Our November project of the month is the Dance With Me dress knit up in Americo Original Fine Tweed fingering weight yarn! The Dance With Me dress is a free pattern by DROPS Design and this tweedy grey and blue version was knit by Sarah, our store manager. This knit dress has a vintage feel, with a swing to the skirt and serves as a great reminder that knit dresses can also play a part in our hand knit wardrobes.

Dance With Me dress modelled by Ann B, a friend of the store, knit in Americo Original Fine Tweed fingering weight yarn.

Find your Americo Original Fine Tweed here.

If you love stripes and short rows this is your dream project! The dress is knit by first working the skirt from side to side using short rows and stripes to create the shaping that gives the swing to the bottom of the dress. After seaming the skirt, you then pick up stitches along the waistband and knit the top of the dress in stockinette with a rounded yoke to finish.

Dance With Me dress modelled by Ann B, with her niece Gabi.

Dance With Me dress modelled by Ann B, a friend of the store.

Find your Americo Original Fine Tweed here.

While the pattern called for using the wrap and turn method for the short rows, Sarah opted to use German short rows, which she prefers. Sarah recommends having lots of stitch markers on hand because the skirt will use lots in the process of knitting all the short rows. She says it’s a long knit but once you get a hang of the short rows it’s straightforward and perfect for an intermediate knitter who wants to learn about short rows, shaping and knit garment construction. Sarah documented her project here on Ravelry, including lots of pictures of the dress.

Americo Original Fine Tweed skeins that are in the shop.

Find your Americo Original Fine Tweed here.

Sarah used four skeins of grey and two skeins of blue in Americo Original Fine Tweed to make her version of the dress and any two colours of fingering weight yarn will work. Americo Original was a Canadian yarn company that created premium yarns using only natural fibres ethically produced in the Andean highlands of South America. Their Fine Tweed is made in Peru with a blend of superfine alpaca, merino, and viscose, and is suitable for wraps, sweaters, scarves, socks, and of course, dresses.

Americo Original Fine Tweed skeins that are in the shop.

Find your perfect fingering weight yarn here.

Unfortunately, Americo Original is no longer making yarn but we still have stock of their Fine Tweed! If the colours in the Fine Tweed aren’t your cup of tea you can also consider using any of the fingering weight yarns that we have in the store.

Here are all the details on the Americo Original Fine Tweed yarn:

• Fibres: 25% Superfine Alpaca / 55% Merino / 20% Viscose
• Gauge: 36 stitches x 46 rows = 4 inches (10 cm)
• Needles: 2.5 mm (US 1)
• Weight: Fingering (1)
• Length: 100 g / 465 yards (425 m)

As always, we recommend hand washing and laying your garments flat to dry.

Dance With Me dress modelled by Ann B, a friend of the store, knit in Americo Original Fine Tweed fingering weight yarn.

Find your perfect fingering weight yarn here.

Perhaps there’s also a knit dress in your future? Don’t forget to share your projects with us, we love to see what you make with your Baaad Anna’s yarn! You can follow and tag us on Instagram @baaadannas.