A few weeks ago, I had an unusual feeling that can only be classed as crafter's smugness. It was August and I had finished knitting a Christmas present for my niece. My first present finished! In August! Ah yes, I was most definitely feeling smug.
This is the 'Thinking Dress' from 'Miss Bea's Rainy Day' by Louisa Harding. I knitted the size 2, even though Meg will be 3 in March, thinking it should be big enough. I've knitted this dress before, both times using the suggested yarn, Rowan All Seasons Cotton, which is perfect for this pattern. It has great stitch definition and knits into a deliciously chunky and tactile cable.Strangely, my tension seems to have changed a bit over the last few years and I had to drop a whole needle size to knit this on a 4mm needle. That actually gave me a tension that was slightly too tight but it resulted in a lovely sturdy fabric and the final dress width is only about half an inch narrower than it should be.I found the perfect polka dot heart button at my local shop, Creative Quilting, to close the back opening. So there I was, nicely smug about conquering my Christmas knitting list in August. Then I remembered...It's my God daughter's 2nd birthday on 6th October and I haven't started knitting anything for her yet. So, I think she'll be receiving this dress for her birthday and I'll be knitting another (size 3) for Meg for Christmas.

Oops. Not so smug after all!