A summer pattern in winter: or a lucky yarn substitution

 One of my favourite makes ever must be my Dayjob Summerdress from Pickles. And it has only occurred to me that my own interpretation of the pattern in VERY different from what it was intended for. And right now I cannot quite establish if this outcome was a clever idea of mine or a lucky mistake.

You see, I made this pattern when I was pregnant, which was two years ago. I couldn't sleep at night, so I knit. A large but not too difficult project was what I needed and so this one-piece, stockinette number was the top choice. Pregnant 3am decisions are not exactly memorable, so here I am, staring at a long-finished product, trying to learn something about my own process.

As the name of the patters suggests this is supposed to be a summer dress. It is drapey, with batwing sleeves and a nice shaping at the waist. Made in a yarn which is 70% cotton. Mine is a nice and cosy winter dress, made of an Italian yarn which I am pretty sure was superwash wool...and the result is a drapey, batwing dress with wait shaping.

I think the secret of the success here, either by accident or smartness, lies in the gauge. I knitted my very warm wool at a very loose gauge. You can sort of see how relaxed the stitches are in the photos. This resulted in a fabric with good drape, but still warm enough for Swiss winter wear. The only downside is that I have to wear dark colours underneath (I don't like the feeling of wool against my skin and always wear a vest with it) as white would show through.

Why taking about this make two years after it was knitted? Well, I am wearing it right now, which made me think of when and how I knitted it. I also realized that it is 'old' in modern fast-fashion clothing terms, and it is aging well. Good quality material and a forgiving fit of the pattern mean that after the ups and downs in weight of pregnancy and post-pregnancy this still fits well. Also the rather airy fabric reduces the overall weight of the dress, preventing sagging, something that I want to remember for future dresses (one on the needles right now!).

 

I have a pet hate though, which is the neckline. It doesn't quite roll like in the original pattern, nor lay flat, and I have been wanting to do something about it for two years. Maybe add a posthumous icord binding. Or any other suggestions?