From My Little Hole in the Wall: Little Darlings' Seaside Sun Dresses

Every summer I pine for the seaside, the ocean, warm sandy beaches, the sound of nature as it rolls up to shore. And, every summer, since I can last recall, I've been land locked in Auburn. Why is it so difficult for someone in California to go to the beach? Well, first of all, most beaches aren't dog friendly, and we have a "no dog left behind" policy in my home. Its a full day's drive as well, just to get there. Then you have to think about the cost of a hotel in California after you find one that might take dogs with a huge pet deposit. Marin County is generally dog friendly, but when you're with someone who would rather ride his bicycle than hang out on a beach, logistics get tough. So once again, I live my beach fantasies and memories through creating for my dolls. Remember Alice By the Sea? That was England, of course, but perhaps this endeavor was targeted for somewhere like Nantucket Island.

For three solid months now, I've been knitting every day. And, trust me, I'm ready to take a break from it. But as I mentioned before, my goal, what I really want to do with knitting, is my own thing. Make up my own patterns. Take existing ones and make them unique, OOAK. After working with some of these Etsy patterns, I've discovered that some are quite similar, just using different gauges of yarn, hence, less or more stitches. For an experienced knitter, making something up, like I do with sewing and designing of my own patterns, is a cinch. Well, not quite, for me and my sewing because each piece is unique - but, in general, I've found that expert knitters can knit anything they put their mind to without the aid of a pattern. I know this because I just asked my friend, Olga, to knit my girls bathing suits, and she had one made, exactly as I wanted, in a day or two. These knitters simply know what they're doing. I don't. But, I'm trying.

After failing at knitting well, those two light green and yellow summer dresses, I decided that what might be better, is using that pattern for the bodice, and attaching the skirt from another. A skirt with just stockinette stitches. And, also using the Lion's Brand Baby Soft yarn I'd become familiar with using. I knew I'd have to lessen the stitches across, maybe, as well as the rows, or something like that, and the only way to figure this out was to try. I also wanted floppy brimmed sun hats to match the dresses. In the tri-photo illustration, you'll see the bodice I used (minus the bulky cable stitches at the waist), the skirt portion from another pattern, and the hat, which I'd omit that awful star-stitch from.

First of all, the bodice is made exactly the same way on both patterns, there are just more stitches required on the bottom photo's pattern because you use a thinner yarn. I just didn't feel I was quite ready to work with so many stitches and such thin yarn on an even smaller knitting needle. And, I wanted to see if I could do it.

With Irene's pattern (the dress at the bottom), she simply tells you to K1, M1, to the end between the button bands while increasing for the skirt. Well that didn't quite work out with the "3" yarn I was using. How do I know this? Because the sea foam green dress, which I'd made first, was done by reducing the number of "make ones" in the skirt. However, I didn't write down how many "make ones" I had done, so when I went to make the ocean blue dress, I made them all way across and this was way too many. You need to do this on the first three rows of the skirt to get the fullness, volume. SO! While the sea foam dress came out exactly the way I wanted, the ocean blue dress had to be made twice. Yes, indeed. I also had lost track of my rows on the blue dress, so it was not only too big, it was too long. I didn't fuss. I didn't weep or beat the wall, I simply made it again and really studied the rows on first dress.

One of the tricks I tried, was pinning the button holes together and matching up the stitched rows to see what I'd done the first time. What I learned was, even if you're just experimenting, write it all down. It may just come out good the first try. And, then there's the old "Where's Waldo" of the patterns. This one surfaced on Irene's pattern with no row 44. Seriously! I guess she got carried away typing out even and odd numbers for her purl and knit rows.

When it came time to the hats, I'd already tried to make one without the star-stitch while experimenting, or "making wash cloths" with the yellow and green dresses that didn't come out well. Those were supposed to get these hats. So basically, only two rows of finished cable stitches were needed at the hat band row. I like hats. They don't have a lot of stitches per row. Honestly, I thought of sharing my rewritten pattern for anyone who wished to make this dress the way I did, but I fudged here and there, and its just not publishable material. In looking at them again, I might have done better by omitting a couple of the bodice rows to shorten it. Next time. If there is a next time.

To embellish these dresses, I used a few of Cindy's masterpiece porcelain painted buttons. I still can't get over the extraordinary work she does. I'd purchased two tiny lighthouses, some sea shells, and sea critters - a crab, happy sea turtle, a star fish, and a lovely seagull. I spent two hours arranging and rearranging these tiny buttons on the front of the dresses, but was never satisfied. There was no "pop" to the arrangements. So I turned the dresses around, which was shown as an option, and finished the dresses with abalone shell buttons. They looked really great on the dolls as a front side, button down dress, but I was determined to use the buttons. So I flipped the dresses back over and tried again for an hour or so. The best arrangement was not to have a lighthouse on each dress, but to make one dress "lighthouse" themed, and the other "sea critter" themed.

Oh, and I guess you've noticed those tiny knitted mermaids! The dresses became a sea canvas to display them. They're the "pop" in these outfits displayed. The were custom made by an artist from Etsy. I really enjoyed working with her. I love mermaids. So now Polina and Athena can play with their mermaid dolls on the island sands in their sea froth dresses.

The question is, What do I think of the outfits? Am I satisfied? No. Just to be honest, No. Did I knit well? Yes. I should be knitting well by now. Did I achieve what I set out to do? Yes. So why am I not thrilled? Because they simply don't "pop". They are not the whimsical, colorful joys of knit I've been used to buying from the experts that do this for Little Darlings. Am I too hard on myself after only three months? Yes. You bet. I'm having difficulty bringing my vision to life through this difficult to learn skill. I want my work to be as thrilling to me as the amigurumi the dolls hold. I'll keep at it. I do find it intriguing and challenging, and you can do it outdoors when the temperature isn't 100 degrees outside.

I've been watching this amazing Youtube video of this woman creating French knots and bullion roses in yarn, on these incredibly detailed socks she made. I really want to try this. Maybe if I can get the skill down in something heavier than embroidery floss, I can eventually do it with embroidery floss! I've also been watching Youtube videos of embroidering on knitting. The ones I've seen follow the stockinette stitch, so you're making V's on V's in a pattern to create a motif. Learning the roses sounds a bit more up my alley. Right now. But, the V motifs would look cool on winter sweaters.

In the meantime, and there is always a "meantime", I'm going to make something new for Mary Lennox. I still haven't made all her paper doll outfits, and I need a break from knitting. I'll keep with it just to stay fresh, but I could become a very dull person if I don't diversify a bit. Besides, its getting way too hot to enjoy doing anything on the patio past 10 or 11am.

Below are a number of photos to enjoy. I hope as the actual days of spring come to a close, and summer hits the calendar later this month, you'll find yourself enjoying some lazy days as well as "on the road" ones taking you to happy vacation spots. Maybe something seaside!

Love,

Melissa