Christmas Dress

 Earlier in 2019 I cast on a Christmas dress, nice and early so that I would have the time to ensure I finished it. The base pattern is House Dressing by The Flying Yak on Ravelry (here), I knew I could get just the right fit if I used this pattern rather than the disappointment which was my 2018 Christmas dress. I really like Christmas hand-knits and plan a jumper for 2020, I'll probably knit a little cardigan or dress for the baby too (once she's here safely).

The dress was picked up and put down at various points during the year, I drank many mugs of tea as I knit and many tins of flavoured coke/lemonade as I found I'd got quite a taste for those during the summer months. The reindeer-y chart I used on the hem of the dress was one I found while I was browsing google images, I pulled it (creditless) from Pinterest. I've noted this on my Ravelry project page but if anyone recognises the chart and knows its origin then please let me know if you have a minute spare, thank you!
I struggled with the fit of the bodice when knitting my original House Dressing - looked like a shapeless sack when I'd finished... I re-knit it following the instructions for Ruis by Jatta Pauliina, an incredibly flattering dress I really would like to knit again at some point.
I gave my red Ruis dress away in the years following the birth of my second son Oliver as I felt it was too form-fitting particularly as I'd put on weight... Vain I know but you've got to feel good in your clothes!!!!
I tried and tried to lose that weight, I remember pounding the pavements up and down the hills of Biddulph Moor at night, getting those 10,000 steps in (at as high a speed as possible) under the cover of darkness. Nothing doing. One morning I happened to read an article in the paper about sugar - here (it's LONG!), it made sense to me, I ordered Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar book from ebay, a book I had in the past stuck my fingers up at because she looked so smug on the cover and WHY would anyone in their right mind give up lovely SUGAR!?
Ha! I found out why... Interestingly, after I stopped eating sugar the weight gradually just went away, as did the spots, the mouth ulcers and all sorts. Re-visiting A-level biology last year certainly helped me understand all the science a little better, just in terms of how the body uses/stores sugars and why. Anyway, I'm not hungry all the time like I used to be, although I probably eat a little too much in the way of butter... I LOVE buttered toast.

True to form, the photos are a bit overexposed, but you get an idea of the dress on and can see there's plenty of room for the baby too. I'm a little concerned that I'll have to re-knit the bodice at a later date as my bust is usually naturally nowhere near its current size. We'll see how it looks either next Christmas or Christmas 2021 and I'll go from there. It's only a few days' knitting in any case. Also! I have no idea what went on with my sleeves but they're quite generous in size, probably a little too much information here but I do tend to run fairly hot and find that I perspire accordingly! I always mean to buy dress shields to protect my knitted dresses, then I forget to and have to resort to wads of folded toilet paper which is great till they become dislodged! Bane of my life while I was at school and college... I do find that Driclor helps if I can stand to fall asleep with it applied, but I can rarely withstand the awful itchiness it causes and I end up rinsing it off too soon.

I did knit the under-bust rib (which cinches the dress in) a little shorter than I did for my blue House Dressing (below). I'd intended to wear this one on Christmas day and was trying to accommodate the bump but also to reduce any likelihood of the garment stretching out of shape.

I do wonder whether this will be the last time I knit this pattern combination (House Dressing/Ruis). I love the big skirt and the fitted bodice