Matching girl and dolly dresses

A while back--at Easter time, specifically--my extra easter egg dye inspired me to dye wool yarn.  It ballooned into a huge pile of one-of-a-kind, hand-dyed, brightly-colored wool that I have yet to finish knitting into garments.

 But here is one of the dresses I made with it.  I looked at a button down, raglan sweater pattern on Ravelry.com to start the sweater with the correct number of stitches, and then ignored everything else and winged it to make the dress.  It has faux buttons down the front, and a drop waist (which is a little more dropped than I had intended) with a frilly, girly skirt at the bottom.  I sort of ran out of yarn when it came to a dress for Julie (her dolly), but honestly, you can barely tell when the dress is on her.  All in all, I'm pleased with the outcome.  Since it's wool, it could be a lovely winter dress, with a turtle neck and tights underneath.  But it also is breatheable and light enough to make a spring/summer dress.  And because it's a drop waist, and somewhat loose, she'll be able to wear it for a while yet.  I'm quite pleased.  :-D

She wore the dress to a nearby sheep and wool festival a couple of months ago, and it was a smash hit!  It was fun to inform her that the yarn from her dress came from all those fleecy sheep!

New in the Shop: TWO Dollies!

We just love these dollies in my house! It takes me about a week of naptimes and bedtimes to make one, so over the past month I've done about four--and three are in my shop now! I went to www.knitpicks.com and got all sorts of wonderful skin tones and hair colors for dolls in the future, including this amazing heathered blonde color from their Palette wool yarn collection.  I hope you enjoy them!
Come on over and check them out. 

One blonde doll:

And one African American doll:

 

More Knit Fruit

I've been slowly chipping away at knitting a collection of wool play fruit to add in my shop.  This fruit is awesome because it's not only knit in 100% wool, but also stuffed with clean wool so it's all natural and very safe for your baby to play with! My daughter just loves her wool fruit!

I created a pattern for this orange most recently and will be adding it to my apple, and banana pattern.  When all's said and done, I plan on having sets of apples, bananas, oranges, and pears in my shop to start with.  I have also created patterns to knit strawberries, plums, lemons, and grapes--though the grapes are so time consuming I'm not sure I can ever be convinced to knit a set of them again!

Wool longies with Four Wheeler applique

These are a custom order I've been working hard on for the past two weeks. Considering I didn't know what a four wheeler looked like before starting this project, I'm sort of proud.

Baby Mittens: Knitting pattern

Now that Christmas is over and you probably find yourself with a little time to relax, it's a great time to cuddle up in a cozy chair and take up your knitting needles.  I have the perfect project for you--one that I completed in an afternoon while dividing my attention with my toddler.

I decided I didn't like the mittens Bunny had, so what better to do with a free afternoon than to make her some mittens that I do like, so I came up with this pattern.  I've never really written a pattern down before so bear with me.

Materials Needed:
Worsted weight yarn--I used about 1/4 of a ball of Paton's wool
Size 5 or 6 double pointed needles
Tapestry needle
scissors

This pattern is for my 15 month old and leaves plenty of room to grow while still fitting her snugly.  If you use wool, remember that it will relax a bit over time.

1.  Cast on 24 stitches (or some number divisible by four based on the measurement of your baby's wrist)

2.  Knit 2, purl 2 for ten rows (you can do less if you want, but I wanted a nice, thick cuff to make sure Bunny's little wrists are well covered) 

3. Knit (stockinette stitch) in the round for 5-6 rows or 1/2 inch (the distance from your baby's wrist to the bottom of his/her thumb.

4. Create the thumb hole: Split your circular stitch and knit back and forth for 4 rows alternating with a row of purl and a row of knit.  If you need to make the thumb opening larger, you can add rows in increments of two, making sure to end with a knit row. 

5. Go back to knitting in the round using only knit stitch. This is when you will connect either side of your knitting that you split at #4.  There should be a nice hole in your mitten now where you will add a thumb later.  Continue knitting stockinette stitch for 2 1/2 inches, or the length from your baby's thumb to the top of his/her fingers. 

6.  Close the top of the mitten: knit 4, knit 2 together (4x)
                                                 knit 3, knit 2 together (4x)
                                                 knit 2, knit 2 together (4x)
                                                 knit 1, knit 2 together (4x)

7. After cutting a tail of at least 8 inches, use a tapestry needle to thread your yarn through these remaining 8 stitches.

8.  Add the thumb: Using two double pointed needles, start picking up stitches at the bottom of the thumb hole and gradually work your way up.  Picking up the stitches this way will make your thumb point upward rather than sticking straight out
Pick up 4 stitches at the base of the thumb hole.  Purl them.
At the end of that purled row pick up a 5th stitch.  Knit the row.
At the end of the knitted row, pick up a 6th stitch.  Purl the row.
At the end of the row pick up a 7th stitch.  Knit the row.  At the end of the row pick up an 8th stitch. 
Divide the 8 stitches you have onto two needles.
Use your remaining two double pointed needles to pick up four more stitches around the top of the thumb, completing the circle.
You will have picked up 12 stitches total around the thumb hole.
 *If the instructions for number 8 are too difficult, you can simply pick up 12 stitches around the thumb hole.  This will cause the thumb to stick straight out rather than to point upwards, but it will still be fully functional.  Aesthetically, I just prefer my thumbs to point upward. :-D

10.  Knit in the round for two rows.

11.Then knit 4, knit two together (2x).  You will have 10 stitches.

12.  Continue knitting (stockinette stitch) for 1/2-3/4 of an inch (or the length of the thumb)

13. knit 3, knit 2 together (2x)
      knit 2, knit 2 together (2x)

14.  After cutting a tail of at least 8 inches, use a tapestry needle to thread your yarn through these remaining 8 stitches.

15.  Weave in all your ends.

16. (Optional).  If your toddler is like mine and likes to take their mittens off, adding a string between both mittens so you can thread them through the arm of his/her coat is a great option.  I picked up 3 stitches on the bottom of the cuff at the back and knit an I-chord for about 28 inches.  Then, I attached the I-chord to the other mitten at the bottom of the cuff in the back.  An I-chord has some stretch to it so you don't want to knit it too long.  But you want it long enough that the mittens hang out about an inch or two from the coat sleeves.  I'm sorry, I do not have any pictures of this part of the process currently.

Now, enjoy watching your baby's hands keep toasty warm in his/her new mittens!