Tag: pretty

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Patterns

Iris Rose

Do you like to knit and sew?  Made in cotton, this pretty little dress is the perfect summer project. The skirt is full and fun and the bodice is a cool or cozy knit depending on the fibre that you use.

I love to crochet and sew as well as knit so have combined all of these crafts in this little dress.  I used a really soft cotton and acrylic blend worsted weight yarn in my stash and a cotton remnant for the skirt.  You can find the pattern in my Ravelry store here and my Etsy store here.

Are you looking for an easy pattern for charity knitting?  Summer is a great time for small projects!  Every year I try to knit at least thirty hats for donation.  Last year I made over one hundred as well as several hat and scarf sets for school kids.  This easy but great looking hat is available in my Ravelry store here and my Etsy store here.

Thanks for looking and I hope that you enjoy my patterns!  Have a great weekend and happy crafting.

 

 

Knitting

Sweetie Pie Dress and Bubble Sleeve Sweater

Iris Rose

Two new machine knitting patterns from my personal notebook are now available.  Pattern writing is always a challenge; creating the design, testing, and writing up the instructions are not a quick process.  I have favoured girly patterns for this post but, rest assured, there are some great patterns for boys on the way.

The first pattern is a fun sweater with fancy sleeves that is written for midgauge knitting machines.  There are ribbed bands, but these can easily be made in mock rib or by reworking knit stitches.  I knit the sleeves in a fun self striping yarn for a colour pop and matched a solid colour for the body and bands.  It is written in five sizes from 20” to 32” finished chest measurements.  You can link to the pattern in my Ravelry store here or my Etsy store here.

 

The second pattern is a pretty dress that is written for sizes 2, 3, and 4 for standard gauge machines with or without a ribber.  Instructions are included for plain knit bands if you don’t have a ribber bed.  I would like to make this one in larger sizes but was limited by the number of needles.  I could have made the skirt in more pieces but did not like the look of the extra seams.  I do have an Aline version that I will be publishing in larger sizes that has a similar Fair Isle band.  You can link to the pattern in my Ravelry store here or my Etsy store here.

 

Thanks for looking and I will be back soon with more on all of my favourite crafts.  Have a happy week filled with kindness.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

New Blanket

Iris Rose

At the end of May I posted a photo of some pretty and soft Ice yarn.  I said that I was going to make something for some “me” time but hadn’t decided what I wanted to make, or rather what the yarn wanted to be.

A about a month later, the yarn decided that it wanted to be a blanket and the search was on for the perfect pattern.  I have a digital file of patterns and returned to one that I had made previously.  I liked the old fashioned look and really enjoyed knitting the squares.

The pattern that I used and am using currently is Classic Elite Yarns, Modular Throw.  Sadly, Classic Elites Yarn has gone out of business so the pattern is no longer available for download.

The squares are knitted in four sections and sewn together.  The first time that I knit this pattern, I followed the instructions to change the colour at the top of each section so that there ended up being a contrasting colour square when the pieces were sewn together.  I decided to make these all one colour this time as I am making this for myself and love the softness and look of the white.

Lack of notes (or lack of memory) left me knitting this in pieces and sewing the four smaller squares into one larger one.  I was powering through the small squares and really enjoying the rhythm and speed of these pretty pieces.  I had twenty-three small squares made when I remembered knitting the four pieces together in the round originally.  I stopped at this point and sewed together four large squares to see I wanted to continue this way.  This one is blocked

It is a really good thing that I have a ton of this yarn.  The resulting large square was not great.  The seam was too thick and created a ridge that could not be blocked out.  I also didn’t like the finished product with the needle size that I had been using.  It was just too floppy for a nice snuggly blanket.  After a few weeks in time out (and also because I had eye surgery and couldn’t comfortably knit or read, boohoo) I opted to restart the project with a smaller needle and knit the large squares in the round in one piece.  This one is not blocked and I have not closed the centre yet.

The result is more like what I had envisioned and I am really happy with the new square.  I added a border of a contrasting colour of the same yarn.  Buying more yarn was not in the plan but, you know, sometimes you just gotta!  This one is not blocked or finished.

There are times when it just pays off to restart a project.  All of the work that goes into creating something beautiful is truly satisfying when you love the finished project in spite of the hiccups and restarts along the way.

I am aiming for a finished blanket by the end of September; let’s see if I can do it.

Have a lovely week ahead with lots of love and kindness.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Me Time

Iris Rose

I find I put so much emphasis on hurry, hurry, get busy and accomplish something that I fall into a spiral of what do I have to do next and how fast can I get it done.  It becomes overwhelming.

It is time to put all of the ambitions aside and create something for pleasure only.  Who cares if it is not part of the master plan?  I do, of course, but not right now.  I am sure that I am not the only one who feels the need to just be, am I?

DD has started a crocheted blanket with some lovely yarn and is really enjoying the work.  She has taken the attitude that there is no rush to the finish line and she works on it when she feels in the mood.

I have some natural wool that I am going to play with and start a project that I can feel the same way about.  I don’t have a plan and I don’t know if I will knit or crochet but rather I am going to let the wool tell me what to do and just relax.  Sometimes it is just what you have to do.

Have a lovely week filled with crafty goodness and remember to be kind.

Knitting

Faux Cable Hat

Iris Rose

I have been busy pattern writing but, unfortunately, life keeps interfering and I am just at the point where I can almost publish.

I have been knitting charity hats as you know as I have written ad nauseum about them.  While I knit many plain stitch hats, I have been playing with patterned stitches too just to keep the boredom down.  Cable hats are popular and I came up with a simple to knit faux cable pattern that fits well and looks great at least in my humble opinion.  The hat is nice and stretchy so will fit a variety of head sizes.

I knit these hats in acrylic yarns to keep them easy to care for but any worsted weight yarn could be used.  I sewed a button on the inside of the crown, just a little off centre, to attach the pompom and keep it removable for cleaning.

 

I have published the pattern on Ravelry here and wanted to show you all how easy this twisted stitch is to make and how great it looks.  Without further rambling here is my video, my first ever instruction video; please don’t judge me too harshly.

play-sharp-fill

The pattern has a photo tutorial included but sometimes it is easier to watch the action to make a new stitch, especially if you are a new knitter.

Thanks for watching and have a great, crafty, and happy week and spare a kind thought for those less fortunate.