Finishing off...

July is all about finishing things off. I'm trying to work my way through an endless list of work tasks before starting my maternity leave, AND to hoover up various knitting and stitching WIPs which are cluttering my mind as well as the house. It's part of the tidying we (I) need to do before the new baby arrives.

Since we came back from holiday, I've made/finished:
- a sundress for a first birthday
- one pair of repurposed red trousers for the bean
- and, the socks I took on holiday...

Alas, because there was a bit of a rush to make the dress I did not take any photos before sending it off in the post. But, we've had a lovely thank you card, so I hope that means the dress is vaguely the right size and shape! Happy birthday Harper!

The repurposed red trousers were made with cut offs from a favourite pair of red trews of mine which had the audacity to wear out! They were fabulous in many ways: I bought them in a sale, they were one or two sizes smaller than I normally wear, they didnt fade at all even after several years of wearing and washing and their in-built stretch meant that they were comfortable to wear. What more could a girl ask for? Anyway, once they had given way in the upper thigh, I cut off the salvageable parts of the legs, and turned them into a pair of toddler trousers. I used a favourite pair of the bean's trousers as a pattern. Because I did not taper the legs in any way, the finished trousers ended up slightly on the flared side (actually, they were quite hilariously flared). Perfect for the late 1970s, but not quite so fashionable now. To cure this malady in the most minimalist way, I elasticated the cuffs - again using the original trousers as a pattern (these also have elasticated cuffs).

The socks have been plodding for some while now, but now that Wimbledon is on (c'mon Andy!), I've been making the effort to pick them up everytime I stop to watch a set or two. Yesterday I finished sock no. 2 - but discovered that I had a reasonable length of yarn leftover. Although I am not normally a perfectionist about such things, in this case I decided it would be worth the effort to lengthen the leg of each sock and use absolutely every gram of this vibrant yarn. So, they are finished, sort of.