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Hello and thanks for visiting my blog. I have been knitting on and off for 50 years and I recently learned to crochet. I love looking for wool bargains and making them into something useful. I mainly knit for charity. I occasionally knit for myself and family members if I find a really good pattern or if they ask nicely!!

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Peach wool challenge....


I had enough coordinating wool remnants to make another little dress which will eventually go to a baby in Africa.  I knitted the first few rows in a soft peach wool that was left over from an earlier blanket project.  I have now reached the main body of the dress and the yarn I'm using is white with flecks of yellow, peach and dark pink.  So far, so good.  But it also has big lumps of what I can only describe as cotton wool.  These lumps make it quite slow and difficult to knit with.  Luckily most of the lumps are on the inside of the dress.  I've checked carefully and they are not at all scratchy.  So they will hopefully just make the dress extra warm.  

I'm knitting from the hem upwards on a circular needle which turned out to be a good decision.  Trying to sew a seam in this knobbly wool would have been interesting to say the least.  I'm even struggling to think of any other uses for wool like this.  This wool came in a bargain lot so it looks like I'm not the only person clueless about what to do with it.  I have another ball in a different colour and that will probably end up as a dress unless I have a better idea.

It will be a relief to reach the bodice of this dress.  That part of the pattern is moss stitch and the dark pink wool I'm going to use is the perfect texture.  Just a few more centimetres to go......

10 comments:

  1. I was wondering, maybe you could knit a little seamless cardigan with the remnant wool, if you have enough of it, that is. Or perhaps a little shrug or vest.

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  2. That's a good idea. I already have a pattern for a seamless cardigan, so I might do that next time. Thanks.

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  3. Your work is lovely and what a treat for a little one in Africa xx

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  4. Such a sweet project. I look forward to seeing the end result!

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  5. That's such a sweet color!

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  6. I have been (unsuccessuflly) trying to make this dress for my 1 yr old granddaughter. I started on circular needles but couldn't figure out the directions and forgot armholes :-) So now back to the original pattern of two pieces. If you are successful on circular needles and wouldn't mind sharing your pattern, I'd be delighted!

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    1. There is a proper circular version of this pattern but I read that people have problems with it. I simply adapted the straight needles version, which also has some errors but I already knew what they were! I used a circular needle until I changed to straight needles on row 1 of the bodice. I then knitted the back and front bodices separately. The errors are in the front bodice instructions. After row 3 you should have 27 stitches. Row 4 should read K1P1 on every row. Neck row should read "moss 7, cast off 13, moss 7". I hope that helps. Let me know if you are still having problems.

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    2. That makes perfect sense! I am going to try again. I need to get this finished before my granddaughter outgrows it :-)
      Thanks so much.

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  7. I've used this kind of wool in the past to knit my puppets. I always noticed that the bobbles end up at the back when working in stocking st. I must say I don't really like working with these bobbly yarns much. They don't make for an even knit as the bobbles catch against the adjoining yarn and it doesn't 'flow' nicely. You little dress will look cute, though, and I think a little shrug or cardigan would work well. Or a teddy. Or a puppet!

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  8. Ohh, that soft peach color is so pretty. I think your little dress will be beautiful with the textured section even if its a bit challenging to knit. Looking forward to seeing it finished. If you have enough yarn left, a matching hat would be super cute!

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