Wedding Dresses, 9 days, and spring update

As you may, or probably may not know, I am getting married in 11 days. 

As you can imagine, life is all a flurry with the tasks needed to be accomplished in short order. 

well, it's not as if we didn't have a year to plan, but as it is now getting down to the wire... 

We have been planning like crazy, and thus I have been neglecting the internet- my apologies all. But- I have not been idle, I have been knitting a whole bunch, and  I have been working on a wedding dress,a lovingly slow and sometimes painful process. 

it started with the lace at the bottom. 

I created the skirt portion of the dress in the round with the even popular stockinette stitch, decreasing incrementally along the way. I stopped when I thought it would be the right length, and then contemplated for months about how to proceed. 

I finally cast on a waist band separately and knit a cable design with little infinity motifs, until it wrapped around my waist just so. I then, picked up stitches and knit upwards for the body portion of the gown. after I split for the front and back, knit the arm bands, and cast off, I let the dress sit another couple of months. 

Now, I am working on a collar. well, I picked up stitches for the collar, knit a beautiful horseshoe lace (for luck), and now I can't get it to lay flat, I tried sewing it down, but it just is not right. I think I am going to try blocking it today. The time is really running short, and I am feeling a sense of panic come in as I try to stuff as much love into this thing as possible. 

and I still have lace sleeves to go!