Done !!!!!!

 Done!  I am finished!!!  I have finally completed the knitted dress.  And boy did it take a while.  Due to several placements in time out, and a major mishap, this baby is finally finished. 

On Monday and Tuesday I tried to finish this dress.  I only had a few more inches and the final pattern to go, how hard could this be?  Well I may be able to knit, but sometimes I really think I am missing a few brain cells because I kept holding the dress up to me and thinking I only had a few more inches and I would be ready to cast off.  As you know I am 5'9 3/4.  And I would say that my legs are pretty long, so I automatically added 3 inches to the pattern thinking this would be sufficient.  I held it up, looked down and thought I was in a terrific position.  The problem with holding up a dress and looking down is you are not getting an accurate idea of just how long the dress is. So I casted off making sure I left lots of room in my stitches so the cast off edge would be nice and roomy.  Yeah!!!!!  Total excitement, I stripped off my clothes, put on the dress and what do you think I saw?  I saw a dress that was just long enough to cover my thighs, but way, way, way too short to cover my 46 year old legs. 

 Here is a picture of the bodice and the lovely i-cord bow.  The i-cord slips in and out of these little holes and helps a great deal to keep the chest together, especially my chest as I really don't have one.

Back to the story.  Okay massive depression was about to set in, but I held it back and thought about what I could do. Hmmmm.....maybe leave it and make it a tunic top?  Nah, throw it in the corner and put it back in time out forever, no I spent too much money on this yarn.  I guess my only option was to put the dress back on the needles by slowly taking apart the cast off edge, that is 270 stitches back on the needles.  I thought about ripping apart the bottom pattern, but that would have entailed frogging the stitches and making sure I got 270 back on without dropping any, what a mess that would be.  So I decided to make a second pattern at the bottom, which added another 3 inches and here is the final project.  Sorry the picture above is fussy, it was the best I could get.  You can see the cast off row I picked up in the middle of the pattern.  The stitches are a bit longer almost looking like a wrap stitch.  I decided to leave this and just work from where I was at. 

Am I in love with this dress, not at all.  I feel it is like climbing a mountain and finally getting to the top and realizing the view wasn't worth the work.  I still think it is a tiny bit short.  That is even after adding 6 inches to the pattern.  And I am not at all happy with how the sleeves look where I sewed them onto the dress.  Actually I tried to do this 4 times before I got something that looked right.   But I think I will wear it and see if it grows on me.  And if it doesn't I already have a plan B....I will take off the sleeves and wear it as a skirt.  I actually think that might be the best.

This dress was designed by Jana Pihota for the book Stitch'N Bitch Superstar Knitting.  The pattern was easy to understand and really easy to knit.  When I look at the picture of the dress in the book I can honestly say that I still think it is beautiful.  The yarn you will remember I am not in love with at all.  South West Trading Company Amaizing 100% corn fiber yarn.  The texture is interesting but as you remember I had so many breaks and knots in each ball I wanted to shoot myself.  Knitting in the round is sooooo smooth, so constantly having to start new yarn is such a hassle.  And I always think new yarn should be started at the beginning of the row so you never see even a hint of a pucker, knitting in the round does not allow you to do this.

So at least I can say  project number 28 of the year is finished, and the dress may grow on me.  I just think I have to put it back in time out again for a bit, first.