Wow, you're good!

The dress looks wonderful, and she looks like a lovely young person.

My daughter is a lot younger than yours, but already I can attenst that you are so right about all parenting rules shifting. Just when you've figured one phase out, another one arrives.

I can spell attest, really, I just can't type it.

You should spin the gansey wool. For my sake.

*pant pant* How does anyone make WOOL look EDIBLE? And the dress? Dude, a-mazing. I wasn't so sure from the pic yesterday, but that is a seriously neat-o keen bit of sewing you did. ("bit" like it was so easy, huh.)

Lovely, lovely! Both your daughter and the dress.

You can't even tell that the English language was abused during the making of that dress.

It's too bad The Sock could not have it's picture taken with the cute firefighter. *sigh*

she looks so lovely - and what a fun graduation dress! I thought at first that it was a late breaking prom dress, but this is even better. I don't have children yet, but I remember how confusing that period was for me (even though a bit distant now) when you perch on the cusp between woman and girl. I'm nearing thirty and I'm still not sure I've figured it all out - there are definitely still many vestiges of girl in me. what a nice mom to sew such a cool dress!

Great dress Stephanie! Did your daughter like her dress? Did she give you that special hug and kiss and 'Thanks, Mom' that makes it all worth while??
BTW that firefighter should have been holding your sock. Where's the sock? Sue

As much as I love the Joe (from a long distance, of course), I'm all for the pretty roving with the blue in it... Remember, if mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy...

Beautiful daughter, beautiful dress! I love your analogy of the trap door for the lifeboat - so right. Enjoy your summer, after all it's only 68 days. :)

What a beautiful dress, and a beautiful girl.

I agree that the firefighter should have been holding the sock. What were you thinking? Or were you just letting your daughter have her (sockless) moment?

Fire alarms sound like a truly Harlot event.
Megan looks absolutely beautiful, as we knew she would.
Missed photo op - a fireman who agreed to be photographed, might have agreed to hold sock while being immortalized.

Beautiful dress, beautiful child, but I want to see a full length version to get the full tulle effect!! Isn't part of the joy/stress of being a mother the chance to make something exquisite for someone so treasured? A wonderful way to graduate feeling her mother's virtual arms hugging her and reinforcing the image of herself as beautiful. Good JOB MUM!

cotton candy rovings must be spun first...

Both the dress and the daughter look lovely. Both are a tribute to the skills of her mother.

Firstly, the dress and the daughter look amazing. This is grad season when we moms get misty-eyed about our girls growing up. Mine (college girl) still gets mad if I get misty eyed and peeved when I don't. Were we that confused?
Secondly, 68 days? I work in a library and I get a lot of your kids for those 68 days. Trust me, I can't wait til fall.
Thirdly, am I not getting something here? I see the fireman. I see the daughter. I do not see the sock. Is it possible, and I don't want to set up any kind of resentment issues, but did the sock even get to go to the lovely graduation? Did the blanket get to go, I hate to ask, in the sock's place? Poor sock!

What a lovely dress you've done for your girl. I've two grown daughters of my own. Such a wonder they are! Children one minute and adults the next. Just last week, the oldest treated her sister and I to lunch at a very nice restaurant, then both of my very nicely dressed, well behaved girls had a tickle fight at the table. Something I thought they'd outgrown when they were 10. Cherish it all. Because it is a Gift. Molly

What a beautiful job you did! Boning and all! And she looks so lovely...even with the ADD hat on...I need one of those, by the way...

We all survived that akward transition and I"m sure your girl with come through it beautifully. She's got a pretty darn cool ma, remember?

I believe Steph told us that the sock is on house arrest until That Blanket gets finished.

Oh, goodness. Cotton candy? Is that cotton candy you're spinning? It looks downright edible.

Oh, and gorgeous dress, gorgeous Megan, etc!

I'm only 7 months into the mothering thing and already I know what you mean about everything changing. I feel like my job is reinvented every single day and no one bothered to fill me in on it.

Your daughter is just lovely. My mom made all my fancy dresses too and I still have some of them hanging in my closet (not that they will EVER be in style again, but still.)

My avidly knitting friend forwarded this post to me, and I have to say, appropriately! My own daughter (one year away from 8th grade graduation herself), designed a fascinating outfit for her last school dance of the year. I spend late hours finishing the sewing and it was an absolute hit with all her friends (like Megan's, I'm sure)--wide strap tight bodice and [not quite too] short skirt, hot pink with black polkadot mesh layered on top. Is she a girl or a young woman? Like Megan, she still likes stuffed animals and stories at night....
Let's keep that part up!

Gosh. The stuff on the bottom looks good enough to eat... like really nice cotton candy. I don't blame you for not wanting to spin for the gansey.

Nice job on the dress, dude! As for the last day of school. . . picture this . . . having a husband who works the school calendar, too. Not only is the kiddo done until September, so is Dale. Sigh.
Best to Megan!

The dress is beautiful. The fireman couldn't hold the sock because Steph had to replace all the socks in her backpack with the boring (but beautiful) blanket. Too bad.

At least as the mother of girls, you get to see the prom dresses (or make them - I would have loved having the chance - I made mine and still have it (no boning, but miles of hem)). I got to try to help my very tall 17 son tie a bow tie with his tuxedo for the prom. My husband who knows how to tie such things was camping. Thank heavens for a cloths-horse, dapper gay friend who drove to an intersection on the way, loaned us a better tie, and tied my son's tie. From the diverse San Francisco Bay area.

Aww..she looks gorgeous, and the dress looks like it was all worth it in the end! And should dare present us with a choice? cotton candy..ofcourse!

Maybe teddy bears and such are possibly less about child dependencies and more about fun? And really, what is childish about wanting to feel loved from the people who give you unconditional love? ;)

The dress is beautiful. Wonderful job! Though it really pales in comparison to the creation which is Megan. That smile is pure joy.

My father, age 68, to this day calls me--age 36, thankyouverymuch--his "little girl." When I protested once, he responded, "It doesn't matter how old you get. I know you're a grownup, but it doesn't matter. You will always be my little girl."

Your little girl is a lovely young woman.

I would normally say you should spin Joe's wool because it doesn't see regular Tuesday love. But since you made such a beautiful dress in a day and kept up with the blanket (and missed a sock and fireman photo op!) you definitely deserve to spin the cotton candy roving.

Truly beautiful! By the way, did you make her shawl too?

To add to an earlier comment, where do you buy spinnable cotten candy? That stuff is lovely!

Your daughter is lovely...I feel exactly the same way...once you master one phase of parenting, another blindsides you...Have a wonderful day!

Congratulations to beautiful Megan! Wonderful job on the dress, Stephanie, and the mothering...

Absolutely wonderful dress. And a beautiful graduate to go with it. You did a great job on both.

Is Megan going back to school(college)in 68 days too, or do you have her around for much longer?

WOW! Meg looks stunning in her beautiful dress. What a great colour on her!!! Great sewing job, mom! That took you what, like a day? Geez. You're like the Dr. Who of the Arts and Crafts world. Travelling through time and space to complete projects and save the world, er, grad.

I love the ADD hat. Perhaps you should wear it while you spin up that pretty cotton candy wool. It would only be fair warning for the other projects.

That is one fabulous dress lady! It looks great and Megan looks smashing! Glad that blanket is going so good (snicker). You'll be done with it soon and all your dedication will have paid off. Or at least keep telling yourself that.

Preach on about parenting Mrs. Harlot...LOL...
It is soooo the truth... You did a lovely job on the dress. Your daughter looks precious...
Have a wonderful day of rest...(with kids around, yeah right..LOL)

Megan looks stunning and the dress is lovely. I hear you on the rules changing. Mine are 4 1/2, 2 and one in-utero and they are throwing me curve balls already. Never mind that you and I are about the same age, I think. Stop snickering.

I love the dress! Absolutely gorgeous colour, and see, boning isn't too bad!

Now, how does one go about spinning candy floss exactly?

As the parent of a 15-yr old daughter (who would *love* that dress) and a 6-yr old son, "phase-shifting" on a regular basis can lead one to drink....or in my case, escape to local yarn and stitching shops for retail therapy. (I'm planning an outing on Friday, want to go? It's nice a toasty warm in Phoenix...)

Of course I'm mighty impressed with the dress, but more so with the lovely young woman in the dress! I remember being that age (it was only 9 years ago), and my parents were a bit freaked by the whole thing. You'll figure it all out!

Don't listen to Cassie...I wanna see that beautiful sky blue pinky stuff spun.

The tears were welling over letting go/holding on- and Caillean is only 7- she just left 1st grade. Then fell of the stool laughing over "the last day of school"! In sympathy of course, because Cai is home to torture the boys (3 1/2 and 1 1/2) and me endlessly! Love her, but August can't come too soon!

What an amazing dress, what an amazing smile she has, and what an amazing achievement for you and the amazing young woman/child you've raised.

And by the way- is there any question- WHY would you even CONSIDER grayish brown when there is that lovely cloud of fluff calling your wheel...

Screw the gansy.

(Is that your 'A-list lifestyle' shawl I see wrapped around Meg's shoulders? Did you actually let her borrow it?!?)

Ahem. *Gansey*. Eye kan spel.

What a beautiful daughter you have. Pretty dress. I looked at the photo of the firefighter for a good 2 minutes looking for Sock. Probably in his pocket or something, I imagine. Spin the gansey wool because the colors of that roving look like something you would spin for a baby blanket. I could be wrong, but I don't think you're gonna be knitting another one of those any time soon.

what a pretty daughter you have.

Ah yes... I know the whiplash well, I've got two of 'em spinning me 'round every day. The dress looks lovely, the young lady looks lovely and you must be very proud...

also, that fluffing looks like candy and I think you should spin it immediately.

The dress is beautiful!

Motherhood in sneaky like that isn't it? Things go along fine and then the rules get changed. Its an adventure! :)

Damn straight about the way the rules keep changing in parenting. But that's a great illustration of girl-at-cusp-of-womanhood, there.

D'y'all think this post ought to be required reading for the parents of every teen?

You did a great job with the dress--AND the girl/woman inside it. I love the illustrative difference between little girl and young woman. It's one of the best things about being that age, I think--old enough to be adult, but young enough to still be a kid when you want to be. Great fun for the person inside the skin (ah, I remember those days!), but hard work for those trying to adapt on the outside.

The dress is beautiful and so is she!

People, people--hello? What's wrong with you? Of course the fireman did not have the sock. This was the beautiful Megan's night and good mom Stephanie was not going to embarrass her tonight--save that for another day. Megan is a gorgeous young woman and the dress looks wonderful. Congratulations, job well-done!

Wonderful dress - she's beautiful!

You know, I'm 36, and I still like teddy bears, and since I read in bed before going to sleep, that's like having a story at bedtime, right?

Lovely dress, and even lovelier daughter. Congratulations to Megan on graduating!

What a beautiful dress...and daughter. I love the photo of her smiling! Nice work!

~ Christina

oh Steph, the *last* day... ALREADY? Wasn't it *just* the last day of school? I mean, like a week ago?

Well. May the 68 pass by like the last year did. (Really, where the heck did it go?) And just think... at the end of summer (add a month for recovery) you have Rhinebeck to look forward to :)

I'm not sure which is hotter. Really hot toned guy in leather thong and harness, or heroic man buried under tens of pounds of gear with cheezy grin and moustache. I think I need a sock for comparison. The sock is totally the tiebreaker. ;D

I feel like I should light a special candle for you, this being the last day of school. In my grand pagan tradition (it's the Church of The-Decidedly-Not-Saint Perclexed, dontcha know), I hereby deem this giant tutti-fruit swirl candle the Clinging to Sanity alter. *lights up a doob...er...strikes a match*

Meg is beautiful, the dress is spectacular, and you are a marvel.

Personally, i think the cotton candy deserves to be spun first. Yummmmmmmm.

It's the part where as soon as you get it together and think "Ok, I think I'm doing alright" all the rules change...
This has been the most astonishing thing about mothering to me too, and my son is only just about to turn 3! He's no where near turning into a man, but somehow my tiny baby has turned into a kid who is pretty sure he's "big big BIG!"

Reading aloud at bedtime is a lifelong thing. (I tricked my partner into liking fiction by reading him Dashiel Hammett and P.G. Wodehouse.) Better that she comes to terms with it now, to spare her some misguided college years thinking that it's childish.

That Eros shawl seems to be getting an awful lot of use for something you swore you didn't have the right lifestyle for! A lesson I'll have to remember in evaluating patterns ... if I knit it, I'll find *some* use for it.

The dress is fabulous and Megan looks amazing, well done!
I am not counting school holidays, as one of my boys has been home for a week already, its definitely over 70....way too long!

Exquisite dress! Mother of a 30 year old, still mind shifting, less body shifting (him, not me) and still thrilling.

well done Steph - not just the very cool dress on the lovely daughter but the comments on parenting this age- I'm right there now, too!Its killing me. I'm trying to come up with a good mantra for the summer break, so far its been "smile and maybe you'll start to feel like smiling" but I might be walking around with a strange toothgritted grimace instead! Let me know if you have one.

We've already hit day 10 of 72. So far it hasn't been bad (but then again my husband is the stay-at-home parent). Middle child is off to San Diego for a week on Saturday, various camps will divert their interests in July, and before you know it high school sports being August 8th - so really, I feel like summer is almost over!

Beautiful dress, beautiful child.

Where did all that tulle go to?

Hmmm... rats or cotton candy... rats or cotton candy... hmm...

Oh, by all means the pastel roving. After all, you've been putting in such long and regular hours on the gansey, right? Nary a Tuesday has passed. And it won't take long to spin, nor yet to knit a three ply yarned gansey for a man with a chest the side of all three daughters standing together, and you always have lots of spinning time during the summer, what with the kids home and marathon bicycle trips and whatnot. Absolutely, go for it. Cassie and I will the ones standing over here shaking our heads (where's emmajane?), Joe the fragile fellow in the corner shivering and coughing weakly.

Ach weel. By the time this gets posted you'll have two bobbins done, anyway. And I suppoooooose you DID do a BBB repeat, thereby missing a sock-op (sounds like Doc Oc.) Thou Harlot.

Wow! The dress looks amazing!

I think you should spin whichever one loves you best. *lol*

""( Say it with me. 68 days till the first day of school.)"" *whine* This means there are only 68 days until my baby boy has his first day of school. *sob*

Meg looks lovely, the cotton candy roving looks delish. Congratulations on a job well done -- the dress and the girl.

Stephanie dear, enjoy these 68 days. All too soon your girls will grow up and go away to college 1,000 miles from home. :)

The bottom most picture looks like cotton candy. My husband and I were discussing the other day the possibilities if you could spin cotton candy into yarn. I mean it may be sticky and would disappear in a rain storm, but if you were hungry you could just eat your sweater.

Summer, fireflies, carnivals, and cotton candy roving...yummy. The two pictures of Meg are astounding. The contrast is amazing-a true woman/child. She is so beautiful, yet at the same time so innocent and young. I love the knocked-knees and baseball cap, impish smile, and strapless dress with all that tulle. Beautiful. Ya done real good, mum. Hang in there-those 68 days will just FLY by ;-).

school here ended last week but I homeschool so it isn't really relevant to me. Hmmm, I guess I should be counting how many days until my 8 1/2 year old does need me full time anymore. I guess that would be about 5 years. 68 days isn't really that long:) The dress is beautiful by the way.

Your daughter should model all of your designs, whether as woman or child. I am stunned by her, the dress, and your ambition (whatever possessed you to offer/agree to make a prom dress? The gremlins of motherhood guilt must have been at you that day). Of course, you've just pressed ALL of my motherhood guilt buttons. I must immediately begin sewing and/or knitting every piece of clothing my children will wear for the next thirty or so years, underwear and bathing suits included, sleep be damned. As to spinning, is there really a choice here?

OMG, it's a giant ball of cotton candy love! *squishes*

I have a redhead myself - she will be 20 next week. I can remember the days when the kids counted down the days until school was out and then I started counting down the days until summer was over. Now I'm the one counting down the days until she moves out of the dorm and moves back home for the summer. Time flies!

The dress looks Fabulous, Stephanie, just Fabulous! I would love to have one just like it (although I have nowhere to wear it!) Congratulations for making it on to another phase.

Tell Megan that she looks way cuter when she smiles than when she looks sophisticated and grown up. Oh, never mind, she'll probably figure that out the hard way just like the rest of us. You know that point, where you stop trying to look like an adult and instead start trying hard to look the way you did in adolescence again?

However, either way she looks beautiful, and the dress is fantastic! I can't figure out where all that tulle went, though. I mean, some of it is obviously in evidence, but not the masses of meters you described...

Oooooooooohhh! The roving on the bottom looks like cotton candy. Can I eat it? It's seriously that pretty.

The daughter AND the dress are gorgeous....and the fourth of July has never been independence day here in the US..it's always been the first day of school!

Such a beautiful dress! As a school employee with no children of my own, I am doing the happy dance this time of year (my sympathies are with you in spirit however).It's a little scary that I find myself somewhat restless when school is out and actually can't wait for the first day back!

The dress is lovely as is your daughter. Cudos on both; she is a beautiful young lady. She looks so young and small next to the big burly fireman. And of course the shawl she is wearing in picture #1 is a Harlot creation. N'est-ce pas?

I feel for you, my kids got out of school last Thursday, it's been raining all day and it's too hot to knit. It's so humid that the yarn is sticking to me. Worst of all they've already said the dreaded phrase ... "I'm bored"

My oldest graduates high school next June. Maybe I can keep her busy making herself a dress. What was the pattern you used?

I heart THAT DRESS! and I'm wishing I had had a better sewing machine for all of the dresses/clothes I've made my kids in the past 24+ parent years...3 daughters, 1 son..and tons of cabbage patch clothes in my past.

now...I know you're not fond of the never ending (mind-soul-spirit sucking boring) baby blanket..but I just love it! I make a lot of baby blankets for NMCRS...might I ask the source of the pattern? and what size needles you're using? I would love to wrap many a baby in that pattern. I'll tell you what...I'll knit them in your honour(notice my kiss up - Canadian spelling from a Michigan girl living in California). That way you won't have to hate it anymore? sound good? fair trade?...since I can't seem to knit socks for ___t.

ps..be careful of the 'last day of school-counting until next year starts' feeling...my youngest just graduated from high school...my counting days are over....*sigh* don't miss the 'stuff'..but will miss her as she's heading off to Boston U in the fall.

Love the dress, Stephanie. My mom made my graduation dress and I still love it even if I can't wear it.

I have to agree with some others, I think the blanket looks beautiful, I want the pattern when you've figured it all out.

The cotton candy fiber looks mighty fun. :)

Unreal, you DID it! Looks fantastic, what a lucky girl/woman who can count on her mom to make one of those 'special dresses' in her life. Spin the pinky top, easy peasy choice for this pinkaholic.

Gorgeous girl. And where the HECK did that marvelous dress come from? (No, really, I've been watching the magician very carefully. I cannot figure out where it came from.)

I remember seeing my son trying on an RL navy jacket at 2 years old, preening in the mirror at Neiman Marcus (never mind that the sz 2 jacket at the time cost more than any of mommy's suits -- we were thrill shopping), and feeling my heart skip, because he was (filtered through the same kind of maternal shock you have just described) quite possibly the most stunning little manling any XX chromosome creature could hope to be responsible for.

Of course, this is the same child who recently astutely observed to me that "when you're mad, you knit faster."

The important stuff lasts.

I'm in my thirties, and I still like teddybears :)

So, is the shawl she's wearing knitted? If not, WHY NOT? :)

Where did the 26 yards of tulle go?

You did a smashing job on the graduation dress! Having worked my way through four graduations, the last one being a year ago, I am beginning to wonder if some of the other issues, UTI, missing yarn, smashed leg, may not be stemming from the fact that a part of you has been engaged in grief at the fact that this daughter is definitely heading straight on into adulthood... just about when we get the job done, and they start turning into really neat adult people, they move out on us! I'll be thinking of you.

You did a smashing job on the graduation dress! Having worked my way through four graduations, the last one being a year ago, I am beginning to wonder if some of the other issues, UTI, missing yarn, smashed leg, may not be stemming from the fact that a part of you has been engaged in grief at the fact that this daughter is definitely heading straight on into adulthood... just about when we get the job done, and they start turning into really neat adult people, they move out on us! I'll be thinking of you.

The dress is wonderful! Your thoughts on motherhood very interesting.

I can only repeat comments above. You did a marvelous job on the dress and your daughter looks wonderful. Congratulations to Megan and you!

Good luck with the summer thing--my almost-six-year-old and I are just finding our groove after 3 weeks.

I can't believe you finished that dress so fast. What a beautiful young lady she is...

Megan and Maddy show good taste in firefighters. Isn't Maddy the one who was wrestled into knitting over the Legwarmer Incident?

Lovely dress. Meg is lucky to have a Mom who can sew.

Wow! Sewing is not my greatest gift, but that dress is almost as beautiful as your daughter is. I have a 5 year old daughter (starting kindergarten in 6 weeks) and a 3 year old daughter. I love your insights into mothering girls. I have a lot ahead of me!

The dress turned out gorgeous! And I vote for the cotton candy looking stuff!

Beautiful daughter, beautiful dress.
I really enjoy reading your blog!
Hi from Meaford, Ontario! (We have a great yarn store here in town!)

Gorgeous! The dress and your daughter! My G-D , you are superwoman..."She knits, she spins, shes able to sew up complicated dresses in a single evening..." I'm so jealous!

Your daughter is a cutie! And the dress turned out great.

Beautiful dress! And oy, that inbetween stage. I remember my own well and my daughter will be there sooner than I'd like probably.

Wow that is a beautiful dress. I love the lacing on the front. Wow. I may have liked wearing dresses if you were my mom and made me things like that. My kids start school in August. Although there is a little cabin fever going on, I do enjoy not having to go back and forth to school every day. They don't ride the bus because the kids are vermin and the drivers aren't any better. I know this isn't the kids fault, I am sure the parents are to blame. They had to learn it somewhere, right?
That just looks delicious, like cotton candy. How beautiful something will be made with it.
:)

She and the dress look amazing. I had to do a double take to make sure the two pictures were of the same person. Mmm, that fiber looks like cotton candy :)

Fabulous dress! Your daughter looks great...for someone who disses her sewing, you're quite amazing at it. =)

Wow, the bronze ribbon with that teal fabric was an amazing and unexpected combination. Fabulous pattern! I made a dress with boning once. You did it in a day, which means you are superhuman. Cheers to you!

The dress is most awesome. My daughters (13 & 14) both love it...and quickly pointed out that I have never made them such an awesome dress. What is wrong with me?

Having raised two sons (24 & 26) and now working my way through raising these girls... well, I didn't expect it to be easy...but I certainly didn't expect the "head spinning", hormone and pms induced frenzies that occur. I was never like that...well, perhaps not that much, or that loud or something.

They have become woman-girl or is it girl-women. Sweet baby girls, still needing hugs, and consoling and reassurance from Mum, still holding and wanting stuffed animals....stuffed into the well endowed bodies of women. Now that is an anomaly

Stephanie, I congratulate you on your mad dress-making skills. In addition, I NEED to know where you got the hat in the second picture.

It turned out beautifully. The daughter and the dress, I mean.

Heh! I cheated by reading your posts a day late. So I already knew the sock isn't in the picture. :D

Congrats to you and your daughter! Her, for her graduation and you, for making such a beautiful dress. It is bittersweet watching them at this stage. They're all grown up one minute and little kids needing a hug another.

Stephanie, your daughter is gorgeous. I love the 2nd picture with the hat--her smile can make anyone's day.

The dress--just fab!! Awesome seamstress.

Isela

The dress is a triumph and she looks beautiful!
Funny you had a fire alarm, I had one on London too