Sally's Dress Wrap by Alina Appasova

Sally's Dress Wrap

Knitting
September 2023
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
24 stitches and 48 rows = 4 inches
in Mosaic stitch, worked flat, blocked
US 4 - 3.5 mm
Length: 88" / 223.5 cm, width: 14" / 35.5 cm
English

Sewn together by Dr. Finkelstein, Sally was created as a caretaker and companion for the mad scientist. Created with scraps of blue fabric for skin, bits of random fabric for her dress, and stuffed with leaves, her visible stitching and jerky movements give her the appearance of a full-sized rag doll. Mold-Making Supervisor John Reed states, “She’s basically a Frankenstein-like puppet. She looks like she’s sewn together from a bunch of scraps.” Although she depends on him for her basic needs like shelter and food, Sally feels little connection to him. Instead, she finds a kindred spirit in Jack, whom she watches from afar. While she may not agree with Jack’s intentions regarding Christmas, she does what she can to assist him in his quest to bring Christmas to Halloween Town.

Writer Caroline Thompson describes the self-reliant and clever Sally as, “Jack’s truest friend, resourceful and brave. Only she understands what Jack is going through because she, too, dreams of something else from life. They are very much alike, but there is one crucial difference: While Jack’s dilemma gives Nightmare Before Christmas its plot, Sally gives it its heart.”

Inspired by Sally’s iconic patchwork dress, this modular parallelogram wrap is made entirely out of triangles. Worked flat back and forth in garter slip-stitch colorwork, or mosaic knitting, there is no stranding along the back. A triangle is completed, then the subsequent triangle is made by picking stitches up along the edge and working off the previous one. There’s no need to patchwork pieces together like Sally does! A slip-stitch edging is worked on all sides to create a stretchy and tidy edge.