It's All in the Accessories

As most of you know by now, my dear sis Angie is due a day before I am with a little girl, which she hilariously calls her "Kung-Fu Princess" (due to the excessive amount of kicking that baby does.)

Of course, wanting to be a good Auntie, I had to make my newest niece something to treasure, drool on, and poop in.

Hence, the Anouk dress with some of my own modifications. I just love the beads. Every diva needs some bling in her life, I feel.

Not that I would know anything about diva-ness.

Since accessories are all the rage, and ultra-important to us divas, a chapeau was in order as well. I really debated putting beads on the bonnet as well, but in the end, compassion won out over vanity - I'd hate for my niece to wake up from her nap with tiny little indentations all over her head from the beads pressing into her scalp. There is a limit to what one will suffer for looks.

That doesn't apply to shoes, though, as any woman will know. A man must have invented stillettos. No sane woman would even think of foisting off such torturous devices on another human being.

But anyway, I digress.

Since I am a sane woman (stop sniggering!), I opted for flats for my Kung-fu niece. I figure she can fly through bamboo groves (a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) and take out the bad guys much easier in shoes that lack a heel.

So, Angie, now that I am officially done with your baby's birth present, you are allowed to go into labor. It's still a few weeks early, but thank you for complying with my schedule and not going into labor before I was done knitting all this up.

After all, miss Kung-Fu can't come into this world until everything is prepared! What would a grand appearance be without shoes and bonnet?

Appearances are everything. It's all in the accessories.

Anouk Done!

After a lot of wrangling and puffing, I finally got Anouk done! On the whole, it was a fun and fast little pattern. I hope my sis likes it!

Okay, now a re-hash of the specs for those interested persons (if you're not interested, skip this paragraph, and hum a few bars of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" while the rest of us catch up . . .)

Pattern: Anouk, from Knitty.
Yarn: 1 skein each of Caron Simply Soft in Denim Blue, Sage, and Pink.
Modifications (intended and otherwise, lol!): Little pink glass beads (which were a royal pain to string on worsted weight yarn - hmph! Divas!), crochet flower applique, and dress 1 inch shorter than it should be (completely unintended, but as stated before, I cannot count.)

Okay, all done. (For those of you who've just joined us, now doesn't humming make your day seem a little better? Just don't start talking to yourself in public.)

Next up for my sister's little "girly girl" is a possible hat and bootie combo. I was thinking of making this hat, but I'm unsure if that would work with acrylic worsted weight yarn (and I want to use the same yarn). Do you think the brim would be too floppy? Any advice?

I've also decided that I'm going to steal my friend Danielle's great bootie idea and make this. Aren't they so cute? Even if they never stay on wee one's feet, they're still adorable!

Anouk Progress

I've been working steadily away on the little Anouk dress for my coming niece, and it's coming along nicely at last!

Yesterday I finished the back, and this morning I sewed the edges together and finished the collar. I still have the fun details to add, like a little appliqued flower and the side tabs and buttons.

I can't wait to get to the flower. I think I'll crochet it, because that seems easier to me, and of course add some beads to the center. We'll see, though. Sometimes my ideas don't always look right once they're completed!

I think if I ever make another one I'd make a few changes to the pattern. I noticed on Ravelry that someone had lengthened the shoulder straps and added additional buttons and button holes so that the dress can be lengthened as baby grows. I might do it in the round, too, because the sides of the dress are rolling in a bit. Since I used acrylic yarn (gasp! yes, I did!) I don't think blocking is an option. Any ideas from you more experienced knitters out there?

Those Nasty Knitting Fates

I started knitting the Anouk pattern last night for my sister's baby, which is due sometime in May. It's interesting that my sister and I are due only one day apart, and I often tease her that we're having "long distance twins", since we seem to have the same cravings and weird pregnancy happenings.

I have to say that this pattern is giving me some trouble. First, it employs colors, which is always a difficult and painful thing for me. I am not color-blind, but for some reason putting two different color choices together puts me in a state of panic not unlike a small animal staring at impending doom in the form of headlights and a speeding car. Painful, to say the least.

(This is why some of my nice blog friends have commented so sweetly on my cabling abilities. I think they understand my color difficulties. The whole reason why I love cables, is that they look complicated but only have one color. Yeeeessssss . . . . bliss . . . .)

So, anyway, back to Anouk. I fixed on a color combination of green and blue, and then I'm going to crochet/knit a nice multi-colored flower to add some more "girlyness" to the dress. Also, because my sister and I love bling, I put some beads in the mix, just to up the complicatedness level. The beads, which are a pale pink, are so cute! I truly think this was a touch of genius for me (which means most other knitters are saying, "well, duh, of course beads!").

I should have known, however, that the knitting fates would not take kindly to my level of happiness with any sort of knitting that involves more than one color.

They struck. They struck hard.

Did you know that knitting fates have no consciences?

See how much I've gotten knitted since last night? I measured at least 9 inches of wonderfully knitted fabric that will have to be frogged back to the first 3 inches. Although I did peruse the pattern, I missed an important detail. This was because the knitting fates had their wicked little hands over my eyes while I was supposed to read, "at the same time, decrease . . ."

Why am I blaming the knitting fates? It's because I can only blame so many "doh!" moments on being pregnant. Well, that, and I can't bear to admit that it's just my usual aversion to following directions of any kind. (Please, no "amens" from family members.)