Accidentally by design

I got this lovely 4ply yarn in the hand-dyed yarn swap on TNN.



The suggested yarn was for opera gloves, but I wasn't convinced I'd wear them... plus I've recently finished fingerless mitts anyway, so I'm a little over it. But because of the wonderful vibrant colours, and the 4-plyness, I figured it'd make a darling little something for Katerina.

But then I had a devil of a time finding a pattern for a cute dress or frilly top that was written for 4ply yarn, that was a free pattern and that was cute. I found several things for thicker yarn, and several things that were wintery, but I wanted something light and summery.

I did find one pattern, that called for more yarn than I had, that wasn't quite what I wanted, but it was almost the right weight of yarn (5ply instead of 4ply) so I figured I'd fudge it, and knit that since it was the closest thing I could find to what I really wanted.

Except then I altered the pattern so it was done in the round.
And then I figured I'd rather not have it be a cardigan at all, because I rarely put cardigans on babies, and certainly not in the late spring and/or summer.
So then the item 'became' a dress.
And then did away with the sleeves.
And then I did a gauge swatch to determine how many stitches I actually needed to cast on, since it was no longer the same ease (as cardi's are different to dresses in that regard) and since it wasn't the right weight of yarn anyway.
And then I changed a few things about the bodice, too.

So all in all, I have a lovely dress that was inspired by a different pattern, but the only thing it actually has in common with it is the lace stitch pattern. Which is just any old lace stitch pattern.

I'm still to name this outfit, but I'm thinking either the Butterfly dress or the Zamerina. I want to knit one in a plain colour too, to better show off the design of the actual knitting too.


That's not the best picture, it's not nearly as crooked / lopsided as it looks.

And on my incredibly uncooperative model:


My only slight reserve is that I should do something with the arms, to tidy up the rolled edges a bit. But I haven't bothered, and to be honest, it doesn't worry that me that much.