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.



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

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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.

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Pink capelet completed

Remember the little girl who wanted a pink frock and the mini capelet I was crocheting for her?

I did get around to completing it.

Not only that, I did manage to get the label sewn on.

See that in the back neck? As much as I detest sewing, I managed to get the label attached.

At the time of ordering these years back, I didn't know that apart from sewn labels, there are also iron-on options. And I had a huge batch of these that I needed to use up so I am diligently trying to sew them onto my FOs whenever I can.

The inspiration behind this capelet is detailed in this post here.

Lovely isn't it? It could fit me but it's just too girly!

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Swirling around in a crochet dress

The silence is deafening. If you are still keeping up with my blog, thank you so much!

Blogger's been giving a little problem (or so I thought) but I am picking up from where I left from -- the project for my niece.

Purchase date unknown; this yarn lot may have been basking in the SABLE for at least 8 years or more -- I bought it from Spotlight then, not knowing that yarn quality plays a part in the finished garment's look as well as its longevity factor (for those who want to create keepsake heirlooms.)

It's an acrylic fingering weight blend which works well for the crochet project but in terms of quality, I won't hold it in the highest regard. But in a bid to reduce SABLE, this yarn meets my needs.

Since my mom (my niece's grandma) would most likely hand wash this hand crocheted summer tunic dress, I think it might last reasonably well . [I just tend to drop all my hand knits and crochet projects in the washing machine - I am lazy when it comes to laundry, I'll admit.]

On the other hand, I know my mom appreciates and understands all the time and effort I devote to my knitting and crochet so she really does take good care. [But Mom, please wear the ones I knit for you more often! I am more than happy to knit you more!]

 A WIP photo -- I love working with thin yarns but they do kill me at times with all that slow growth!

To counter any possible itch factor, I decided that a lining may soon be in order but that'll have to hold until after the dress is presented to Ms P.


I decided to switch to this fan and feather panel as I think the whole dress would look very heavy with the same body stitching. The lower panel also adds some lightness to the overall look.

Here's a photo taken during daytime. I know the sunlight does show off the stitches more clearly when I snap pictures but then my knitting and crochet habits tend to be nocturnal.

The dress does look awfully long and skinny huh? 

Another, in the night.

To get her comfortably dressed, I have also put in button closures on the back.

And then it was all ready to go!

I swear it fits my niece well.

Until my next blog post...

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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. :)

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Destashing with a baby gift project

Once every so often, a baby's impending arrival would jolt me from my rather erratic knitting and crochet schedule. This time, it was my husband's colleague's announcement.

Funnily, men just don't remember to inform you early. They just prefer a month's notice and when asked, the reason simply is, "I forgot."

Hmmpf...

GT suggested that I could go with the usual suspects - small pair of booties or socks. There was a pair that I knitted and gifted previously to another colleague of his back in 2007. (Gosh, that sounds so long ago!)

Obviously meant for a baby girl, with the cute pink flowers on the cuff.

But I am just not in the mood for socks.

So to bring up the challenge factor, I decided that a cardigan would be "IT". And while at that, I figured that using yarns from my stash would be good.

After all, detashing is good. This helps alleviate the hoarding madness.

As you can tell, it's meant for a little boy.

I have opted for a whole piece rather than the standard 3 piece (one back and 2 front pieces) approach as I wanted it to be portable. Besides, who wants to do more sewing?

Rather than to go variegated all the way, I have used a solid white yarn for garter rows to break up the colors.  Besides, it's always a relief to the mind since the scheduled section breaks make me feel that my project is growing.

It's progressing at a good rate!

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Pink please!

Fueled by the enthusiasm shown by Ms P, my niece towards the crocheted capelet, I felt encouraged and crochet her a blouse top.

As you can tell, it's a top down pattern. [Actually when I put it on the mannequin, I saw the potential of this design being a fashionably chic neck bangle when crocheted using the right yarn!]

Then disaster struck. I showed it to my niece excitedly and got her to try it on for size. And we had a conversation that went like this:

The soon-to-be-5yo gal said, "Auntie Mommy, the armholes are a tad tight."

I replied, "Ok, I'll redo and fix the armholes."

And I proceeded to ask, "Do you like this?"

She went silent for a while and went, "I prefer pink better."

ARRGHHHH!

Then mustering all the calm I could, I told her, "P, if you really do not like yellow, then I'll abandon the project. I will not continue on so you wouldn't have this finished project to wear. Is that ok with you?"

She looked at me and then replied in the sweetest voice, "Auntie Mommy, do finish the project. I will promise to wear it. I just simply like pink better but it's ok if it's yellow."

Aww.... aren't kids just simply so adorably charming when they know they are treading on the edge of a volcano?

Got to hand it to her.

And so, the story continues.

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Inspiration behind Ms P's mini capelet

In my previous post, I spoke about how I originally chose a pattern.

The pattern is Chanson en crochet by Mari lynn Patrick (one of my favorite designers).

In fact, one of the gals has crocheted this piece before.

While it looks great on adults, I personally thought that the pattern was a little overwhelming on a little gal -- especially that extended lace section towards the hem edge.

Also, I figured a bigger curvature resulting in greater coverage would work for Ms P as little ones tend to be more hyperactive and fling their arms about.

So, rather than to frog and then re-wind the yarn, I got lazy and decided to work from it. Hence you see the side by side comparison.

Here are some of the pattern modifications I did:

• I removed the lowest section. 
• Introduced repeats of the collar sections (that involves re-calculating as usual.)
• Added a row of flower motifs.

All that the capelet is missing is its closure. I am toying with the idea of either a button or a tie-front option.

Suggestions?

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Something for my niece

My delightful niece (likewise, her little kid brother) addresses me as "Auntie Mommy" - a term coined by my younger sister who decided that her wonderful kids could well be mine; since I have none of my own. [Not that I am in desperate need nor have the urge to have some offspring yet.]

Anyway...

So I constantly have her in mind whenever I feel the urge to get some toddler knitting/crochet projects started.

This recent project was sparked off by a conversation my mom and I had when we were mall shopping. My mom saw a poncho and commented that it is a very child-friendly keep-warm clothing item. Besides not having buttons to fuss with, there is also no need for the struggle to get the kid's arms into the item; unlike a sweater. And the coverage is sufficient.

Hence the idea of a capelet.

As usual, I have gone through the route of selecting a pattern, working it almost halfway through, then ripping it back entirely. I just wanted a pattern that had a bit more coverage (less lacey) and also more girlish.

Reason: Just simply because I wasn't satisfied with the way it looked.  [Does that ever happen to any of you?]


So this was the resulting piece.

I had decided to finish off with a round of crochet flowers and those had the stamp of approval from my niece who comments that she "loves pink!"

Well, if you know what that means...

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