Monday, December 19, 2011

Go Forth and Twirl

The last time you saw it, it was just a hood.

Pink Thing Preview

To knit the rest has taken almost exactly a year and a heap of Cascade 220 Sport–a yarn I love to pieces. Happily, the fit is generous; so the recipient should (in spite of considerable growth) get a goodly amount of use from it.

I might have finished faster; but the cape was knit, ripped back to the hood, and re-knit four times. The file for this piece has eleven swatches, and forty pages of instructions–most of them crossed out. The problem with me as a designer is that I'm not very good at it.

Children's clothing is a tough nut for me to crack, mostly because I fear my taste is not in step with the modern child–not to mention the modern parent. I wouldn't put my son in a Fauntleroy suit or my daughter in petticoats. On the other hand, I look to nineteenth-century children's clothing and sigh for the neat tailoring and the elegant details. Most of the kids in these parts run about in loud, shapeless rags and usually look as though they were dressed in the dark by a drunken nanny. (In these parts, they probably were.)

Maybe shapeless rags is what twenty-first century childhood requires. If so, I know my work in this genre will have severely limited appeal. So be it.

Anyhow, here are the first photos of the finished hood and cape. With a grateful nod to reader Rams S., who suggest a variation of the name, I will call the piece Manteau Rose.

Manteau Rose Front

Manteau Rose Hood

Manteau Rose Back

I hope you'll like it, Abigail. It should twirl very, very well indeed. Uncle Franklin road tested it.

Note: After a rather unfortunate string of unsuitably, um, "whimsical" technical editors, I've finally found one who promises to deliver quality work in a timely fashion–so I hope that this and several other patterns (including the Anna Shawl) will be available for online download sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed.

120 comments:

Sandy said...

So. Very. Pretty.

And of course you twirled in it. How could you not?

Gorgeous work Franklin.

Deb h said...

Wow....what a lucky niece Abigail is! That is lovely. And I'm so glad that you test twirled it!

Pat Salvatini said...

Now where in the heck was Harry and the video recorder when you were twirling?

HipDroppedStitches said...

Gasp! It is absolutely darling and perfect... Abigail is the luckiest little girl!

Holly said...

Darn cute. Abigail is a lucky girl.

Michelle said...

love(1)

My inner five-year-old wants it. As she generally runs my life anyway, I should just say I WANT ONE.

Madame Leiderhosen said...

Some of us wore petticoats by choice! In fact I so longed for some flouncy clothes I recreated the look this weekend.

Fantastical clothing is always appreciated by particularly wonderful small people. Darling photograph. Well done, Franklin!

AllyB said...

It's beautiful!

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful! I love the peaks along the bottom edge. They will for certain catch the air for a perfect twirl. :)

Roggey said...

Honestly, that is *too* fucking très chic, darlin'... I plan on purchasing the pattern when available.

The wee girl is a very lucky to have such a talented (and tenacious) uncle.

MaryAnne said...

Gorgeous. And forgive me, but I want one, too. In a teal, perhaps? I feel a twirl coming on...

Jeanne said...

Awe! What love was knit into that! And I can't WAIT for the Anna Shawl, I think about your July post often!.

Ann said...

Oh, Frank I just love it and I know Abby will love it also. It is just perfect. Can't wait until she sees it.

Laurel said...

It's gorgeous, Franklin! Also, that photo of your niece makes me love her without knowing her. When I look at her, I feel I would rather see that photo than the shawl, and I am totally not denigrating that beautiful shawl in saying so.

Laura said...

The cape is quite sweet and if you happen to knit my nearly 3yo one I am sure she would wear it. Often. If I knit it for her, however, she will throw it in a corner and yell "no" as loudly as she can while stamping her foot. Check out my ravelry page and see all the unmodeled, unloved small knits on it. As soon as she turned 2 she became VERY opinionated about what she would and would not wear. We don't have any drunken nannies here but we might as well given what her clothing looks like on any given day.

-aprilshowers

Rosemary Riveter said...

Lucky Abigail! It's lovely.

Of course now I want to knit one in red. For me.

Sara said...

It is truly lovely, Franklin. I'm sure that Abagail will see the beauty and love in it. She's lucky to have you for her uncle!

Cat Bordhi said...

It's beautiful, Franklin. Abigail will be smitten.

knittygirl said...

I want an adult one. I can be a princess too. Where is my tiara?

Susan said...

I really hope that the recipient and her parents will not only enjoy this work of amazing beauty and thoughtfulness, but will wear and store it such that future generations will love it as well. This one is timeless.

Mary Devers said...

I love the details, the color, the look. Very, very nice.

Nana Sadie said...

I love it. I hope Abigail twirls and twirls in excited glee.

And I sure hope you get at least one usable photo of that! Because I doubt that I'm the ONLY ONE who wants to see it!
Merry Christmas!!!

(and my hash word verification is "blesen" and I think that's totally appropriate! *wink*)

IKoM said...

I love it! I'm thinking a Little Red Riding Hood could come out of this...but first I need to finish my Faucett.

Rothgo said...

Fantastic work, Franklin!

blogless grace said...

Fab-lous! She will looove it!

Doortje said...

Oh so lovely, I can't wait for the pattern so my little niece can twirl in hers too.
Very tempted to knit one in Black or a very dark green.

FiberQat said...

Delightful! She will look absolutely stunning in it!

Gerri said...

The effort and ripping back was not wasted! Lovely!

Gerri said...

Ok, my verification word was not very interesting or relevant: fort. But the next one that popped up is really fun: badses.

Deirdre said...

Love it - so well thought out & beautifully knit.

Happy Holidays

Anonymous said...

Stunning

Gretchen said...

How lovely! The cape is very pretty, too.

Keith said...

It's a masterpiece Franklin!

Kate (KnitsInClass) said...

It's beautiful - gorgeous work. You are the best uncle ever!

Eileen said...

Oh, it's lovely. You are the BEST uncle ever. (And I am with you on the Cascade 220. I adore that stuff.)

Noreen said...

Both Abigail and her cape are beautiful!

M said...

Oh Franklin, that is beautiful!

Angela said...

She is one lucky niece!

Yvonne said...

Just perfect! What a lucky girl.

Melanie said...

Beautiful job! Abigail has a wonderful uncle!

Pam Sykes (aka Pretty Knitty) said...

GASP! Franklin, it's beautiful!! But then, we all knew it would be...

LisaRae7 said...

Franklin,

It's just as GORGEOUS as is your Abigail...

My word... "spank"?!?

Candy said...

Franklin, it's absolutely perfect! Not too hard to up-size into big-girl sizes, right? :D

Jordy said...

Oh my, that's stunning! Great work there, and great work on calling out the "21st century shapeless rags".

Melissa said...

Congratulations for seeing through your vision and revision until you got it right. It is simply stunning and beautifully detailed.

BCGramma said...

Absolutely beautiful.

Melinda said...

So happy about the new tech ed, and waiting with baited (if not held) breath for this pattern. Beautiful!

Nytate said...

It's simply lovely.

AnaMarie said...

Gorgeous! Love the details.

Since it popped up next to your blog in my Reader, another blog I read just did a post on men's fashions from 1760 - 1800 that you may or may not find interesting here.

annie said...

Speaking of elegant details....breathtaking. Yes, I want one too.

Overstap said...

You are a Dammnnnn Good Uncle....I was the same when my niece was young - she is 20 now and gorgeous looking -and in her Pink Period. I made her a Pink Princess Dress with ruffles, puff sleeves and golden stars, a matching veil and golden shoes ..she wore it for months till she looked a beautiful rag doll and since that moment she prefers dresses over trousers and I am still her favourite uncle.

Anonymous said...

Fab! and what Pat Salvatini said ....

Liz said...

Great work - you definitely deserve some sort of Uncle of the Year award for all that ripping and re-knitting! Really like the geometric gatherings-in - I want to call them gores but maybe gores are just the ones that flare out! Anyway. Good job, and I hope she loves it.

Anonymous said...

Abolutely beautiful work, Franklin, and I wholly agree that children (and adults, for that matter) should wear more clothes like this. I want one, despite the fact that I'd look like a wedding marquis that would fit a small country.

Syd said...

It is indeed a real twirl-er! Stunning and I am sure it will be treasured! Wish you were my Uncle!

Jess said...

Well done, Uncle Franklin! I have a 6yo daughter who would fall in LOVE with this if she saw it. I am, therefore, keeping her away from the computer b/c I have NO time to knit it and there isn't actually a pattern yet. :P

Peppermint Mocha Mama said...

Now where is the video of Uncle Franklin road testing it... that would be priceless! Where is Harry when you need him?

I am sure that Abigail will adore it and that small grudge she has been holding against you for the past year will soon be forgotten.

You did a beautiful job.

Sandrine said...

Lovely piece!

Now let's change the size ... the colour (I don't look good in "Rose") and I'll be willing to try this for myself!
WOW ... I wanna twirl too

roxie said...

Having read all the comments, you will of course realize that you will need to size this from 2yearold to Women's size 55 plus, as every girly girl will need one. I'll knit mine in pink and send you photos.

astoriaAnn said...

Well Phoebe (3 years old) LOVES it and has requested it in "dark blue! dark blue!" so I hope your technical editor works quickly! Thanks for this lovely design.

(She has some nice clothes, but the problem is that we indulge Phoebe's penchant for independent and creative self-dressing. With enough clashing layers, any set of items looks dowdy. The other problem is hand-me downs, which save a lot of money, but fill the drawers with the dreaded hot pinks and glitter.)

Sharon said...

Beautiful! I've never seen anything so sweet for little girls.

erins said...

Great work! I wondered what happened to this project :)

dclulu said...

Oh my goodness, I love it -- and I know my daughter would, too. I want to make both this and the Anna shawl, so I'm excited for the patterns!

lilndmama said...

It looks amazing!

Merry Karma said...

Beautiful!

Deborah C. said...

I can has?? I have two little girls who I think really, really need this cape. It's lovely.

JoAnn said...

Oh GAD! My first thought was "I hope she still wants a twirley poncho" because that (gorgeous) Cascade should wear like iron. Bless you for being willing to rip. Second thought - tailored black dress coat (adult size) topped with a scarlet hood & cape; black knee length dress boots & red leather gloves wouldn't hurt either.

Marnie said...

Oh it came out beautifully! Much to my mother's chagrin (and probably because she worked so hard to withhold it from me) I was a huge fan of pink as a child and I probably would have just exploded from glee, right there on the spot, if someone had made me something that amazing.

Good luck with the self publishing.

Beth Hollmann said...

Franklin, it's gorgeous! She is going to love it! I wish I still had girlies little enough to enjoy something like this. What do you have in the way of superhero capes for little boys? :-D

Andrea S. said...

That is amazingly beautiful! Well worth the wait.

ReneeRothmann said...

It is really spectacular

Nik said...

That is very cute. I love this kid's eyes.

Susan (and SmokeyBlue in spirit) said...

I adore that twirly girly creation. Congratulations!!!!
I want one for myself although I long ago left girly size.

Looking forward to the pattern and finding a little girl to knit it for.

Knittinrn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Knittinrn said...

The cape is beautiful Franklin!! I love it, and I'm sure all three of my granddaughters will too! (3-8years) Looking forward to the pattern coming out!

Cheryl said...

you amaze!

KnitFixation said...

So very beautiful! Abigail is a lucky little princess indeed!

Barbhnm said...

Franklin, it is absolutely gorgeous, and I LOVE things from that era! I suspect that your niece will love to wear it, twirl in it, and feeling like a princess for sure! I hope you are going to sell this pattern. I have a 6 yr. old DGD!! LOL

Barbhnm said...

Oh, and by the way, my dd, now 21, loved dressing as a princess and a fairy as a child, even has a grown fairy costume that she wears some Halloweens. Our dgd's love to play dress up in fancy clothes, too. My dd was the child that would go to kid's choir in her fairy princess getup and get longing stares from the other little girls...so the girls do like to wear that stuff!!

Nancy E. Banks said...

What a spectacular piece of clothing! I am especially charmed by the sculptural form you've given the petals.

Jenn said...

So Beautiful!

Abigail is extremely lucky to have such an awesome uncle.

And both my girls would wear such a cape 24/7 if I let them. I am making a 'tiny Tea Leaves' in aqua for my almost 4 year old and have a request in for a dark purple for the 7 year old. I've got some picky girls when it comes to handknits.

Seanna Lea said...

This is adorable. I know many a young boy and girl who would be thrilled to have this to play around in!

Anonymous said...

It looks like petals of a flower! That is a fairy cape if I ever saw one.

Anonymous said...

This is completely fabulous! What a lucky little girl. Her patience will definitely be rewarded.

Naycha said...

Oh Franklin, she's beautiful! Your lovely model and the capelet. I want!!!

karen alho said...

Yes! Yes! Yes! Let's see, Sophia is almost two and a half. By the time she's five....

anne marie in philly said...

beeyooteeful, dear! and I second pat salvatini's comment; I bet you looked like a ballerina!

Red said...

Love it.

My next project will be pink. for me.

Mindy said...

wot evurryone els sed (my vocabules is busted...sowwy...long day)

Pat in WNY said...

Lovely! And the cape ain't bad either!

Nrthwoods Knitter said...

Serious question. I used to live in the Chicago-land area years and years ago, and now live in WI. I get to Chicago frequently, and would LOVE to visit yarn shops, but I have a heck of a time finding any. Do you have recommendations? Thanks so much! C-

CeltChick said...

Well, if that don't get you the World's Best Uncle of the Decade, I sure don't know what would! Amazing, gorgeous; will it be available in adult sizes? I'd have given a lot to see the test twirl!

Dragons Knitting Lace said...

It's lovely!

Bonnita said...

Very pretty. Now we want to see her test twirl it!

=Tamar said...

Sweet design. I hope the pattern becomes available soon.

Jenni said...

That is a fantastic piece. Beautiful work. I have two girls who would love something twirly like that, though I fear my skills might not do your pattern justice. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Franklin,
it is simply beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with us.
margieinmaryland

Torhild (in NL) said...

Wow. That is just so pretty and very suitable for a lovely girl. Impressed is the word and probably worth the wait!!

Deb G. said...

So lovely! You are going to give us modeled shots, yes?

Beth said...

Just lovely. And what a great rosy pink. All the ripping yielded a beautiful result.

Denise said...

Lucky Abigail, I hope she wears it a lot! So much clothing these days is so uninspired.....I used to smock dresses for my daughters -kept all those pretties, too, for the grandchldren who will never come...

Genevieve said...

I for one would love to dress my little one in things if this style. Way to persevere! I'll be looking forward to the pattern.

Silvina said...

So precious!! I am all for 19th Century clothes, I must say... no wonder why lots of people have asked me if me and the kids "come from another country"... No, I don't dress them up 19th centurish, just elegant when on an outing... I will love to knit this one for my girl!!!

cosmicweb said...

Lucky lucky Abigail. Can't wait to see a photo of her twirling in it!

Paula Whittaker said...

Im sure she'll be smitten with the knitting....the last time I twirled was 15 years ago when wearing my wedding dress....I can feel a twirl coming on now lol

Kath's Yarns said...

I'm so proud of you for finishing! And it looks so beautiful! You came up with a lovely design. Good thing my daughter is grown or I would be making one as soon as the pattern is published! Thanks for sharing - good job!!

Anonymous said...

very pretty!
but what struck me first was that abigail has the same impish look in her eyes as her uncle.
very adorable.

Ms. Rachel said...

My daughter happened to be looking on when I read the post and I got a "I want that Mama. Will you make that for me?" I really love the petal form it takes in the cape. I eagerly await the pattern.

Anonymous said...

That ... is... GORGEOUS! If my daughter still were young she would love to dance and twirl in it. I hope Abigail does just that.

Diana said...

That is just amazing. I know my little one would love it...hurry up already with that pattern, would ya’??? :)

rudio said...

Wow! Twirll-a-riffic!!

Anonymous said...

omighod! that's soo cute! it's really too, too incredibly amazingly CUTE! ..and you're so funny and clever and we all love you you, etc, etc, blah blah blah....barf.

Patti said...

I'm behind in my blog reading, but I do want to say that it is adorable! i look forward to the pattern being on ravelry.

torhild (nl) said...

(shhhhhh - just re-visiting this and can i tell u a secret? i'm going to be a grandma ((omg that sounds soooo old)) and i'm hoping i can knit all sorts of clothes to my grandchild... if they want it that is.. it' soooooo exiting! ta ta)

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angel Williams said...

Thank god the striking was in the ear. I was reluctant to search down and had my pearl jewelry all prepared for clutching.



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Judy11 said...

Franklin

Any chance that the Manteau Rose cape that you made your niece has been written up as a pattern for purchase yet? I have been watching for it and would love to make it for next fall for my granddaughter the 3 year old princess in my life!!

Thank you!!

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