A Rainbow Summer Dress for Ava

If you remember back a few weeks ago now(It's the little things in life...), I had just picked up a great new ball of colourful yarn that I was very excited to start knitting. I began work immediately...and then ran out of yarn (I really should plan better, eh?). So, back to the yarn store I went to pick up another yarn to finish off the project, but in the meantime, I had gotten involved in other knitting projects, as is often the case. So, even though I now had the yarn to finish the project, it sort of just sat there as I continued working on other things.

But there was a looming time line to get this finished (this past weekend), so I had to turn my attention to it and just finish off those last few darn rows. It really didn't take any time at all, and now that lovely little ball of yarn, I am happy to report, has turned into a sweet little jumper for our niece Ava, who turns 1 in July. 

This was a pattern I had previously knit for another friend, but decided this time to knit it in the round to avoid having to sew up any side seams (it's a great little sun dress for girls, and I like to keep it in my repertoire. If you change up the yarns, it's a whole new dress each and every time!). The only thing I didn't count on, however, is that you have to then knit the front and back portions separately, and using the variegated yarn, well, that presented me with a slight issue of being able to match the colours. But in the end, I figured it wouldn't really matter all that much. If you look at the pictures below, you'll notice the slight difference at the top of dress between the front and the back, but I think this also makes it unique and one of a kind.

I really like the versatility of this dress - in the summer you can wear it with a short sleeved top, and in the winter, pair it with tights and a long sleeved shirt. I think the only downside is that you have to hand wash this dress, (sorry Erin!) which in future versions, I might aim to avoid.

I know have almost a full ball of this yarn left over, so I'll be thinking about what I can knit with that. I really loved the rainbow effect, and part of the reason this dress knit up so quickly is simply because I couldn't put it down! I was so excited to see how the colours evolved that I had to keep going. That's the part of knitting that I really love...