Ravelympic Update, Day 8

(maybe?)


Well, the Miss Muffett in Blue....she is finie, and when done with this post, I will 'lightly block the picot hem', and officially cross the Baby Dressage Finish Line.

Observe the picot edging hem...

However, I could not wait. As I was finishing up the bodice, it was looking mighty tiny. I called the Grandbebe Girl's Mama last night when I was finished binding off, and asked if we might pop in. We tried it on, and it fit perfectly. Now. The original plan was to give it as a Christmas gift. Instead, Grandbebe Girl will be wearing through the fall!

See, twisted rib makes for very tiny looking...

I swatched for gauged, and 'gauged' that I would be best served to needle it down a size. Doing that might have worked if I wasn't dealing with a growing, living human being. I do believe she has put out some growthy spurts in the last few weeks. See, not my fault! Whatever, I am relieved she will get a few wearings out of it without A) reknitting, or, B) finding someone smaller who looks good in blue. C) is not an option. I would not, at this point, donate it for someone else to find it at a thrift store and wonder at the story behind it. D) holding on to it for the next Grandbebe Girl.

See! My new mad crochet skilz!

Other interesting events from last night. I popped into JoAnn's. Sugar 'n Cream is on sale this weekend for a better than usual price, and, well, what can I say? Old tapes play, and when that stuff is on sale, I. Must. Buy. While picking out a few balls of that, I ended up chatting with another Sugar 'n Cream buyer. She knits mostly dishclothes, but crochets, and we chatted about my needing to crochet around the neck and back opening of the newly finished dress. See, I don't crochet, except for button hole loops, and this was going to be a learning experience for me. Then I happened upon another knitter in the button aisle, with a portion of a handknit vest, made of yarn she had spun! She had just learn to spin, just bought a Kromski, and is expecting her own Grandbebe Girl in two weeks!

Lace panel insert (technical term....)

Summary for Miss Muffett:

This was not a difficult knit at all. Picot edging was only 8 rows to begin with. The lace panel insert is only 7 stitches wide, and a 4 row repeat. The rest of the skirt is all knitting. (Perfect for Olympic swimming watching!) The twisted rib of the sleeves and bodice requires a bit of attention but not really too much. Raglan decreases are just like sock toes. The only tricky part was getting the sleeves and the body on the same needles. The first row or two was a little tricky, because of the tight quarters around the armholes, and probably due to my inexperience in such things. After I adjusted, it went swimmingly. I even worked the crochet without the expertise of others, relying only on my Knitter's Companion, by Vicki Square.

AND! I promise faithfully, from now on, from the bottom of my heart (and on my copy 'The Opinionated Knitter' by EZ) that I will always always always knit for gauge when preparing to knit wearable garments that will need to fit living breathing human beings....