@Roberta,
ruffles are easy to knit
it's either doubling or halving row by row
the dots could be knit in as if it were fair isle - or just stitched on afterward
mulling as I'm about an inch and a half from the end of the main part of the sweater
it's kind of groovy - knit in funky orange and yellow yarns I found at a thrift shop
she'll be a small warm hipster