Casual Baby Dress

I don't have my camera so I will have a lot of posts without pictures and I apologize.  When I get it back I will try and take some pictures of them finished, but I know that doesn't help much with the process of making these things. So I'm truly sorry.

I made this using one of my old shirts that was stained! What a great way to re purpose it!

To make this I pulled out one of her dresses and set it on top of the shirt.  I cut it a bit skinner than the one I pulled out since it was a really fluffy one and I was looking for more of a T-shirt type of dress to wear with some knit pants(make sure you have seam allowance room). I cut out the basic pattern of the dress, but I didn't cut out sleeves.  I am going to make it a tank top.  Sew the side seams together(right sides of the fabric facing each other).  I used a 1/2" seam allowance. Now I didn't hem the bottom of the dress, because it followed the bottom of my shirt so there was already a seam there!  I did fold down the top about 1/4" and sewed that just to make it look a bit neater!

Next I cut out a long strip of fabric(I used this for a headband)

I then cut out two strips of fabric each about 3" long for the straps and about 1/2" wide.  This is for a little girl dress about 6 months old.  So if you are making it for a child bigger than that, adjust the strap size accordingly.  Sew the straps onto the top of the dress about 1.5" in, so there is room for the armpits! Make sure these are sewn on good.

Next I cut 2 small strips of fabric and made them into flowers to put on the beginning of the straps just to dress it up some! This is very easy to do with a hot glue gun. Just keep swirling the fabric around and fold down on occasion to give it some depth and you have a flower. I added them to the straps with hot glue, it has already been through the wash and they held up just fine.

You are done.  I will add, this was made using a knit shirt so there is plenty of stretch in it so I can simply pull it over her head without worrying about any buttons, snaps, or zippers.  So this makes it a quick and easy dress to make!

Zig Zag Afghan

Yarn in whatever kind you like,  I used:
A -Med Blue fuzzy yarn
B-White Angel hair
C-Purple Homespun knit with Purple Fun Fur
D-Grey Angel Hair
E-Blue Homespun
Size 8 circle needles
Sewing needle meant for yarn(so you can sew in all the side seams)


CO 179
1. Right side knit
2.knit
3. K4, *K1, YO, K5, s1 as if to knit, k2tog, PSSO, YO, K1* repaat between * until last 5 sts, K5
4. knit
Repeat Rows 3&4 until end of afgan ending on a knit row
Bind off all stitches.
Now you need to tuck in all your edges if you didn't do this as you went.  I always wait until the end to do this step, just because I don't like to stop in between to get that part done.  Once all your ends are nicely tucked in, you are done and can enjoy your wonderful new comfy blanket.

Fyi in the picture above this is folded in quarters so it is quite a large afghan, which is exactly what I wanted!
If you want it stripped like mine then this is the number of rows at a time in each color you do, and then just repeat until it is the desired length
A-6 rows
B- 2 rows
C-6 rows
B- 2 rows
D-6 rows
B-2 rows
E-8 rows
B 2 rows
*Repeat starting with A

It feels like a bit of heaven on earth. This blanket is so warm, fuzzy, big and cozy.  I love a good blanket to snuggle with while I'm laying on the couch weither it be just chillin or watching a movie, or reading to my babies! It is so nice for this to finally be done. (it has taken me 3yrs, only because I only work on it in Dec/Jan in random spare time)

Knit Hat

Size 8 needles
I used 3 different yarns so that it had stripes
Blue Angel Hair-Color B
Grey Angel Hair- Color C
Black (forget the name, just basic yarn nothing fancy about it)- Color A

CO 60sts
Knit2, Purl2 (repeat until end of row)
Purl 2, Knit 2( repeat until end of row)
Repeat these two rows until you have 12 rows.
In Color B:
Knit row
Purl row
Repeat Knit and purl rows until you have done 6 rows in Color B
In Color C:
Knit row
Purl Row
Repeat these two rows one more time
In Color B:
Repeat above pattern until you have 6 rows again

In Color C:

Knit Row

Purl Row

Knit Row

Purl Row
Knit 2tog, K4 (repeat until end of row)

Purl row

In color A:
Knit 2 tog, K4 (repeat until end of row)
Purl row

Knit 2tog, K4 (repeat until end of row)

Purl row
Knit2tog, K2 (repeat until end of row)
Purl

Knit 2tog, K2 (repeat until end of row)

Knit 2tog, K2 (repeat until end of row)
String yarn through remaining stitches, and sew up the seams.

Note: I left a long tail each time I switched colors so that when I went to sew up the seams it would be in the correct color.

Boa Scarf

I decided to make a boa like scarf out of some extra yarn that I had for my little step-sister to be able to play dress up with.

I skein Fun fur type yarn (now I took my one end for the inside and my one end from the outside and knit them together to make it a bit thicker so that the needles holes didn't show through and it made it a bit fluffier and more boa like!)

Size 5 knitting needles

CO 8

Knit until it is the length desired

Bind off

There you have it simple as that, and cute too if I must say so myself.

MIttens-Adult

Home spun yarn (blue) -Color A
Fun fur yarn (cream) -Color B
Angel Hair yarn (grey) -Color C
Size 6 knitting needles
I used the yarn that was left over from making the scarf to make the mittens so I did not buy any additional yarn

CO 12 in color A

Row 1: knit 2, purl 2 (repeat pattern until end of row)
Row 2-8 Repeat row 1, so you have a nice ribbed effect for the cuff of the mitten

Row 9: In color B knit row inc in the first and last st knitting all stiches between

Row 10: Purl

Row 11- : Repeat rows 9&10 until you have 22 st on needles, end on inc row, don't purl yet

Purl 10, place stitch marker on needle, purl 2, place stitch marker on needles, purl rest of row

Knit 10, move st marker, inc 1 in the nxt 2 sts, move st marker, knit 10
Purl

Knit 10, move st marker, k1, inc 1 in nxt 2 sts, k1, move st marker, knit 10 Purl 10 (move to stitch holder), remove st marker, p6, remove st marker, slip last sts onto a different st holder

*You should have 6sts on your needles with those stitches you are going to Knit row, Purl row until it is long enough to encase your thumb.  I did a total of 6 rows.

Decrease on the 7th row by k2tog, k1, k2tog, k1
Thread yarn through remaining stitches, and sew up the side seam of the thumb.

From the second stitch holder, purl all stitches back onto the needle, the add on the stitches from the next needle holder by purling them all onto the needles.  It should look like the picture above, when all the stitches are back on the needles.
Knit row
Purl row
In Color C:
Knit row
Purl row
Repeat the two rows until you have 6 rows
In Color A:
Knit row
Purl row
Knit row
Purl row

*Now we are going to start decreasing to form the top of the mitten- If you have larger hands then knit and purl a few more rows before you start to decrease. These mittens when finished look long and skinny, but they fit wonderfully as the yarn forms to your hand, just an fyi

Knit 2tog, k4 (repeat until end of the row)

Purl

Knit 2tog, K4 (repeat until end of the row)

Purl

Knit2tog, K2 (repeat until end of the row)

Sew yarn through the remaining stitches, and sew up all the side seams.

There you have it some nice warm mittens!

Scarf

I decided to make this for a Christmas present. Don't tell it was really easy to make and quite inexpensive since it was made up of left over yarn that I had.

I used 6 different colors of yarn so it is really up to you what type you would like to use.
Size 11 knitting needles

CO 20 st (in 1st color)

Knit  row

Purl  row

Repeat until you have 7 rows ending in a Knit row
Color 2
Purl row
Knit row

Color 3

Purl row

Knit row

Repeat until you have 6 rows

Color 4

Purl row

Knit row

Repeat until you have 4 rows

Color 5

Purl row

Knit row

Repeat until you have 10 rows

Color 6

Purl row

Knit row
Repeat until you have 6 rows

Now you are going to repeat the pattern of all the colors, but your color 1 from now on will be 8 rows so you come out even and ending on a knit row each time. Just do this until it is long enough for your liking.  I did this pattern 4 times, and it is the perfect length for me. Bind off, and sew in all the edges.

Stay warm!