"I Wish I Could Wear It Every Day!"

After more than a month, I finally finished up Rainbow's Magnolia in Bloom last weekend. I got her to sit down and pick out buttons with me and then gave it a good blocking. It was ready for her to wear to Rosh Hashanah dinner last night.

My friends at my LYS can tell you that I was not at all pleased with her reaction when I had her try it on just before I finished the body (I believe it was something like "I hate it!"), but fortunately I had a feeling that she would like it when it was actually finished and carried on. I'm glad I did, because her reaction to trying it on when it was actually finished was about the best I could expect (hint: it's the title of this post).

These are pretty rubbish pictures, but you can get a sense of how well it fits her and how pleased she is with it.

Pattern: Magnolia in Bloom by Anna Rauf, tunic version, size 6
Yarn: Cascade Heritage Sock (75% superwash merino/25% nylon) in color 5615/Royal, approximately 1.25 skeins
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm) circs
Started/Completed: August 14/September 20
Mods: I picked up a few more stitches at the underarms than specified and did only three buttonholes on the placket

This was a fun knit, though the pattern was a bit interesting to follow at times. I think that's probably because the designer is not a native English speaker, so things were worded a bit unusually (or at least differently than I'm used to). I ended up making the size 6 because my gauge was just a tad off and the size 4 probably would have fit but not for long. As you can see, there is some room to grow. What you can't see is the little oops that I made in the lace on the bottom. At some point I must have done an extra half round, because one of the repeats of the lace on the back is taller than the rest. I discovered it several lace repeats later; at that point, though, I was getting so sick of knitting the body that I just wanted to be done, and I figured that it was unlikely to be seen and noticed as it's on the back side of the top. I worked 1x1 rib on the bottom of the body and at the sleeves so all the edges would match.

Although I'm not likely to do it for Rainbow, I might knit this pattern again, perhaps as a baby gift. The pattern gives you the option to do it as a tunic or a dress, and I think it would be a fairly quick knit for a smaller kid. I will say that there were times when I was knitting the "skirt" that I thought it would never end, but considering that I was working on this in between other projects, I think it really did go rather quickly. And clearly I haven't gotten sweaters in fingering out of my system just yet, because I just bought the next pattern to make for Rainbow, at her request. I already have two skeins of Malabrigo Sock in my stash that will be perfect for it -- but I'm finishing a sweater for me first!