What I made, by Sharon

 I finished the Arrows Down Dress a couple of weeks ago, and documented it here . At the time I described it as "pretty short". It was mid thigh, and I had been aiming for top of the knee: I thought it looked good, if a bit skimpy. And then I wore it to work without tights underneath and I realised I had to lengthen it, to make it a truly wearable garment.  i had to talk myself into it - once I've completed a garment in my head , it's done, but I knew I would get a lot more wear from it if I made the effort.  I ripped back the (thankfully only six) rows of ribbing and added ten centimetres: It's a little less risque and a lot more work appropriate. Short or longer, I really loved knitting this dress and I really like wearing it. 

I went looking for a pattern for a very specific cardigan - V-neck, brioche, hits just on the waist, puffy, puffy sleeves. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, and I didn't quite have the confidence to design my own, because I've never knit a brioche garment before. I found the For the Love of Brioche Jacket, which had the essence of what I was looking for, and then knit it with a few modifications.   I left off a couple of the increases and added waist shaping I shortened it, stopping at the waist I omitted all sleeve shaping, and then halved the stitches when i got to the wrist. look - puffy! I used the buttons that I bought at Bendigo , less than a month ago, and I think they are perfect. This cardigan is big and pink and exactly what I had in mind when I started it.  The photos were not quite what i had in mind - we took them in the evening in the park. It get's dark early, and we just haven't had the opportunity to take day time photos. 

I mentioned in a previous post that all I have to do is buy the perfect buttons and the cardigan will be done. I was planning on going to the button shop on Monday, when I decided to check my button stash. I don't have a huge button collection, and most of them I inherited from my Grandmother. I went through them and found these, which I think are perfect on this jumper.  After sewing the buttons on I'm reblocking it, because I'm not 100% happy with how the button band is sitting , and se ams just demand blocking prior to wearing. I'm hoping a bath will smooth out the button band , otherwise I'm going to rip and reknit. If it all worked out, I'll try for modelled photos some time this week.