girly – Anna Testadoro

Posted on 3 December 2015 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO: Lacy Baby Dress (with Baby)

In March 2013 I knitted my best friend’s little girl a purple lacy dress as a belated birthday present.

I knitted this lovely Little Liza Jane dress, which is a great pattern.

It’s really straightforward pattern, with some nice added touches. Like the lace going up the skirt, and an added picot border at the bottom.

And for the bodice a lovely cable pattern.

I knitted this in DROPS Muskat, a nice cotton yarn that has a lovely sheen to it.

I also knit a pair of booties, using my version of Saartjes Bootees, adding a little extra touch to it.

And here is the dress with the booties, I am really pleased with how they turned out.

My friend send me some photos of her sweet girl wearing the dress…and doesn’t she just look adorable in it?

STATS

Dress
Pattern: Little Liza Jane by Alison Green.
Yarn: DROPS Muskat in purple..
Needle size: 4mm
Knitting time: March 2014.

Booties
Pattern: My version of Saartjes Bootees by Saartje de Brujin.
Yarn: DROPS Muskat in dark purple and lilac.
Needle size: 3mm
Knitting time: March 2014.

Posted on 1 September 2015 by Anna — 1 Comment

FO: Baby Bloom Dress (adorable baby alert)

Lovely Melissa from Knitting Sandwich just had a gorgeous little baby girl recently. Since she knit me a gorgeous baby blanket for Max, that I posted about here, I wanted to make something for her in return.

Since I knew that Melissa was having a little girl I was able to pick a girly dress that I’ve had in my queue on Raverly for ages.

It’s the Bloom pattern by Georgie Hallam, which is a great top down pattern that has some additional lace on the body of the skirt.

The lovely thing about this pattern is that even though it’s meant to be a dress it actually grows with the baby/child and turns into a top…how great is that?

Additionally, I made her a pair of my version of Saartjes Bootees in matching colours.

And here’s the dress and the pair of booties in all their glory.

I managed to find a lovely little box to post these to Melissa.

Last week Melissa sent me these two pictures of her little girl, isn’t she just the sweetest? The dress and booties are still a little big, but these pictures are just too cute for words! I am just so happy for Melissa and her family to be sharing their lives with this gorgeous little girl!

STATS

Dress
Pattern: Bloom by Georgie Hallam
Yarn: Rowan pure wool 4 ply
Needle size: 3.5mm
Knitting time: 18th -24th July 2015.

Booties
Pattern: Saartjes Bootees by Saartje de Bruijn
Yarn: DROPS Merino Extra Fine
Needle size: 3mm
Knitting time: 3rd August 2015.

Posted on 10 March 2015 by Anna — 1 Comment

FO: Cable Coat and Beret

Back in 2012 my friend Heidy ordered one cable coat for her little girl Sophia, doesn’t she look adorable in it? Well, Heidy liked it so much she ordered another one in navy blue with a matching beret.

This is a great DROPS pattern, which I knitted using DROPS Merino Extra Fine, which calls for size 4mm needles, so a nice, quick knit.

The cables next to the buttons give the little coat a little bit of extra detail. As do the cables that are knitted along the yoke.

A crochet picot edge on the bottom of the coat, the sleeves and the little collar make it look even more girly.

It’s another favourite pattern of mine, mainly because it’s all knitted in one, just a bit of seaming to do under the arms and that’s it. The best about knitting DROPS patterns in my opinion, they often don’t call for a lot of seaming and sewing.

The beret also looks great. And is a very straightforward knit.

I love how the decreases make a very pretty crown.

And Sophia looks just soo adorable in her little ensemble.

Posted on 5 January 2015 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO: Bonnet

I started posting about the number of things I made for a good friends two daughters before Christmas. So here I go with a little bonnet I made for her now two-year old daughter.

It’s this DROPS pattern, and I also knitted her the matching cardigan, which I blogged about here. I knitted all of this back in December 2012, as my friends little girl was born a little early, although you wouldn’t know it now. She’s the cutest, lively and amazing toddler.

I love this pattern, it needs up really quickly, as it uses DROPS Merino Extra Fine and a needle size 3.5mm or 4mm. I probably would have knit it for Luke, but I do think it’s very girly. So I will just have to contend myself with knitting it for friends who have girls or for orders.

I also knitted the two pairs of booties for my friend that I blogged about here.

Here’s the whole set that my friend ordered. And I also made another pair of booties as a gift (one of my go-to bootie gifts and in fact my own pattern.)

And look how adorable my friends daughter looks in her little outfit.

Posted on 19 December 2014 by Anna — 3 Comments

FO Friday: Toddler Cardigan

A good friend of mine who regularly orders things for her girls, put in another order, this time for a cardigan for her eldest daughter in November of this year (on a side note we went to her daughters birthday party last weekend).

It’s a lovely pattern, and one I had to pick from the DROPS Children patterns rather than the DROPS Baby range.

The pattern is knitted with two strands of DROPS Alpaca, so it has a lovely soft quality. The two strands mean that it was a very quick knit, using a 4.5mm needle.

My friend picked the colour, which I absolutely love. It’s so nice and not typically girly, but looks so gorgeous when knitted up.

I used some buttons that I had in my stash, which I love too. They just add extra beauty to the cardigan.

And the shirring at the top is created by knitting the double strands in single strands, it creates a very pretty effect.

And here’s an FO appreciation photo of my friends daughter wearing her new cardigan, and another one of her and her sister, both of them wearing my creations.

Posted on 16 December 2014 by Anna — 2 Comments

FOs: A Couple of Twin Dresses

A friend from the German group I used to take Luke to asked me to knit a couple of dresses for a friends twin girls. This gave me an opportunity to look for a new pattern.

I loved knitting this pattern, it was really easy to knit and really quick. I used double yarn of DROPS Safran, a cotton yarn. The pattern is really well written and easy to follow. While it called for other yarn, I found using this combination worked really well and it resulted in the right size of dress.

As the dresses were for twin girls I wanted to keep the colours similar, but with a little bit of a difference. I am a twin myself (I have a twin brother) and even though my mum never dressed us in the same clothes, I still think twins need to assert their individuality. And why shouldn’t that start when they are still toddlers?

Posted on 17 November 2014 by Anna — 1 Comment

FO: Flouncy Dress and Matching Socks

An old friend from school ordered a dress and matching socks from me last November and I used this DROPS pattern for both.

I’ve knitted this pattern once before for a friend in Australia, but this time I used DROPS Alpaca as it was meant for someone in our colder climates. I love the pattern, especially the skirt. You start with an insane amount of stitches, in the region of 400+, with this thin yarn it’s a mission. But then it turns into this amazing skirt, knitting it made me really happy.

My friend picked the colours and I think they’re unusual, but really, really nice for a girl.

The orange top called for double moss stitch, which finishes the dress off really nicely.

And then the little socks I knitted in the orange.

I have to say I didn’t love this pattern, I just don’t think it looks very pretty. Maybe that’s because I am not entirely happy with how my knit stitches look against the purl…but I think I am just being harsh on myself.

Posted on 9 July 2014 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO: Bonnet and Bootie Combo

Last year in May I gifted a bonnet and bootie combo for a friend that I used to go to a toddler group with. She had a second daughter.

Regular readers of my blog will recognise these as Saartjes Bootees. And regular readers also don’t need another explanation about why I love knitting these.

And I love the colour…red is always great for little girls I think.

I also made a little bonnet for her daughter.

I love this pattern for a little girl, it’s just so girly and sweet.

I love the wavy pattern that comes out, it looks lovely.

Posted on 14 May 2014 by Anna — 3 Comments

FO: Yet Another Hat and Bootie Combo

But this one I customised a little bit. It was for a friend of mine who just last week had a little girl. And because I knew they were having a girl I was able to add some nice little touches to it.

I went with Saartjes Bootees again, mainly because they are just soo quick. I knit them up in one evening only. But I added some sweet little daisies to the front.

And for the hat I also used my old favourite a DROPS pattern, but again, I added some daisies to it to make it into a little girly, Spring hat.

My friend loved them, so another happy customer!

Posted on 22 April 2014 by Anna — 1 Comment

FO: Hat and Bootie Combo (Adorable Baby Alert)

Yes, yes, I know, it’s getting a bit boring with the hat and bootie combinations I’ve been knitting for friends. But in truth, they are just too easy to knit and gift when I find out that someone is expecting. So, here’s another combo I did for an ex-colleague of mine who recently had her second little girl.

I followed the pattern to Saartjes Bootees, but with my amendments to the straps and I added a little flower to the front. As I knew my friend was having a girl I was able to customise the booties.

I also customised the hat and just cast on for the DROPS hat that I make regularly, but then amended it by adding a pattern to it and adding a flower at the end.

I am really pleased with this and I think the ‘holes’ make it a little more girly (not sure whether to call them holes, but that’s what they are at the end of the day).

And it all matches quite well and looks very girly and cute. My friend has already been able to use the hat and it just looks too adorable for words on her gorgeous little girl, don’t you think?