This is a dress with a ruffle yarn skirt made for Princess Rosalee, who is currently 2 months old. I don't know exactly what size dress this pattern made, but I think she might need to grow some more before she will be big enough to wear this. And that's OK!
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| Front of dress |
I had a large ball of pink yarn (no label, of course) that was included in a bag of yarn that was given to me some years ago. The ball was large enough that I thought it might have enough yardage to crochet this baby dress. But unfortunately, I discovered when I was on about row 10 of the skirt that the pink yarn had actually been knotted to and wound around a decent amount of another color of peachy-pinkish yarn at the center of the ball. (Ugh.) I have no idea why anyone would tie a different color of yarn on to continue winding a ball like that, but alas. That's just how it was done.
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| First attempt |
So that left me with Rosalee's dress about 3/4 completed and needing to try to figure out the brand and colorway of the pink yarn I had started with, or at least to find something close enough to be able to finish the project without it looking awful.
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| Starting second attempt |
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| Coboo label |
I thought perhaps the mystery pink yarn was one made by Red Heart, but after lots of looking around both online and IRL, I wasn't able to find another pink yarn that matched this (of course not!! 🤦) which left me with the choice of continuing to work in another yarn color that didn't match, or else to start over with another yarn. I opted to start over using Lion Brand Coboo in the Pale Pink colorway.
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| Comparing size |
Coboo has a lovely feel and drape, but it is a struggle to crochet with it because the plies are very loosely spun, and so it often wants to split, which means you have to be VERY careful to hold the plies together as you work. I have used Coboo before on my circular knitting machine, and it worked easily there. But using it to crochet is a different story. However, it was the color and type of fiber content that I wanted to use for the base of this dress, so I persevered. 😂
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| Dress inside out |
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| Underside of skirt |
Another difference is that the Coboo yarn is rated a 3/DK weight, whereas the other yarn I had started with felt more like a 4/worsted weight (and the dress pattern calls for a 4 weight yarn), so I also had to use a smaller hook size than what the pattern recommended.
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| Back of dress |
Attempting to make a pattern in a different gauge than what the designer used is another layer of challenge, but at least I had the other version of the dress that I started with to give me something to compare size as I began making the dress with the Coboo yarn, and I ended up being able to come fairly close to the original by adding just a few extra stitches/rows.
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| Dress with cardigan |
Frisian Knitting Tutorials has a video on YouTube that shows how to crochet the dress and also a paid pattern available on Ravelry, but you can make the dress by following the video. I followed the video for my project, except I added Rozetti ruffle yarn to each DC stitch in every-other row of the skirt starting in the increase row after creating the arm holes in the bodice. (The ruffle yarn doesn't intrude onto the inside of the dress, so it won't irritate Rosalee's skin.) I also added a row of shells for a finishing trim around the hemline, which you can see on the "dress inside out" photo.
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| Dress with cardigan and bonnet |
The ruffle yarn actually came from a pre-knitted ruffle scarf (meaning it was a display sample piece that I purchased already made, and thus I never had the label from the skein) that I purchased at a little yarn shop in Lake Havasu, Arizona, way back in the early 2010s. But I did still have another skein of the same brand in another colorway with its label intact in my stash, which I bought at the same shop, which made it possible to locate the name of the colorway of the one I used for this project by searching around online. To make the ruffles, I simply undid the knot at one end and unraveled the scarf to work the ruffle yarn loops held with the Coboo yarn, resulting in this ruffle-y sweet baby dress that's fit for a little princess to wear.
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| Aren't these sunglasses simply adorable?!? |
And if the ruffles eventually get tattered from being worn/laundered, it will be easy to snip the loops to remove the ruffle yarn while leaving the underlying pink dress intact and still perfectly wearable on its own.
As you can see in the photos, I also crocheted a cardigan and bonnet to go with the dress. Here's a link to my post about that project.
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| Dress, cardigan, bonnet, sunglasses, and headband! |
My gift parcel to Princess Rosalee includes a set of mesh bags that can be used to protect delicate items like her dress while they're being laundered. I'm also tucking in a set of sleeveless onesies, in case Mommy prefers Rosalee to have a lightweight layer between her skin and the dress, and a pair of white leggings, in case it's a cold day, to keep Rosalee's legs warm under the skirt. I'm also including a set of ruffle diaper cover shorts (one white, one pink) for Rosalee to wear under the skirt on warm days. There is also a set of colorful, stretchy headbands, which I bought just to be able to add a little "flower" (made from the last few inches of leftover Rozetti lace yarn) to the pink one. My husband also found an adorable set of pink baby sunglasses, so of course we had to grab those, too! All in all, I think Baby and Mommy will be thrilled. 💜
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| Headband with "flower" |
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| Extra goodies! |
