19 july 2010 - had this crazy idea to make a dress using the “frost flowers” pattern from walker’s stitch dictionary out of fingering for springtime, and knitpicks had the exact yarn i wanted on sale at that precise moment. i couldn’t help myself. it’s not my fault.

20 july 2010 - almost done the first chart for what is a swatch masquerading as a sleeve (as in, i needed to swatch the lace, but if i can use it as a sleeve, great. i did do a swatch in stockinette to make sure i was getting gauge - 7 sts to the inch)

21 july 2010 - finished first chart (edging) and up to row 3 of the “frost flowers” chart. for the sleeve, i’ll only be doing a modified half-chart of “frost flowers” but it is really complex! no “purl back across” rows so it’s sort of twice the work.

23 july 2010 - finished the lace section - writing the chart as i go - on to the ribbing!

26 aug 2010 - knit halfway up the sleeve, but want to have the bodice sorted before i shape the cap - decided to tackle the big stuff, & cast on 340 (ugh) for the body of the dress

6 sept 2010 - did chart 1 of the skirt hem, now hibernating until iget a handle on my xmas projects

10 may 2011 - bringing this back from the dead! i am so out of practice for doing tricky lace, but starting to get the hang of it again

14 june 2011 - think i’ll hibernate this until cottage time. it’s getting too bulky to do on the ttc, and i am working to a deadline on something else!

6 june 2012 - good grief, it’s been 2 years! i just dug this out because i was thinking of borrowing the needles for something else. but maybe i should just get stuck in and finish this instead. the skirt is about 18” long (eyeball guesstimate) at this point; i may lightly block it to see how that will hang in the end.

1 april 2014 - still dreaming of spring! have pulled this out again, determined to get it done. i’m going “cold sheep” this year, added inspiration for digging out the wip and turning them into fo.

3 may 2014 - finally picked it up and worked a couple rows. was hoping i had more notes on this here. rats.

1 feb 2015 - aaah it is 5 years since i started this. anyway.

i know am done up to where i’ll join the sleeves. i had a sleeve sorta done, but i wanted to tweak it, and also wanted to make sure both sleeves are the same, so cast them both on the other night and knit two-at-a-time magic loop. which i do not enjoy. so after the cazy part was done, and i had to switch needle sizes anyway, i switched to one-at-a-time so one sleeve is almost done and the other is about 2/3 done. really really want to get this done for spring, finally!

6 feb 2015 - sleeves are both done. ready to join. so close!

7 feb 2015 - sleeves are joined. rows are incredibly long again, although getting shorter. working on neck shaping now, so going back-and-forth instead of in the round. but the lacework is finito, so no more mind-bending backwards charts.

11 feb 2015 - so close! i-cord tie is just about done - it is the only part that is truly portable at this point - i’ll probably finish it off on the bus home. bodice is close to done. i think i have 30 more rows before i do the shoulder shaping. then it’s just a tedious i-cord-bind-off neckline, running in a few ends, and blocking. i’ve even tried it on already! so happy!

12 feb 2015 - ready to start shoulder shaping. this means i have to do a bit of thinking again. i am really improvising this as i go… previously when i hit a “what do i do next” question i would set it aside for a year, but now i am determined to finish!

13 feb 2015 - ripped back the first attempt at the i-cord edging around the neck, because once again i picked up too few stitches (why do i always do that!). but now it is done!! the knitting s done at least. still need to work in ends & block.

11 nov 2015 - took this out to wear the other day, and - MOTHS!! giant hole in the front. fortunately the lace is ok i think. i was practically in tears.