Crocheted dress for a 6 yo

Remember the yellow dress I crocheted for my niece for her birthday late last year?

I am pleased to report that she has worn it a couple of times since.

In fact, as you can see from this photo, the dress has been crocheted extra long to take into consideration her growing height.

However, since the last time she wore it in her kindergarten (K2) Christmas celebrations, she has gone home to her grandma and declared that the dress was a no-go.

The reason?

The other kids at school made comments about her modesty, or rather the lack thereof -- apparently, they teased her about the see-through columns.

So I really need to get a little slip dress for her to encourage her to keep on wearing it!

In case you are wondering -- my 6 yo niece Ms P, hasn't complained about being hot in this dress. She has not just worn it indoors but we did walk a bit out on the footpaths in Orchard Road in the late afternoon.

Interested in the details? I have blogged about my making of crochet dress pattern in an earlier post.


This personal knitting and crochet blog of mine has taken a back seat since last September as much of my time has been directed to the new customers who signed up for our knitting and crochet classes.

Blogging requires one to commit proper desk time with all that thinking, writing, photo uploading and editing activities -- I just haven't got around to allocating time blocks to these and you just simply do not get much traction doing them in random bits and bites, if you know what I mean.

But I am still knitting and crocheting actively on the go.

So if you are into a reading mode, do feel free to pop by my other knitting/crochet blog - The Handiworks.



*******************
Here's wishing Great Health, Happiness, Prosperity and Speedy Crocheting and Knitting to all readers this Lunar New Year!

Read rest of entry

Handknit that looks smashing when worn by my sister

Remember that dropped stitch tank top that I knitted about a year ago?

While it's been worn quite frequently, I noticed I haven't got around to posting the final FO photos.

Here it is, as worn on the mannequin.

If you notice, while this dropped ladder stitch really opens up nicely, I just detest how it can look really unweldy when it comes to areas like the armholes and the neckline. 

So I paid a lot more attention when it comes to picking up and knitting those areas to make sure they are neat. More importantly, I also wanted to avoid the neck edge "dog ears" -- you know how the tips tend to flip outward after prolonged wearing?

The end result turns out quite well. In fact, this dropped stitch ripple tunic is knitted with my sister in mind, so the torso and bust area was also shaped to fit her curvy body. [I simply look like a stick man in this.]

She was sitting down when I took this photo so the torso may not look as fitted.

However, this garment fits her like a glove and just simply looks stunning, don't you agree?


Actually, most of slightly fitted pieces look great on her. The garments end up being more visually pleasing. Want proof? Check this other lace tunic out worn by my sister (scroll to bottom of the blog post) as opposed to me wearing it!

Then I had a deja vu moment. It happened when I was browsing the web the other day and saw other bloggers referring to the Fitted Knits of Stephanie Japel.

Doesn't my pattern look quite similar?

So it's a case of "it's the same but it's different?"

Read rest of entry

Pink + yellow = a happy fellow!

During Ms P's birthday last December, that is. All wrapped up beautifully with ribbon.

Knowing that pink is her fave color (isn't it a default trend color for all little gals under the age of 5?!), the pink capelet I was working on was also added to her birthday present repertoire. I attached a cute pink button to match too!


What's a birthday without a birthday cake? Not only did she get a real mini cake, a miniature crocheted birthday cake was also plated for her candle blow out.

Squeals of delight could be heard. I was extremely delighted.

Keeping in mind that Ms P's little bro, M kid is around and too young to understand why everybody is fussing and giving so much attention to his older sister, I also handed him a mini crocheted ice-cream cone. He gave an incredibly wide grin.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to snap a photo of it. [During moments like this, I am really grateful for my crochet skills as mini amigurumi items can be whipped up quickly to appease my young audience.]

Given the heavy rain at evening, Ms P also very gamely wore the yellow crocheted frock for my obligatory photoshoot.

So in fact, when the capelet was unwrapped, M kid also insisted on donning it. At his age, he's pretty much mimicking what his older sister does and exercising his equality rights ~ Jiejie (chinese word for "elder sister") have, so should Didi ("little brother").

Being the big sister, she is quite obliging. You can see that she's very close to her little bro, M kid.

That was indeed a very happy night for all of us.

Read rest of entry

Baby handknit cardigan gifted!

Luckily, I had an extended deadline as GT said that we'll be presenting the gift at the baby shower which took place last weekend.

"Progressing at a good rate?"

Spoke too soon during my last blog entry.

I thought of minimizing seams on this project that I actually decided to knit the raglan sleeves downwards. Not that it's a problem, except that I wasn't concentrating on the maths.

Had a OOPS, SHUCKS! moment with the sleeve. Not just once, but both times. So frogpond visiting it was.

Once it was complete, I also gave it a good wash so that the project would unfurl. I just simply hung it on a clothes hangar and left it to drip dry in my bathroom. [This would NOT be recommended if you are having an adult garment!]

A good steam iron also helps!




Initially, I was also faced with the dilemma of how the patterns would go on the sleeves themselves.

As you can see, there are actually 2 different shades of variegated yarns. Thanks to careless packing by the shop assistant (one of my many yarn shopping trips eons ago!) I had 2 different dyelots.

As a result, not only are the colors distinctly different, I was rather short on yarn. Had 3 balls of one lot and 2 of the other.

So I took on a white yarn to break up the colors and also had a slightly broader stripe on the upper chest area. The same white yarn then also took on the role of as ribbed borders all over.

And I had just the simple translucent buttons to match.

Oh, and I had the handiworks tag sewn on it as well! (Too bad, it wasn't obvious in the photo.) And the baby's initials JT embroidered on the bottom right corner.

Here are the specs:
Pattern: Self design
Fits: One year old (I try to avoid baby items unless they are certain to be used - babies outgrow their clothes really quick!)
Yarn quantity used: 4 x 50g 4ply variegated yarn + 1x 50g white yarn
Time taken: 1.5mths intermittently

I am glad the baby's parents liked it!

PS. I know there are probably still some readers out there. Do let me know if my blog entries are boring you to tears. Apart from my customers, that is. :)

Read rest of entry

An FO from my sister

Remember the crochet project that my sister has started?

It's completed! For a debut project, I think her crochet tension is quite even.

I have just added some finishing -- the edging at the opening. Plus, sewing the cushion to fit -- all by hand.

Isn't it cute?

Finally, an FO for the year 2010...(I am sure that knitted lapghan didn't quite count since it was never given a proper edging; I am tempted to just leave it as it is.)

Read rest of entry

When hand knitted scarves were the rage

When it comes to gifting, sometimes I am at a loss. While I am not averse to knitting or crocheting garments, I do find it challenging to create gifts for others when it comes to surprise gifts. Especially when you are not allowed to measure them.

This is when scarf patterns come in handy. Scarves as gifts work well since most of my friends do travel overseas one time or another. It's also just not as demanding in terms of fit.



Plus, I love the idea of experimenting with new stitches, shapes and colors.

Here's one I knitted back in 2008 -- sounds like an awfully long time ago, doesn't it?

This picture show the true color. You can see that the yarn looks very plump -- it's a chunky merino blend.

However, I didn't quite like the look as well so I decided to kill it by ironing.

Interesting, it looks great too! In fact, it's far more papery-thin and looks very stunning! (My apologies for the crap photo...let's just say that I was shooting with effects.)

Read rest of entry

Knit, knit, knit....in Singapore and wherever I go!

30 mins.

That's how much time it takes to knit each of these patchwork pieces in the photos. And that's the speed now that I have gained momentum.

This project came about as a temporary distraction from all the garment projects I have been working on. I am hesitant to call this project a "blanket" or "sofa throw" as it may stop growing pre-maturely -- that's why it's taken me about 2 weeks to muster courage to bring this out into the open.

I am not sure if this project can withstand the mockery of being called a "scarf" or a "what-ever-this-thing-is" if its growth is stunted. It may die of shame and crawl under my ever-increasing pile of UFOs and bawl.

So I'll just refer to it as the *garter thing*. [A flash moment: I have never quite had a garter project before, not that I can recall.]

In an effort to reduce possible project ditching, I have also decided to knit and join the knit pieces as I move along to eliminate seaming. The hexagons initially took much more time as the decreases are done every 3rd row -- I have to be vigilant when it comes to counting the rows.

The gals have already ruffled my feathers, saying that I wouldn't be able to get this going to a reasonable stage. So in blind denial, I have so far been tote-ing this thing wherever I go, stealing moments to work on it. That means, even when I travelling overseas... and the project is actually getting wider and becoming a mini lap-ghan of sorts, keeping my legs warm on flights.

However, the thought of possibly having multiple skinny scarves as gifting presents is still proving to be very alluring. (Hey, one's got to think of how to minimize all possibilities of relegating a project to UFO status right?)

But I digress.

And without being deliberate, I just noticed that the colors I have used for this project is very much complementary to the crocheted cushions in my living room. At this point though, I am wondering if by the time I am finished with this *garter thing* that I should consider re-doing the cushions!

Pardon the inconsistent photo sig -- these crocheted cushions are completed back in 2005! (That sounds like an awfully long time!)

Read rest of entry

FO mention in Interweave Crochet!

I should have blogged about this way earlier.

As usual, there are hiccups. This only came in the mail a month ago.

All the way from US. From one of my favorite magazine publisher, Interweave.

In the package is a copy of Interweave Crochet Summer 2008 issue. My Lily Chin crocheted dress FO is mentioned in its Readers' Gallery on Page 12.

No wonder at one stage, I keep getting hits to my blog where I see people searching for the abovementioned dress.

But I managed to only get my hands on the issue only recently -- there's some minor admin issues so I didn't realize that my FO was published until of late.

Nevertheless, better late than never!

Read rest of entry

I've been unfaithful

To my knitting, that is.

Even though I profess my everlasting love for knitting, I have been having fleeing thoughts about my other partner, the crochet. In fact, the signs are all there: the latest Japanese magazines has been featuring lots of crochet....the glossy spreads tempting me to stray while the knit trends seem to steer towards beginner projects for the newbies. With the impeding arrival of winter, chunky knits takes prominence and that is not helping either.

So I dug out my old projects.

See these 2 pieces? Can you even make out what they are?

I started them and blogged way back in (get this...) November 2005. That's about 2 years ago!!

It was time to put them to rest. So I took a deep breath and ripped them all out. Yup...I couldn't bear the thought of them trying to catch my eyes and make contact from time to time; just peeking out of the WIP basket.

Then it just struck me why I procrastinated whenever I get myself emotionally involved with crochet. Those ENDS!!

As the pattern moved onto the mesh lace pattern, it got a TAD easier. But the tiny crochet hook just makes my finger hurt as I crochet quite *brutally* (I notice that I tend to exert a lot of force when I crochet. It's an old habit that I need to break, really...)

Just barely. As I was pretty particular about the fit and the color variegation, I took 3 visits to the FROG POND; each time getting a little smarter. You can never imagine how much torture it was. Is anyone as finicky about color variegations -- letting nature take its course? Or do you try to manipulate them?

The first time I crocheted in the round, the colors pooled so badly, while going diagonally. I tried to convince myself that the pooling didn't matter. However it really got to me so bad that I decided to rip back even though I was more than 3/4 through. (And the pooling result was just so hideous that I didn't even want to take a photo of it! Tsk tsk.)

But I am glad I did as I am quite pleased with the final results.

This pattern is from the recent issue of Keitodama, I think. Took me about 3 weeks to complete it.

The modifications I made are quite aplenty.

First, I changed the pattern to crochet in the round (or is there such a term as circular crochet?)

Then apart from sizing down to fit, I also re-sculptured the bodice so that there is waist shaping (the original pattern is totally straight cut). I also modified the sleeves by cutting back half as the updated style is really more *me* (whatever that means.)

As of now, that finished tank is still dressing my mannequin. I decided that an astrology consultation is in order to ensure that I will follow through with the zillion tails tucking marathon! *groan*

Now you know why knitting seems like a more attractive option to me!

(Oops...as I am preparing to post this, I now noticed that my latest color is the orange family?!)

Read rest of entry

Everything about the Lily Chin crochet lace dress

Edited to add:
Several people have wrote to me asking where this pattern is available. I tried locating it myself and found that it's somehow not showing up. But there's the direct link to the Interweave Store Lily Chin crochet dress pattern page for the e-purchase download. 

************

Well, this is it!

This entry got delayed as I was trying to take reasonable photos of the dress. I am happy to report that the pre- / post- washing doesn't have much changes to the length, width etc.

The modelled, chest out, look far far away style.

No head shot coz that would probably spoil the photo.

So just use your imagination to envision the whole look ok?

Many have asked me for more details about this dress. Here are the notes:

Pattern: Lily Chin designed lace crochet dress found in the first issue of Interweave Crochet.
Size made: the smallest and teeniest (coz I modified the skirt from bodice down to have it body snug.)
Yarn used: 9 balls of Schachenmayr Nomotta Catania
Needles used: size 3mm and 4mm crochet hooks

Time taken: 2.5 weeks from start to finish -- that's a personal record for something this size (my crochet flowers motif top took the same amount of time too!)

Pattern construction

This pattern is worked in 2 directions:
- From below the bust/bodice up to the neck.
- Then pick and crochet downwards from the lower edge of the bust for the skirt.


Pattern modifications:

The dress draws in nicely and shortens automatically due to the smaller hook I used. I also added 2 more shell rows below the bust (by picking up from under the bust) when I realized that due to my hook change, the bodice ended up too short. [For those of you whose bust may be low set, you may need to add 2 rows or so of plain shells before you go into the shaping.]

I lowered the neckline as I found it too high for my liking. This is with much trial and error.

Other than that, I also found that there's a slight gap where the sleeve meets the bust so I added a small shell dart (as an afterthought), making it less obvious.I started out using the measurements for the smallest sizing but from the skirt portion, I went down 3 repeats from the start so it has a slimmer silhouette.

So as you can see, sometimes, I just like to fiddle with a pattern too much! LOL!

I have managed to find a black slip from my wardrobe which works fairly well. Except that the slip neckline threatens to do peek-a-boos at all times. So my students suggested a snap fastener to be sewn on the inside to make it stay in place.

Here's another with me sitting down.

Nothing too indecent...though I have to remember to do the obligatory dress sweep

before I sit to ensure it doesn't ride up too much!

So this is concludes my adventure with this lace crochet dress! I really love the way the dress fits and the minimal swing that makes this dress feminine yet chic due to the lower neckline. 

You can bet that this will be my favorite dress in my wardrobe from now on! [Until I knit or crochet another one, that is! (grin)] 

PS. Thanks to Jeanie for putting this up on her CrochetCast (aka podcast) -- do go check her out!

Read rest of entry