One of my New Year's Resolutions was to keep up with blogging ... so much for New Year's Resolutions. I haven't lost any weight, either. But many projects have been completed and there is lots to share. Miss Ellie was born in February and the
Ellie dress and slip were finished in time for the baby shower. The jacket took just a bit longer and will show up in a separate post. I've had a bee in my bonnet to embroider a baby something ever since
Alicia's book was published. If you are looking for inspiration, this book will provide it!
In the olden days, we used iron on transfers, but it seems that modern day patterns are not equipped with those handy tools. I used transfer paper, traced the designs from the pattern, and crossed my fingers that it would come out in the wash. It did. In the second wash, with a bit of Spray & Wash coaching.
I worried that the facing on the slip would not lay nicely and used a running stitch around the neck and arm rather than tacking the facing to the body of the slip. I think it adds a sweet detail.
At the family Christmas gathering, Paul expressed his somewhat negative opinion about the color pink. I ignored him. I would have ignored him even if I hadn't been halfway done with Ellie's blankie. But when I finally turned over the finished product to Paul a few weeks ago, he admitted that he had come to terms with the over abundance of pink and had actually grown quite fond of the color. Good thing. Because, with two boys, I jump at the chance to make something---anything--in pink. Although, I have to admit, I was ready to be done with this pink blankie about three quarters of the way through. The pattern was very simple: six rows of stockinette and four rows of K2 together, YO. But, done in fingering yarn, it went on f-o-r-e-v-e-r.
I improvised a bit on the scalloped edging. I'm not a crocheter (although I can execute basic stitches and follow directions moderately well), but the directions for the scalloped edging started with one set of instructions for scalloping across the top of the blankie and then changed the pattern of stitches for the scalloping down the side. Consequently, the edging did not look the same from one side to the next. Weird. I think the change was trying to account for the difference in picking up stitches along the cast-on/cast off edges and the less defined end-of-row edges, but still. I found basic scalloping instructions via a quick internet search and liked the results much better.
