Rocking Ponies

I promised it would be cute.  Oh, my goodness!  This one just raised the bar way up there.

I cut out the pieces for this romper umpteen years ago.  Really.  I have no idea who this was started for.  I'm thinking it could have been one of my older nephews.  So this one has been in a state of non-completion for about 14 years at the least, all neatly cut out and tucked into the pattern envelope.  I found it when I went digging through all the baby boy patterns I have in the closet.

This one is tiny--much tinier than it looks.  It's a 6 month size according the pattern.  But I've had babies; I know how fast they grow.  If Baby Saint is long and lanky like his daddy, he won't be in this one very long. 

These rocking ponies make me smile, especially their tails.  This type of smocking is called "stacking cables" or "picture smocking."  Cables are just a basic smocking stitch, but when they sit on top of each other, it is called stacking.  By doing this, you can create all sorts of fun shapes.  So people design these "plates", as they are called, which are just design patterns that show you how to do the colors.  It might sound complicated, but I promise you it isn't.  If you ever cross-stitched, then you have basically done the same thing.

When I first learned to smock, I started with picture smocking, having no idea it was considered difficult by some.  If I made a mistake, I just pulled it out and started over till I got it right.   Ignorance is bliss, as they say. 

Making these baby outfits is a serious addiction.  You know how some people are about potato chips?  Well, that is me with baby togs.  While I'm working on one, I'm dreaming about the next.  Now I'm preoccupied with a yoke-style dress with lace-trimmed collar and puff sleeves, in the palest green batiste smocked with peach, yellow, and cream hearts and flowers.

Oh, and I haven't forgotten you recipe lovers.  I have a muffin I want you to try soon.

Love,