This is a pattern to make a dress for a very tiny toy (see here).

It can be made from scraps of yarn, sock yarn or 4ply is best. In order to make it fit, please use the same needle size that you used to make your mini bunny. For instance, the mini bunnies above were knitted from Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran yarn on 3.25mm needles and so I’ve used 3.25mm needles for the dresses.

Abbreviations:

K: Knit

P: Purl

K2tog: Knit 2 stitches together.

YFON: Yarn forward over needle – makes a stitch. Start with the working yarn at the back of the work, bring it over the top of the right hand needle to the front and back under the right hand needle again to the back so making a loop them work the next stitch as indicated in the pattern.

SSK: Slip, Slip, Knit. Slip a stitch (as if to knit it) to the right-hand needle, slip a second stitch in the same way, slip both stitches back to the left-hand needle and knit them together through the back loops.

 

Pattern:

Cable cast on 28 stitches, leaving a long tail for seaming the back of the dress with later.

row 1: Knit

row 2: Knit

row 3: Knit

rows 4-8: Beginning and ending with Purl rows, work 5 rows of stocking stitch (alternate purl and knit rows)

row 9: K2, (k2tog) 12 times, K2 (16 stitches)

row 10: Purl

row 11: K4, yfon, ssk, K4, K2tog, yfon, K4

row 12: P4, purl into back of next stitch (leaving an eyelet for the arm hole), P6, purl into back of next stitch (leaving another eyelet for the arm hole), P4

row 13: Cast off knit wise

Cut the work from the ball leaving a long tail. Using a fine crochet hook (around 2mm) make a chain of 5 stitches with this tail and join it back to the start point with a slip stitch to make a small loop. Sew a tiny button on the opposite side as a fastening for the dress.

I use micro buttons like these:

Weave the remainder of the cast off end along the edge to the point of the row 9 decreases and leave the end hanging for now. Re-thread the needle with the cast on edge and use it to close the seam at the back of the dress with mattress stitch. When you reach the shaping on row 9 tie both ends together and weave along the inside of the seam before trimming off excess.

And there you have a teeny tiny dress for a bunny or a bear.

Copyright © Julie Williams 2013.

 

So, like I said I have had a bit of an obsession with sock yarn lately and have amassed quite a stash. It was relief to see lots of comments on the previous post from fellow yarn stashers – thanks for all the tips on concealing yarn and justifying stash size to unappreciative partners! Thanks too for all the kind remarks about the misty blanket.

Anyway, I thought I ought to start using some of my sock yarn stash and I felt like making something simple and undemanding – a bit of vanilla knitting as Annie @ Knitsofacto calls it.

I like that I can knit row upon row of these without glancing down, just kind of feeling the rhythm of knit two, purl one, knit two … perfect knitting activity for the end of the day when I need something undemanding and kind to my fumbly, tired fingers. And using hand-painted sock yarn makes these interesting, because you never can tell by looking at the skein quite how it will look when knitted up.

I am making several pairs of these as Christmas gifts and some for myself because I like warm hands in winter. I make them as straightforward tubes but because they are knitted flat and seamed at the end it is easy to leave a gap for your thumb if you prefer them that way.

If you want to make a pair, here’s how:

Wristwarmer Recipe:

Using 2.75mm needles and a nice hand-painted sock yarn, cast on 53 stitches 

(I used a cable cast on because it stretches well)

(if you want to knit them in the round only cast on 51 stitches, don’t work the last 2 stitches from each row and just repeat row 1 for each round)

Row 1: (K2, P1) 17 times, K2

Row 2: (P2, K1) 17 times, P2

repeat these two rows until you have the length you require (I settled on just over 6 inches / 16cms)

then cast off loosely in pattern (I went up to 3mm needles for the cast off row).

Close the seam using mattress stitch by alternating between picking up the bar between the first and second stitch and then the one between the last two stitches (there’s a mattress stitch tutorial here). Like I said you can leave a gap for your thumb in the seam if you prefer.

After seaming add a crochet border to the top:

Using a contrasting yarn and 2.75mm hook, slip stitch into the top of the seam

Round 1: chain 2, then single crochet into each of the cast off stitches until you are back to your start point, slip stitch into the 2nd chain stitch to finish that round

Round 2: chain 3, then double crochet into each of the stitches from the row below, until you are back to your start point, slip stitch into the 3rd chain stitch to finish that round

Round 3: chain 2, then single crochet into each of the stitches from the row below,
until you are back to your start point, slip stitch into the 2nd chain
stitch to finish that round. Cut work from the yarn and sew in ends along the side seam.

Wear or give.

I also made  a pair in worsted yarn (the green ones with the light blue trim) and these were knitted on 3.25mm needles and I cast on 44 stitches. I also made them longer (around 8 inches) to go under three-quarter sleeved jumpers.

Knitting things to keep you warm sounds like a good thing to be doing right now – it’s due to get frosty by the end of the week and the long range weather forecast sounds rather grim with some forecasters saying we’re in for the worst winter in a hundred years. That sounds very ominous and I do hope they’ve got it wrong – keep warm where you are x