing pictures of A and N are by Kwong Photography, a talented Chicago artist. If you are in the area and interested in using them, email kwongphotography at gmail dot com.)

Dr. Dove!

(Dr. and Mr. Dove.)

See? The big purple robes and funny black hat proove it. I'm a doctor! You can't really see the PhD hood, but it's there!

Summer goals

Ugh, moving. I'm not a fan right now. My house is half-packed and half-messy, and the half-packed part makes it difficult to correct the messy part. That's really the part that gets me the most about moving -- having all those boxes everywhere, unable to get at stuff easily and having that quiet chaos in the house.

But, in two weeks, it'll all be over, and we're right on schedule, so it's all good. Except that someone broke into our house on Friday and took my laptop. Thankfully, that was the only theft of any consequence, but darnit, I'm mad.

Anyway, in happier news, Ali over at skeinsherway is having a Summer goals contest that y'all should check out.

Here are my goals:

1. Finish the Lover's Knot afghan for my in-laws.

2. Finally make the Mystic Waters shawl.

3. Make a pair of socks. I have all this sock yarn, and haven't made a pair in ages.

4. Finish one of my UFOs -- mystery stole, or Lucky, or something.

5. Write up and self-publish the pattern for the red sweater seen here.

6. Finish sewing the dress I'm making for my friend S's little girl (oh yeah! I've been sewing! More about that soon.)

7. Finish sewing the skirt I started for myself last winter.


And as for my real-life goals (which I'm thankfully better at completing than my crafting goals):

1. Graduate on Friday

2. Pack up the house

3. Move

4. Unpack the house

5. Go on a long-awaited vacation with my husband!

6. Start new job mid-July.

7. Explore yarn stores in Cleveland.


How about you?

Not mohair! Yay!

I don't know if it's because this is not fuzzy and teal, but this is my favorite FO of the last few:



It's the Alexa cap sleeve cardigan by Debbie Bliss, available free here. My mom got me this 80% wool/20% acrylic blend yarn (Filati Fantasia Favorit) in Russia, and she got me seven balls of it. Not enough for a full-out sweater, but the perfect amount for this little number: I had just half a skein left over!



And this concludes the long string of recent FOs for now. And considering that I'm moving in 20 days, I should keep it that way!

The last of it

My last teal mohair creation, the Flower Power shrug (pattern in PDF here):



I omitted the beads, but otherwise followed directions to a T.

And the front, complete with my ugly mug I'm sure y'all are sick of by now:



You know how I told you the mohair multiplies? Well, after I finished this project, I was sure I had only one skein left. Then I went to the yarn box, and AGH! there's a second one!

(I've since mailed them to someone on Ravelry. Let her suffer.)

Portland pullover

Ever since I saw the Portland Pullover in the 2006 fall issue of IK, I knew I had to make it in my mohair. So, two years later, I finally did:



I really like this, a loosely knit fuzzy sweater shaped by gradually decreasing needle sizes (from 15 to 13 to 10.5). A very simple, mindless knit, round and round and round in stockinette -- perfect for a brain-dead grad student. I don't think I made a single alteration to the pattern, either, which is a bit unusual for me.

And it's warm and fuzzy, too! So what if it makes me look 30 lb heavier?