Girls in Peanut Dresses

I finally have some modeled shots to share of the Peanuts wearing their Peanut Dresses! And as a bonus, more photos of a modeled Sarabeth dress! How excited are we?!

Peanut Dress, variation A, front

We were all together. It was a great day!

Who: Three 16-month olds
What: Playdate
When: A sunny autumn morning
Where: The Getty Center
Why: Because it's only fitting that 3 adorable, dress-inspiring nieces born 11 days apart should meet each other, as should their moms (my sister LA and B's sister S).

For scale. The Getty is big. The Peanuts - and their dresses - quite small

I really can't express to you the joy I felt to see the 'Nuts all decked out in their dresses.

Peanut Dress, variation B, front

...And to see that they (still) fit!

Peanut dress, variation B, back

I mean, they pretty much kill me with their cuteness every time I see them. (I'm not sure how they manage to get cuter by the day.) But to see them each in their own little dresses. Too much!

Peanut Dresses in motion

I'd been trying to arrange a little get-together for a while now. LA and S have so much in common, I just thought they ought to meet. Plus, I'm no dummy. If they're meeting, the girls have to meet, and I get to hang out with all of them at the same time! The fact that LA and S arranged for the girls to all be wearing their dresses was way too cute.

Original Peanut Dress meets Peanut Dress, variation C (AKA Sarabeth)

As it turned out, the little ones tended to scamper off in all different directions, so there aren't too many photos of them all together. The only way we could get them to stay in the same vicinity for more than two seconds was to park their food-induced drowsy selves, side by side, in their strollers. Hey, whatever works!

Dresses modeled by their namesakes

If there's anything better than 2 modeled dresses, it's 3 modeled dresses! I don't know much about a whole lot, but this I know for a fact!

Sarabeth Revisited

You may recall that Sarabeth was a slightly altered, stripey version of the Peanut Dresses, which I designed and knit especially for, and named after, B's adorable niece. As I knit this dress I had a feeling these stripes in these colors would look great on this little cutie, and lookie here- I was right!

I'm so glad to see...well, that it fits, first off. You know you can never be sure until you see it on. But it does, it looks great on her! (Phew!) And I love that Sara's mom told me that she already bought a coordinating, long sleeved t-shirt to layer with this, so she can still wear it when it gets colder. (I can't wait to see it over a pair of jeans!)

Who can resist how cute she is...oh and please- don't even get me started on the shoes! A girl after my own heart!

All in all, a successful knit, I'd say! Not bad for my first (well, first and a half) design. Most of all, like many of us I am a complete sucker for seeing gifted knits being worn. Is there any greater satisfaction? YAY for modeled knit gifts!

PS: Thank you so very much for your lovely compliments on Carmelita! I'm so thrilled with that thing. :)

FO: Sarabeth

Cross-posted at the Create Along.

Nope, your eyes do not deceive you; it's another Peanut Dress...kind of. I know- I'm like a one woman tiny dress factory over here! Same Peanut Dress pattern, same occasion (1st birthday), however, whereas the PDs were made especially for my nieces, the Peanuts, this here dress was made especially for B's niece, Sara. How funny is it that both B's sis and my sis gave birth to their first babies within eleven days of each other?

Once I knew that the pattern worked and the first dress was in the can, I decided to roll out another one for Sara, time permitting (which it did). I wanted stripes, and wouldn't you know it, I adore this striped version as much as the others. All three dresses were knit with Classic Elite Premiere (love this yarn, I can't tell you), on US size 6 needles. I didn't plan out the striped pattern ahead of time. Rather, I let them unfold along the way. For all the improv, I think it turned out really cute, and as "balanced" as asymmetrical stripes can be (you know me- this is always a consideration).

A small modification: I lengthened this dress by about an inch to account for Sara's long legs. Although she is only 11 days older than the Peanuts, she is taller than them. (Sorry, 'Nuts, just keepin' it real.) ;) This mod should still allow for some growth over time, which was always the intension of these dresses. I mean, can't you see these as tops eventually over shorts or little people jeans?

Here's a close up of the stripey goodness. The colors represented in this photo are much closer to the actual colors. Happy, happy! Well, off to gift wrap this baby- Sara's party is on Sunday!

PS: I've been exhaustified by work lately, but I am planning to write out the pattern (legibly) and making it available a couple other sizes as well. Wish me luck...

Summertime!

Happy first day of summer everyone!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your compliments on the Peanut Dresses! I'm thrilled that you like them as much as I do! I'm even more flattered that several people have asked about getting the pattern. So...after some healthy coaxing and encouragement, I'm actually contemplating making the pattern available. My first pattern- really? I'll keep you posted! Thanks again to everyone for your support and encouragement...you have no idea how much I appreciate it. Warm fuzzies all the way around!

Another source of much joy this time of year: cherries!

Rainier cherries, in particular, make me really, really happy. They are so sweet, not to mention pretty, I just love them! My mom also loved them, so naturally, they remind me of her. And anything that reminds me of my mom makes me smile. They're pricey as all get out, but they make me so happy, I will allow myself this seasonal splurge.

Another sign of summer: the first fig on the tree!

This year, I'm making a concerted effort to get to more these before the pesky squirrels and birds (and other possible wildlife we shall not name) that roam around the yard when we're not looking. I'm dying to bake with these! I was never able to last year because I was obviously to slow. I got this recipe for Fig and Plum Cake last fall via, who else, Jess, which I can't wait to try. Also, Julia, I may be bugging you for that fig bar recipe. Mmm... All this, of course, hinges on if I can manage to get to the figs before the critters. (Marnie, I may need to borrow Miss Thea-Purl for the summer!)

I love our fig tree. It's been completely barren during the winter- merely sticks and bare branches. Spring brought the beautiful leaves back, and now it's lush and green again. (Our lawn, however, not so much.) And look- more baby figs!

Keep away, critters!

FO: Peanut Dresses!

Cross-posted at the Create Along.

Well, my friends, my first design project, the Peanut Dresses, are dunzo!

Two firsts

My goal for this project first was to stick with a simple design, small enough in scale so that I could get my feet wet with this whole designing-for-the-first-time thing, without psyching myself out. And although it was quite frustrating at times, I learned so much in the process, and am really happy with the end result. And best of all, they fit!

Peanut dress fitting (over a bathing suit). Hope to get more FO pics with both Peanuts soon.

These are simple dresses that are made to fit a 12-18 month year old, with room to grow. I purposely chose this a-line, empire waisted shape with spaghetti strap ties at the top, so that as the girls got bigger, the dresses could become tops, by adjusting the straps. It's knit in the round from the bottom up, with side decreases spaced evenly throughout the skirt and armholes. I changed the stitch pattern at the top, where the color change happens, and at the hem, to add a little bit of visual interest and also to tie everything together.

A few simple, but important lessons learned about designing:

1. Writing out a pattern takes work - and more knitty math than I am comfortable with at present - but I'm sure this will become easier with time (...right?). Me calculating the number of stitches and decreases...let's just say it wasn't pretty, though I'm sure it was funny to watch. Thankfully, Dis can do math, and I have her phone number. The way I went about writing out the pattern- I'm not sure how *real* designers do it, but I started out with a vague sense of the size and measurements and I wanted, what I wanted to do, and where, in terms of the decreases, and the general design in mind, but I actually wrote out the pattern as I went along. Yay for pencils and a good eraser!

2. Revisions are just part of the process. Sometimes you have to just try something out and if it doesn't work, you have to rip it out and start over. I lost count of how many times PD1 was tampered with. I learned to embrace the two steps forward, one step back, and repeat method.

One major modification to my initial design: I had planned to embroider flowers all around the bottom. However, after testing out various stitching methods on my swatch, I found that none looked all that great, plus it ended up being too bulky, and I didn't want the dresses to end up looking messy. In the end, I decided to keep it simple: one flower motif instead of many. I made a trip to F&S Fabrics and found cute daisies. I sewed them on, and simply added a stitched stem. Not what I had in mind from the beginning, but I'm pleased with the solution I was able to come up with.

Another slight change in plan involved the strap construction, if you will. I had initially thought crochet chains would do it, but once the dresses were made, I realized crochet chains wouldn't be sturdy enough. Many people suggested i-cords. While I liked the idea of i-cords, I determined that standard 3-stitch i-cords would be too bulky once tied into bows, especially on a baby-sized shoulders. So, I went with 2-stitch i-cords. Still very sturdy, but less bulky. I really like how they turned out.

top detail

3. Patience is key. Designing and knitting a garment of one's own is challenging, because you will encounter bumps (if not giant potholes) in the road, but it's ultimately very rewarding. Knowing that I set out to design something, plotted the whole thing out, knit them up, and they fit- I can't help but be proud of this accomplishment. I definitely see more designing in my future!

hem detail

Many thanks to my pals and designing mentors, Julia and Marnie, for creating the Create Along, which allowed me to fulfill my desire to try my hand at designing for the first time. And for their encouragement, along with that of fellow CALers, bloggy friends, and of course my Loopy Girls, which helped to push me along.

Post-script: This is really turning into THE first birthday dress of the season. As if two dresses weren't enough; I'm now knitting up a third for B's niece, who will also turn one in a few weeks. It's the same, but different. I'll post a picture soon. :)

And Then There Were Two

Well, I committed myself to working solely on the Peanut Dresses, and much as I'm itching to knit something for myself, like a summery cami or tank, it seems that my one (project) track mind is paying off. PD2 is done! Well, mostly done. Both dresses still remain sans straps at the top and embroidery. Knitting PD2 was so much easier, since I already had the pattern instructions written down from the trial and error stages of the PD1 process.

And let me tell you, there were repeated attempts, various trials, and numerous errors. I lost count of how many times I ripped back poor PD1. But, PD2 is all the better for it. Yay for copious note-taking! I must admit-they look pretty cute together!

Next, I need to figure out what I want to do about the spaghetti strap ties for the top. Initially, I thought of attaching crochet chains, but on second thought, I fear those wouldn't be sturdy enough. I'm going to have to sit down and play around, methinks, and see what I can come up with.

My biggest concern at this point, aside from how to handle the ties, oh- and how the embroidered details will turn out (my embroidery skills are rather rusty), is how they will fit on real life Peanut bodies. But, after spending some time with the real life Peanuts at a picnic over the weekend, my estimation is that I think they should fit just fine. *fingers crossed*

Then again, maybe if I just give them enough paper napkins to hold their attention, they won't care how the dresses fit...

Peanut (Dress) and Banana (Bread) Related

I've been knitting away at the Peanut Dresses, and I'm happy to say that the main knitting portion of PD1 is finished. It is without straps and embroidery details as of yet, but at least the body is done. Finally. After a couple trips to the frog pond and back (knitting one's own design, I'm finding, is not without its fair share of difficulty). Here's a little taste:

I am now onto knitting PD2, trying with all of my might to avoid SDS (Second Dress Syndrome). At least all the math is done, and I can simply follow my notes from PD1 to knit PD the second. Should be a cinch, right? Yeah, we'll see. There is always room for user error. I feel compelled to mention that this is the most plain stockinette I've knit in a while. Yes, that's right, a little dress' worth of stitches is the most plain stockinette I've knit in a while. People, I told you I have issues with this, and I wasn't kidding! Luckily, these things are small.

So, to break up the PD monotony, I escaped into a brief baking interlude. There were a couple motivating factors for this, in addition to the wanting to take a break from knitting part: 1) 3 bananas in the fruit bowl on the verge of over-ripening, and 2) The Knitting Cook, which I started listening to recently, which has really gotten me back into the cooking/baking mood. I have two people to thank for this: Julia, for turning me onto this podcast by way of mentioning it here and there over the past however many months, and Faith, for producing such a wonderful podcast. Now that I've figured out how to listen to podcasts easily at work, I've been catching up with a quite a few of them. I am hooked- it definitely adds some fun to the tediousness of the workday. But, I digress. Back to The Knitting Cook- Faith has a lovely personality and does a great job of merging two of my favorite topics - fiber and food - into one charming podcasty package. If you are like-minded, I highly recommend that you check it out, if you haven't already!

So anyway, I decided to rescue the on-the-verge bananas and (not so) magically morph them into a loaf of banana bread. Mmm.

I love baking quick breads, and banana bread is one of my favorites (zucchini bread is another). I have to say, though, that I prefer homemade banana bread often to that which you might find in, say, a coffee shop chain, because I am control the level of sugar. A lot of the time I find, especially with banana bread or muffins, that they are way too sweet for my taste. But, I digress again!

I used my go-to banana bread recipe, which is based on the one in my trusty Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. (This is also my go-to source for pan gravy instructions at Thanksgiving, but who asked about that.) I modify the recipe a little by using whole wheat flour instead of regular all-purpose flour, and substitute a little more banana for a little less sugar (it's still plenty sweet that way, and if anything, a little more banana-y). And of course, I would never leave out chopped walnuts- I am my mother's daughter, after all. I'm happy to say that it turned out really well, and it's been supplying me and B with breakfast all week.

Okay now- back to PD knitting...