The Beach, Baby!

We hit the beach yesterday (Friday) where I did this:

And the kids did this:

It was a perfect beach day, at my favorite beach in the world. The waves were kick-ass, to boot. 

Thing One couldn't get enough of the water, Thing Two...not so much. The waves were pretty violent and a little too much for him. He got knocked off his feet twice, and wouldn't go past his knees (I'm not complaining...it was easier to keep an eye on him!). 

Even these two couldn't stay away...and I'm going to consume mas quantities of crap for putting this awful picture of a certain someone on here...but he was off scoping the beach babes and this was the one and only pic I got of him! So tough nuggies.

Even this guy got in on the act!

Today we see how well we applied our sunscreen. Thing Two gets 5 stars ('course, I applied it), Thing One gets 4 stars (probably because the waves washed off a lot of it and she spent much of the day in the water).

I get 5 stars for the front of me, 3 stars for the sides, and 0 for the back!

Ouch!

So, this is the crocheted beach coverup. I've had this idea/pattern rattling around in my head for a while, since I found this yarn on Ebay last winter. 

It's all cotton, tie-dyed, in two different weights-bulky and DK.

I knew it would be top-down and seamless. I knew it would be mesh-yoked. I knew it would be A-line. 

But from there down, I'm on the fence. I've tried to 'wing it' twice, with 2 different stitches and I don't like the look. Here's the latest:

I think this is a keeper! 

This is for Thing One, and she has tried it on 482 times so far (I have the hardest time judging when to split off  the sleeves for the top-down raglan....).

My fingers are a bluish-green from this yarn. Think a vinegar bath will set the dye enough, or do I need to do some serious investigation on how to set the dye?

Any handpainters out there???