I started knitting Crumpets November 29th, 2006 after I picked up the yarn at the yearly Smiley's yarn sale in Manhattan. The dress was complete on January 4th, 2007.
The dress is for a friend's daughter, who is turning 1 year old.
I used the following yarn:
Brand: Filatura Lanarota Summer Soft
Color: Turquoise Delight
Fiber: 60% Rayon 40% Acrylic
Weight: Knitting Worsted
Care: Machine Wash
Packing: 50 Grams)
Yardage: 90 yards
Here is a close up of the beading and pattern detail.
I used picot-edging at the top.All the little pearls were hand-beaded with upholstery thread afterwards since the beads were too small to thread onto the yarn during knitting.
The most difficult time I had was not the complicated pattern at the chest, but rather the never-ending rows of stockinette stitch at the skirt -- doubling from 120 stitches to 240 in a round! Then when all knitting was done, it was the little details that became time consuming. From the hand-threading of each pearl bead in the right place without thread showing, to then weaving in elastic bands at the chest...
All in all, it was a very gratifying project -- I will be thrilled when the dress is finally on and pictures are taken! She will look so sweet!
2 comments:
that dress is gorgeous! and i love the smocking. you did a great job. did you do the smocking with a needle after you completed it?
Thank you so much!!! The "smocking" is actually just part of the knitting pattern that makes it appear all pulled in. I attribute that to Libby Baker for her genius... :) It really is a stunningly beautiful pattern.
The original pattern calls to pre-load the yarn with all the little beads and pull them down as you knit up the top. The pearl beads I selected were too small to load onto the yarn, so I went back and sewed them into place with normal needle and strong upholstery thread.
As a last step, several elastics were measured to the baby's chest size and then sewed together into a loop. Each loop was then secured into place loosely just weaving into the knit stitches in the inner bodice.
Most definitely a project I would do again, despite the numerous steps... :)
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