The Charlotte Dress

So, after three months of knitting I have completed the Charlotte Dress (designed by Nicole Montgomery, * and available here on ravelry).
I loved knitting this, and found the pattern excellent- clearly worded and very easy to follow.

Having knitted a tension square, I adjusted my needle size down, and knitted it using 2.25mm circulars.  I got slightly bored knitting the skirt, since, with such small needles and 4 ply wool, it took a long time to knit about 11 inches!  Doing it in the round was, in some ways, even harder, because you didn't even know when you had completed a row, given that it was all knit!  Still, I was delighted when I finished the skirt!

Having got that under my belt (pardon the pun!), I was convinced that it looked too big for 6-12 months.  However, I'd been good and done a tension square, so I kept going and got on with the bodice, which was so much fun!   I loved working the smocking stitch, and seeing something other than stocking stitch appear on this pretty little dress.  I was impressed by the attention to detail, for example, the pretty little button band at the back.

I also loved knitting the little arm borders- very simple and elegant.

The little one fits beautifully in the dress (being 2 weeks shy of 6 months), and it will be perfect for the colder months ahead.

A thoroughly enjoyable knit, and a very satisfying project to have completed.

I hope your week is going well.

C x

* Nicole also has a very beautiful blog here.

A skein unravelled and some sushi

So I decided to follow Meg's advice and ball up my skein of knitpicks wool.  It was definitely a good idea, and I figured it'd take about half an hour... Alas no.  Given that I'd started knitting with it already, some of the skein wasn't as neatly packaged as when it first arrived and it took nearer 2 hours to ball-up- the entire duration of a Craft evening I had on Tuesday.  Still, it made for some fun group activity at times...

But look how lovely it looks now...

It turns out that 100g of 4-ply wool is actually quite a lot!
Still, it's done now (particular thanks to Georgie!), and is nice and neat, and the Charlotte Dress is making slow but satisfying progress...

In other news, we went to dinner with some friends last Saturday and rolled sushi for the first time.  It was great!  Although I was a bit of a coward on the raw fish front, and didn't get any more adventurous than smoked salmon, I loved the ones that I rolled, and had a generally lovely evening!

Rachel's looked incredibly professional (she is quite experienced at sushi-rolling), but even mine looked quite cool for a first-time attempt!

A fun, and very sociable meal! (Thanks Nick and Rachel!)

I hope you are enjoying a leisurely weekend.  We are enjoying the beautiful weather, and our sixth wedding anniversary!  Happy Saturday, Friends.

C x

Cards, Cake and Knitting

Yesterday I made some cards again.  Using the papers I blogged about here and some inspiration from here, I stitched some cards...

It was fun doing them on the machine, and it made an interesting change from just sticking papers onto card!  I didn't have matching envelopes for every card- some in my stash were too large to go with anything, so I cut them down to size and them stitched them on my machine too, which made for a nice 'set'.

All three of my new knitting projects are underway, and though I shan't reveal them all now, I shall mention one of them- the one I am using my lovely knitpicks yarn that I mentioned in my last post.  I am doing the beautiful "Charlotte Dress" by Nicole Montgomery.  I am enjoying working in the round on my circular needles, and at the moment, because the skirt of the pattern is pretty simple, it's easy to pick up and put down when I have a moment or two.

The only frustrating thing about knitting with this lovely yarn is that it comes wound up in a skein, which then is rather messy when you're working with it (see first pic above).  Does anyone have any tips for keeping this neat? Do any of you bother to wind it up into a ball as I am slightly tempted to do?

Lastly today, I have made a yummy chocolate cake for a craft evening tonight...

Mmm. Can I wait for tonight?!

How are you this week? 

C x

A finished project and a day out.

I finished the garter stitch cardigan on Friday.  I'm pleased with the result.

I think P looks rather gorgeous in it too...

It was a nice easy pattern using only garter stitch, and with one row of decreasing (making the eyelets for the ribbon to go through).  I used King Cole DK Smooth.  It is lovely to knit with, and although it's actually acrylic, it feels really light, and quite like bamboo.

Yesterday we had a trip to the Zoo with Husband, Small Ones, and Grandparents.  It was a lot of fun.  E was absolutely captivated by a little train which drove around the site, and paid it far more attention than he did the Lions, Zebras and Giraffes!

Al's parents bought a fabulous picnic, and during lunch time we (I say 'we', I really mean 'they'!) attempted a cryptic crossword.
It was an overcast and windy day, but kind of perfect for an outdoor day, as no one was worrying about trying to keep little ones out of the sun etc. - very different from the scorching heat of today! (Talking of that, does anyone have any tips for keeping a very grumpy baby cool in the heat? She does NOT want to go to sleep tonight!).

What a lovely way to spend a Saturday.

To finish, I'll give you a sneak peak of what wonders arrived in the post for me this week... Any guesses on the projects I am now starting?!

Have a lovely week.

C x