Day of the Dead Shrug – Start of a New Design

My youngest wanted to be a Day of the Dead doll for Halloween.  I was dreading dragging out my sewing machine and finding a pattern and “just the right” fabric to produce a costume for her.  Luckily, we found an adorable dress at the mall that fit the bill.  Only one problem- it’s got tiny little straps and it’s going to be cold that night.  So, we need a shrug.  Easy, right?!?

We looked at shrugs online this morning together.  All of them covered up the front of the dress- which she doesn’t want.  Then we browsed shrug patterns on ravelry.com for a while.  She didn’t like any of those either!!!

The final solution was to let her tell me what she wants the shrug to look like and I’ll try to knit one up for her in less than 11 days.  Requirements include fingering-weight yarn, ruffles and lace at the ends of the sleeves and around the neck, and it cannot cover the front of the dress.

I’ve been sketching ideas this morning and I think we’ve got a reasonable plan of attack: provisional cast on in the middle back of shrug then knitting downwards toward the sleeves, short-row shaping for the shoulders, cast on for other side of sleeve and join in the round, reduce down to cuff and end with ruffle.  Then pick up provisional cast on and do the same for the other side.  Lastly, pick up stitches all around neck and sides and add a ruffle.Casting on today.  Wish me luck.  If it doesn’t work out, I guess she’ll be trick-o-treating with her jacket.