Purple Flowers

One of the pieces of fabric I bought in Mazatlan was a pre-smocked dress length for Gracie. I knew it had to have either pink or purple so I figured this orange with purple flowers would suit the Miss. All I had to do was sew up the back seam (which of course I sewed then serged for a clean finish), hem and add straps. The fabric store had decorative elastic strap that was supposed to go with the fabric, but I was in a hurry, there was a language barrier, and Judy wanted me to help her find dress fabric for her. I thought, "Of course I can find that back home." Not! I ended up with purple grosgrain ribbon which is fine, and in fact matches the yarn in the second part of my project.

I was browsing the Lion Brand website when I found this cute little cardi pattern. Of course, even though I'm more of a knitter than a crocheter, I had to give it a go. It was really simple and fast AND I just happened to have some purple yarn just the right color in my stash!

The pattern didn't show a closure, and I was supposed to do a slip stitch up the front, around the neck and down the other side. I decided I liked a single crochet better, and added a chain loop at the neck with a cute button so it would stay on better. I'm not a very tight crocheter, and wasn't very comfortable with the looser stitch I was getting, but I think it turned out OK. I did switch to a smaller hook when I got to the neckline to make it just a bit smaller.

Now Gracie has a summer church outfit with a cardi for the chilly Montana evenings.