Confessions.

I did no work last week. Well, I did on Friday. Catching up on a whole week's work in a day is not recommended but I did it! And...

I finished the dress!!!! Lots of you have seen it on facebook (130 likes and counting!). Here it is:

 

PHWOOOOOOAR!

I realised when I took it off her that I'd put it on her back to front so there were literally no boobs to fill it out. Suffice to say it look quite a bit different on my body. I'll see if I can get boyf to take a photo on Sunday.  (I did - they're later on...)

I've had lots of questions about it and I think most are answered in the last post but I'll sum up here and then I want to talk about how I sort colours. With lots of photos. 

1). Can I make one? 

YES! Please do. I will write a rough pattern/recipe/guide at some point but it's really very simple and I talked a bit about it in the last post starting in the second paragraph after the first close up-y photo. 

2). Can I make a pregnancy version?

YES! Please do. Do that same stuff as before but do lots of increasing where you need it. Vezza has taught me that all pregnant ladies carry weight in different ways so you might need to do lots of increasing at the front or half and half at the front and back (I sincerely doubt you'd need to do more at the back than the front for pregnancy. Please consult midwife if this is the case). Photos when you've done please?

3). Where did you get your yarn?

Again, all in the last post. People give me stuff to pass on to various charities/good causes. I rootle through (if they've specifically told me I can) and snaffle any mohair and Noro ( < 3 ). I've got a bit more picky over the years but I've been stashing mohair fairly seriously for about five years and I have quite a collection. :)

3a). Can I recommend a yarn from the shop?

Difficult. I think part of the reason that this works is the fuzzy mohair allows the colours to blend a little easier. I used a 6mm hook so my natural reaction is the Cygnet Chunky perhaps mixed with the Cygnet Grousemoor Chunky to get a bigger colour range. But then I think about the stiffness and my heart leaps for joy at the Cygnet Superwash DK. What I wouldn't give to have a colour progression dress in that. Next project? Well, I've started two already today so maybe I'll finish some first.

4). Will you be able to cope with the mohair?

No idea. Literally. I was born in 1988 (it makes me sick that there are contestants on X Factor born in 1996. Seriously?!) so I missed that whole shebang. But. But. But. When I first started knitting I was slightly sensitive to wool - just a bit itchy, not scaly or weeping (hurl) - and when I got to be a knitter I decided that I'd just have to cope and now I can wear anything. I'm not suggesting that everybody can do this btw, there are many genuine allergies and there are also many people who don't like wool enough to work through the pain/irritation and I am not judging. It was good for me though. I'm assuming that there were people who could work through the mohair in the 80's so I'm going to be one of those people in the 2010's. Hard-headed? Me?!? Did I tell you about the time I taught myself to literally love brussels sprouts? MMMMMMMM. Christmas dinner. 

5). Tell me more about the colours.

Oh, if you insist. :)

So. Take this pile of nothing:

 

Take one of each and put it in a pile. Preferably on an atrocious floor: 

Start splitting the colours into colour groups/light and dark: 

It only has to be very rough for my kind of progression... Pick where you want to start and then start placing:

 

 Wow! What an atrocious photo! But you get the idea. I started at black, grey/blue was the obvious next choice because it's dark. The Riot, with it's teal/green stripe led nicely into green - dark blue-y green first, then lighter and yellower until the limey colour which sits quite nicely with the gold. Obviously, the lemon comes next and then I consciously thought of the next colour, the pink. I had in my head those Fruit Salad sweets:

Which, for me, is just the most delicious combo of colours. I could have gone to creams which would have led nicely into whites, blues, purples, pinks then reds for my money. But I didn't, I wanted Fruit Salads. So, back to the photo: 

 

Yellows to pinks to reds. Yeah? The row underneath is what I couldn't fit in. And sometimes you just can't fit things in and sometimes, just sometimes, you need to fit a colour in (if you've fallen in love for example) so shove it somewhere. Either where it'll stand out (put the blue in with the pink for example) or the place where it'll least stick out, like so: 

That's what I ended up with. Notice that I moved the grey and black around. Black to purple is a bit of a jump but in the general fracas that a progression in these colours would be, it'll all work out. :)

I kind of feel like this is a bit of a non-post because it comes so naturally to me. I struggle more when I only have a few more colours because if you're working with more than say, seven colours then you do have some leeway. Things settle themselves down when put next to other colours which means that you can add in some neons or ridiculous colours.

**Interrupting - that reminds me: LOOK WHAT I JUST PUT ON ORDER!

 IT'S NEON SOCK YARN. NEON SOCK YARN. Neon sock yarn. NEON SOCK YARN!!!

Interruption over.**

I think I promised somewhere upstream that I'd show you the photos of my wearing the dress. Bear in mind that we'd been to the orchestra so naturally I was drunk and boyf isn't a natural photographer and I'm not a natural model... 

 

 I'm really super pleased with it! I didn't need the belt with it but somehow, with the red shoes, I felt it toned down the outfit a bit and in my head fluff = inches but actually, it's pretty form fitting with my drastic decreases:

So I think I'll wear it without in the future.

I was also dead worried that it would be too hot and too itchy. I think the too hot think makes sweatiness which is what makes the itchiness. But, it wasn't too hot and therefore it wasn't too itchy! In fact, I was a perfect temperature all night. I didn't wear anything underneath it apart from bra and leggings which come up pretty high. Maybe I just have a high level of unitchiness or maybe it's the combo between the fairly expensive stuff (some of it was lambswool and angora rather than mohair...) being near the top and I made sure that the really horrid stuff (the lemon-y yellow if you must know) was well in the legging area. The fluff did get everywhere, boyf wore black trousers and a dark purple shirt and looked like a right tit but I looked brill so that doesn't matter does it? :)

Also! I got a compliment in the loo. Which makes it all worthwhile.

It's in the wash now. And it doesn't dry quick  - I thought it might seeing as it's pretty loosely knit but nah, two days it took. So the next time I'll wear it will be knit club next Tuesday because the girls kept telling me it was 'interesting colours'. Which means terrible colours. Feel free to abuse them. I do.

So, I've managed to get two whole posts about a project that took literally two days and involves nothing from the shop. You wouldn't want a lyso who wasn't dead excited about this sort of thing though would you? I think that's why we won the best yarn shop in the Midlands (and, as I keep saying, the Midlands is the best place in the UK and the UK is the best place in the world and the world is the best place in the universe and obviously, a yarn shop is the best shop ever and therefore we are the. best. shop. in. the. universe. Logic? I gots it.).

I'm off to cash up and get home. I have a commission to finish this week. Or else. It's been going on for a long time. If you've been into the shop recently you know what it is. Fml.

Love. xxx