Bloom
I love clothes that grow with your kiddies. I tend to fall in love with pieces of clothing and find it sad when my littlies outgrow them.
This is particularly so with handmade items which I have created with love and a coveted fabric or fibre. Bloom is designed to bloom, or grow with your little girl. From birth it looks particularly cute as a beautiful dress. In white or cream it makes the perfect christening or naming dress. As the little girl in your life grows the ribbing in the bodice and shaping of the cap shoulders allows the dress to bloom into a cute little peasant style top. I love how it looks totally different on different ages; a cute little baby dress for the wee ones, but not babyish at all for the bigger girl.
Construction:
This is a seamless garment knit entirely in the round on circular needles. It is knit from the top down using raglan shaping for the bodice construction.
Sizing:
Bloom comes in three sizes; achieved by varying both needle sizes and yarn weight; small in 4ply/fingering, medium in 8ply/dk and large in 10ply/worsted.
Each size fits a wide age range, for example, the medium size fits from a 17 to 23 inch chest. It is shown in the pics (the pink one) on a 9 month old and slight 4 year old.
Small: Chest: 13”/33cm to 19 “/48.5cm [newborn to 12 months]
Medium: Chest: 17”/43cm to 23”/58.5cm [6 months to 4 years]
Large: Chest: 21”/53.5cm to 27”/68.5cm [2 years to 8 years]
Skill Level:
Intermediate
Techniques used:
knit and purl
Increasing and decreasing
Working in the round on circular needles
Working small circumferences in the round
Lace knitting
Working from a chart
The pattern includes both charts and written instructions for the lace as well as a link to a tutorial for neat underarm finishing.
Yarn Requirements:
Small
• Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4ply (100% merino; 787yd[720m]/200g). - 1 ball.
• OR WOOLganic Organic Merino 4ply/Fingering (100% organic merino; 227yd[208m]/50g) - 2 balls.
• OR 4ply/fingering weight yarn of approximately 300 yards/ 275 metres.
Medium
• WOOLganic Organic Merino Knitters Yarn 8ply (100% organic merino; 113yd[103m]/50g) - 3 balls.
• OR Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8 ply (100% wool; 437yd[400m]/200g) - 1ball.
• OR 8ply/DK weight yarn of approximately 390 yards/360 metres.
Large
• Swan Island Natural Colors Merino Worsted (100% organic merino; 250yd[229m]/100g) - 3 balls.
• OR Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 10 ply (100% wool; 328yd[300m]/200g) - 2 balls.
• OR 10ply/worsted weight yarn of approximately 540 yards/ 500 metres.
Garment shown in WOOLganic Organic Merino Knitters Yarn 8ply in Blossom.
A yarn with good memory and elasticity is recommended for best results as the bodice relies on both negative ease and firm ribbing.
