In The Details

Yesterday I tackled the business of attaching all the wee roses to that bitty dress. it took forever. I came up short three roses and had to crochet more.  (I’d have been more annoyed but the pattern did say to make “about” 25 of them. I guess 28 is “about” 25, but it sure doesn’t sound that way while you’re crocheting what feels like extra roses.) It’s at the end of projects like this, ones with tons of finishing (I consider the crochet on this “finishing”) that I have to resist the urge to cheap out and do a rush job. I always want to be done so desperately that I start dreaming of cutting corners.  Not this time. This dress is so darling, and so beautiful that the end was no time to run out of steam. When I crocheted the roses, I wove in two ends on each one, and left two ends long. To attach the roses, all I did was pull the ends through to the back, a few stitches apart, and then tied them securely with a surgeons knot.

roseson 2015-09-09

Now, that’s a pretty good knot, and there’s no doubt in my mind that those babies were going to be stuck on, but I didn’t like two things. All the ends, and how it left the flowers sort of wobbly.  So, I took a deep breath, got a huge cup of tea, and started weaving in all the ends, and using them to sew the flowers down from the inside while I was at it.

endsin 2015-09-09

It took a long time, but I think it looks nice on the inside, and the flowers are really securely on there.  I know it seems silly to care if the inside is tidy, but the whole thing is so close to perfect – I’m actually still not thrilled with how it looks on the inside, and briefly entertained the madness of knitting a little cover for the ends, or maybe sewing down a ribbon over them, but I’ve gotten a grip.  I found three little buttons in my grandmothers button bin that were just about freaking perfect, and sewed those on, and with that, it’s done.

dressdonewhole 2015-09-09

Pattern: Dress 29801 from Dalegarn Baby #298. (Man, I love the romantic names they give their designs.) I knit the 36 month size.

dressdonetopback 2015-09-09

Yarn: Dale Baby Ull, in 3841 Beige Heather, 4217 Desire, 3507 Coral, and 0020 in Natural. It took less than a ball for each of the three accent colours, and 5.5 balls of the Beige (which is totally grey.) I got my kit at StevenBe. (That’s a link to the kit, if you’re looking.)

dressdonebuttons 2015-09-09

Needles: 2.25mm.

dressdoneroses 2015-09-09

I’m completely delighted with it.

dressdonetopdet 2015-09-09

I think it’s going to be an heirloom.