For M&C’s future little girl! Will be shipping this little surprise gift off to them this weekend:

The front:

The back:

Pattern: “Dress with Eyelets”, from Debbie Bliss Baby Knits for Beginners, pp. 116-121.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss wool/cotton in color #125-505, dyelot #5 (a mustard yellow-ish color). 50% Merino wool, 50% cotton.
Needle: US #2 and #3 straights, US #2 circs
Gauge: 23 sts/4 inches (with #3 circs)

Additional Notes:

Pattern
Not a bad knit. The pattern was pretty easy, albeit ambiguous in certain areas. I don’t know much about Debbie Bliss patterns (I’m sure Debbie is a wonderful designer), but I have heard some things that caused me to hesitate and go through the pattern with a sharp eye as I went along. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was poorly written, I’d just say that certain parts could have been a bit more specific, so I would have to scratch my head in frustration trying to guess what the pattern was implying. I’m not that great of a knitter to have the patience (and brain cells) for guesswork just yet. In anycase, it was a simple knit, and a simple but very pretty dress resulted.

Yarn
I’m sad that this yarn is discontinued. I had to scrounge around to find any (I found some leftovers at an LYS, only to finally finish knitting this up and it turns out Jimmy Beans Wool had tons of it on sale (they still do)… in so many different pretty shades too. DOH!!!! In anycase, it felt great and was perfect for a simple baby knit.

Gauge
My gauge was a bit wonky on this (I’m guilty of not doing a swatch ahead of time). The pattern says to set the gauge at 25 sts/4 inches, but with the recommended size needle and recommended yarn, I would have had to knit SUPER TIGHT to get that gauge. So I knit this up in the regular tension that I do, and the dress is just a tad bigger/wider, which is ok with me.

By early next week I absolutely NEED to transform a couple of these WIPs into FOs. These babies’ due dates are creeping up on me way too fast, and we’re having dinner with one set of parents-to-be sometime next week (ack!). So here’s what I’m seaming up this weekend:

I have a love/hate relationship with the mattress stitch. I’m too lazy to block the thing (so I’m working with curling knits) and it can be awfully frustrating in the beginning to find the right places to stitch. I need more than just marking pins for seaming (I have the clover kind), what I really could use is those marking safety pins. In anycase, the “love” part of this after alot of grunting and swearing under my breath, I look back at my work and it looks surprisingly wonderful. Completely invisible and everything’s in line, ready to block!

A really quickie post here. Anyone ever read through this book?

I was hanging out with hubby at our local Borders the other day, and picked it up. It is hilarious. I haven’t finished it yet (it was a good break from my knitting - my pink Samantha baby sweater dress is on the right side of the book) but hopefully soon. A really good and fun read.

Here are some other fun reads as well:

But I definately recommend Yarn Harlot’s most recent book. She’s a terrific writer.

On another note, I am still jetlagged - not from Asia anymore (thank goodness) but I’m currently operating on Hawaii-time. Everything is 3 hours later for me. Ack! Tommorrow I’m going to force myself to get up at a decent hour in the morning - by going to a couple LYS (what a great motivation). Probably Babetta’s and Frog Pond. Just to browse… of course. =)