I am officially starting a new project – the Merino Dress! Before I go on to the details of that, though, I would like to introduce you to the newest member of the family: Piccadilly.

Her story is here – it’s a good’un, I promise! She is the sweetest little thing, and has begged her way into my heart.

Merino Dress

I have had this project in my queue for so long – the pattern is Icon Dress by Kari Helene, and I bought it from Purl Alpaca Designs at a knitting show absolutely ages ago. I would be more exact, but I don’t actually remember, it is that far in the past!

The description for this pattern, lifted from the pattern page on Ravelry, is:

This is truly an iconic piece of hand knitting! A large project with beautiful cables, textured panels and a stunning shape that really gives this dress an edge. The neckline is very flattering and the way it nips in at the waist give a proper hourglass silhouette. If you’re not feeling the “knitted dress on bare skin” thing, wear it layered with shirts or a fitted jumper underneath or with a cardigan over the top.

Given that this dress is measured from the bust, I suspect it may fit a bit better than some of the other garments I have made for myself in the past! I will have to do some adjustments based on the measurements provided to make sure my weirdly shaped body fits into the dress at the waist and hips, but that should be relatively straightforward.

The yarn I intend to use is the vast amount that I bought at Unravel this year in a gorgeous orange! I adore it and I cannot wait to get started proper.

At the moment we are at gauge stage – I knitted the first swatch on the recommended needles (4 mm) and the tension was too tight, so I’ve gone up to 4.5 mm and will be done with that this evening. I expect I will cast on sometime before the end of the weekend!

I’ve been wanting to make this dress for so long that I am almost giggling with excitement. Progress should be much faster than with Garland, too…

Much love,

Corrie xx