Seaside dress

A soft cuddle-dress that can be worn straigh on the skin. The dress is more a tunic lengthwise in the larger sizes. Make sure to keep the gauge, as cotton stretches a bit!
Sizes
1/2 (3/4) 5/6 (7/8) y
5/6 y for free below, the rest can be bought here.

Yarn (Main colour / Pattern colour)
Pickles Thin Organic Cotton
150/100 (200/150) 250/200 (300/250)

Needles
32” circular needles US 4 and 7
Crochet hook E

Gauge per 4”
17 s / 23 rows
Measurements, lying flat:
Lower edge:  about 15 (16.5) 17.7 (19.3)”
Chest: about 11.4 (12.2) 13.7 (14.5)”
Length: 18.5 (21.1) 23.6 (25.5)”

Knitted bottom-up in the round. Seperated at the sleeves, and knitted seperately back and forth.

Dress
Cast on 156 s on circular needles US 4. Knit stockinette for 8 rounds in main colour.
Swap to US 7 and knit 4 more rounds. Change to pattern colour.
From here you´ll knit 4 rounds in each ogf the two colours.

Tip: To get jogless stripes, slip the first stitch of the round when starting to knit with a new colour.

Place marker (PM) at the beginning of the round and after 78 s to mark the sides of the dress.
Decrease in each side every 1.6” 9 times in total (measured from the start of the piece):
K1, K2 tog, Knit until you are 3 s away from the next marker, SSK, K2, K2tog, knit until you are 3 s away from the next marker, SSK, K1.
You should have 120 s after decreaseing.

Continue in stockinette until the piece is about 17.3” (finish the stripe in the colour you´re working in). Knit the front and back piece seperately from here (divide by the markers in the sides)
Front piece
Continue working the 60 s in stockinette back and forth in the stripe pattern.
On the first row increase 14 s at the end of the row by making backward loops. Turn, and repeat the increase on the other side.
Continue increasing 6 s in each side at the end of each row 3 times in total = 124 s.

If you´re working in pattern colour, finish this, and continue in main colour only until the piece is 23.6”. Place the markers on a spare needle.
Knit the back piece in the same way.

Neck
For a seamless look, use kitchener´s stitch to assemble the shoulders. You can cast off and sew if you prefer.

Hold the front- and back piece so they are facing eachother. Use kitcheners stitch to assemble the first 44 s, cast off the next 36 s loosely enough for the head to fit in, use kitcheners stitch to assemble the next 44 s
Assemble along the underarm from the wrong side.

Use a crochet hook and make small loops in chain stithes as button holes.