FO: Marlande

My second FO in what's just over 2 weeks of 2008. At this rate I'll have at least 45 FOs for the year (ha!).

This was a hard-earned one, but one that I'm very pleased with in the end.

pattern Marlande from Bouton d'Or Layette & Junior no. 13
yarn Patons Grace in Rose, Viola and White (3 balls of Rose, 1.2 balls of Viola, .8 balls of White).
needles Knitpicks Options 4.0 mm / US # 6
mods I didn't intend to make any mods, but one became necessary. I washed and dried my swatch, and was suprised that it didn't shrink in length.

you see where this is going, right?

Once I washed the dress, it shrank quite a bit so I needed to lengthen it. I added a white lacy edging below the ruffles, and I love it. I think it looks like a little petticoat peaking out from underneath.

Thoughts on the Pattern

Johanna warned me about Bouton d'Or patterns and she was so right. They have such cute designs but the patterns are odd. In my case, I found the pattern to be both highly-specific and vague. For example, they made sure to tell you to do your increases 2 sts inside the selvedge to make it smoother for picking up the edgings (nice!). It worked out beautifully. Then, they did things like instruct me to make a tr buttonhole for the button closure. I've never heard of a tr buttonhole, and neither had the writers of the abbreviations or general directions. I couldn't find a single mention of how to make a tr buttonhole. In the end I made a little loop and blanket stitched inside it to make a nice, firm outline. Worked fine.

I really enjoyed the embroidery bits, and plan to do more of it this year. And that button? Cute as a...hmm. Well, damn cute. The colors were chosen based on the parents preferences (pink, pink, and some more pink. The baby's bedroom is all pink, replete with satin and tulle. The viola was my addition because as much as I like pink, I needed some contrast.

The end result is really sweet, but all the little finishing work took quite a bit of time and was...less fun. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here are a few numbers for you:

• total number sts CO: 400
• total number sts BO: 1,033
• total number sts picked up: 595

Crazy, right? If I had thought through all the steps before I started the finishing work, I could have reduced some of my effort. But really, all those edgings are going to be extra work, and there's just no way around that. I knit the body in 2 days. I finished the rest over the next 2 weeks.

But, it was worth it. I'm enamored with this little dress, and I think (hope) the parents will be too.