Cheatin' on my sewing

The whole time I was knitting with my zoomy knitting friends, I felt like I was cheating on my sewing.  

It is nice knitting, but honestly, we are just friends.  I am using a sweet little Laura Aylor pattern, Breezeway and now that I have everything right, it is going along very well.  I am within two stitches of matching her stitch counts and that is just fine.  I don't think I have ever been so close to a count before.

I did get my sewing set up and one dress cut out yesterday morning but the whole thing ended up being a bit of an adventure.  When I opened up the fabric to wash it the other day, I realized that the fabric store had gifted me with almost a full metre of extra fabric.  There was an separate piece that had been tossed in with my order.  At first I thought, how sweet and I wasn't going to need to worry about bias binding or anything.  And then I set out to cut the fabric.  

I was preparing for cutting basing my number of skirt panels needed on reading the Waikere Dress expansion instructions and a blog post from Heelen's closet.  That sent me to the wise internet ( yeah, not the foolish one!) and I found all kinds of interesting information about gathering ratios and what is right.  I very quickly came to realize that if I could preserve the gathering ratio at under 2.5 times rather than just barely under 3 times, and if I found some creative ways to finish the sleeve openings and the necklines, there would be enough fabric left to also make a top.  Because of that extra almost a metre of fabric.  

And taking into consideration how much I love this fabric, 

the idea made me pause.  But that is okay.  It was time for the zoom anyway.  

To be honest, part of me really wants to do that and get the most bang for my buck and run with the idea of a top as well, and part of me wants to just do all the things normally and add an extra panel of fullness to the skirt to reach for perfection in the dress.  Either way, is fine, but I am thinking about it still.  If I do not get a top out of it, that remaining piece will be a great fabric to use for a knitting bag, which is something i want to do for a winter project.

I am going to cut out a second dress using the red polka dot fabric this morning and sewing will commence, one way or another on both.  The household tasks are well under way for the day and I have supper sorted out too.  The regular laundry is on the last load and the next load of fabrics to wash is standing at the ready.  Nothing between me and getting these two things done.

You've heard that before.  I know, but it needs to happen.  Just like pants.  It needs to be so.

Addendum to adda couple knitting related things:

I won!!  Briggs and Little had a contest thing on facebook and instagram and I was one of the winners!  And secondly, the rest of the yarn I need for the Shetland Shawl is at the post office.  Finishing is in the very near future.