Repurposing an old Norwegian Sweater

I knit this sweater a couple of years ago. I think the pattern is from Poetry in Stitches, by Solveig Hisdal. OR, it's a Dale of Norway sweater. I can't remember. I chose colors that were kind of "in your face" and didn't like them after all was said and done. The yarn was really expensive, though, so it has been one of those guilty little things sitting in my closet. So, yesterday I decided to chop it up and make some useful things out of it.

First, I used one cuff to make a hat for the American Girl doll. I just cut it off, unraveled a few rows to get the stitches all in a line, used the unraveled thread to sew up and gather, seam the side. Voila' it fits her perfectly.

Then I threw the sweater into the washing machine with some jeans to felt/full it. There were some long floats on the back side that I had hung up on the needles to make them shorter. During the felting process, the floats shrank and the fabric puckered a little. So, I just snipped them on the back side and was able to press out the knitting fairly smoothly. Hub and I have gotten into drinking tea again, so I thought it would be nice to have a tea cozy. This is the result. The handle of our hand thrown tea pot doesn't fold down, so it looks kind of crazy tall, but it works fine.

Finally, I made some pretty mitts for myself for next winter. I just traced my hand on a piece of paper and made a pattern that way. I was able to use the hem of the sweater as the cuff of the mitt. The insides were kind of messy, so I lined them with some cute fabric.

You might ask why I didn't center the flower on the back of the mitt. It was simply because I couldn't get two pieces of fabric wide enough if I centered. So, whatever. The embroidered flowers offset it a bit.

Guilt assuaged a little bit. I still have some sweater left. Will try to think of more things before the last of it gets tossed. The pewter buttons will be saved and used again, of course.

Heart Skirt and Shrug for American Girl Doll

On a roll! Now have 3 outfits done. Probably have said this before, but it sure is fun to make these little outfits because they go so fast. And, have I said how much I love red??? I'm guessing these two pieces add 200 yards to my running total. It's really hard to calculate, but I think/ hope I'm underestimating rather than overestimating.



I think she needs a Norwegian sweater next...

And Capri Pants to Match

I tried the Knitware pattern for 18" dolls, but somehow it didn't work. So, I borrowed what I could and came up with these this morning. Too lazy to fire up the camera so just stuck it on the scanner. But you can see in the pic that follows that they fit. Here's how I made them:
MACHINE midgauge 6.5mm
YARN worsted (I think more medium than heavy)
GAUGE 4 st x 6 rows = 1" at T 10
FINISHED SIZE Length 8.5", width 6.5" at hips (x 2=13" around after seaming)
KWK means knit, wrap the end stitch, knit back
Increases - move 3 stitches out one needle and pick up the heel of the inside stitch and hang on to the empty needle.
Decreases - move the end stitch in one needle.
Start at the cuff and knit to waistband.
Knit 2:
Cast on over 26 stitches with main yarn. At T 3 knit 4 rows. Change to T 10, knit 4 rows. Hang a hem. RC 000. Increase one stitch both sides, knit one row. Increase one stitch both sides every 3 rows to 40 stitches. Knit to RC 28. Shape crotch. Bind off 4 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows. Decrease 1 stitch both sides, knit two rows 2 x. (26 stitches) First leg, CAL. Second leg, CAR. Short row for the rear end. Set machine to hold. Put 13 needles on the right (left for other leg) on hold. KWK. Put 4 stitches to hold, KWK 2 times. Take machine off hold. Knit to RC 44. On RC 44 run a length of contrasting thread so you can see which stitch to hang later for the hem. Change to T 4 and knit 11 rows. CAL. Hang hem. Knit one row left to right and bind off around the gate pegs with the latch tool. Seam the back from top to crotch. Seam the front top to crotch leaving openings both sides on the front of the waist band for the I cord to slip through. (Make sure the short rowed butt is the back side.) Seam the legs both sides. Remove the marker thread.
Make a 3 stitch I cord at T 3, long enough to go around the waist, tie knots on the ends and tie a bow. (Sorry, I forgot to record how many rows, but you can measure while on the machine.) Hide the ends of the Icord inside the cord. Run the I cord through the waste band. Steam the pants a little if desired.

There always seems to be a "if I were to do these again" sentence.... I'd make them a little shorter (-6rows) and a little tighter (T 9 instead of T10). They're a little loose, but they look ok. One more outfit done for the sil.

Poncho for the American Girl Doll -- a machine knit pattern

Here's a super easy pattern you might want to consider if you are into knitting for the American Girl doll. I made it on a midgauge machine, but if you use your own gauge and a different machine you can make an identical one. See the note at the end of the pattern.

Yarn: Acrylic worsted, 2 ounces main color; a few yards of finer yarn, two colors for corsage

Finished size: 8" x 8" measured diagonally from shoulder to bottom edge

Gauge: Tension 10, 4 st x 5 r = 1"

Directions

Knit two rectangles. Cast on 34 stitches and knit 36 rows. Bind off loosely. Sew the short end of one rectangle to the end of the long rectangle. Repeat for other side. When seaming, leave enough of a neckline to go over the doll's head. It will be snug. Hide yarn ends.


Crochet an edge with size E crochet hook. *DC into the garment at the edge. Chain 3, DC into the same stitch as first DC. Skip one garment stitch.* Repeat from * to * around. Hide yarn ends. Mine came out really ruffly and the edge wouldn't lie flat so I steamed it pretty vigorously. Is lots cuter than it looks in the picture.

Crochet a corsage. Chain 6 and connect to first chain to make a circle. SC into circle 10x. Fasten off first color. Leave a 3" yarn tail. Change color. SC, DC, SC in the same stitch on the outside of the circle. Skip one stitch and repeat around to create 5 petals. Fasten off leaving a 3" yarn tail. Let the yarn ends dangle. Sew the corsage to the poncho.

To make on a different gauge machine, use your gauge to make the rectangles 9" wide x 5" long. Multiply 9 x your stitch gauge per inch and 5 x your row gauge per inch.

I'm thinking some apple green capri pants would be cute since I have yarn left over. I think Knitware has some doll garments. Will check it out. Stay tuned.

Afterthought: If you're finding the neck too tight, try again by adding 5 or more stitches to the width and this should make it easier to slip over the doll's head.

American Girl Doll Scarf Pattern

What's nice about retirement is that you can waste time with a minimal amount of guilt. Usually.

I thought the little red coat needed a little red scarf. I machine knit it, but if you have the time and patience, you could hand knit it easily. So, here it is:
Machine: Standard gauge 4.5 mm with ribber
Yarn: Mary Lou's Solo - or similar wt
Gauge: T 5 13 st and 7.5 rows =1"
Finished size: without pom pom's,
1 1/4" wide x 16" long

Ewrap cast on for 2 x 2 rib. Have one stitch both sides on the main bed and 2 x 2 arrangement for the rest. Knit one row T 0/0. Hang 7 wires and med wt. (The knitting is too skinny to add a ribber cast on comb.). Change to T 5/5 and knit 120 rows. Transfer st to main bed and cast off. With the yarn tails fold the ends in half and tack down. Make 2 small pom poms and sew onto the ends.

If knitting by hand, I'd guess you'd use a size 3 needle, cast on and knit 2 x 2 rib for 16", bind off. Make and attach the pom pom the same.

In different proportions, this would make a nice scarf for a little girl. I like the fact that the edges don't roll. Yea, ribber! I'm liking you more every day.

American Girl Doll's Little Red Coat

So, this is how I occupied my time today. My sister-in-law asked me to make some clothes for her significant other's grand daughter's new doll. I used Charlene Schafer's "Complete Wardrobe for American Girl Dolls". There are some cute items in it. I have to say, though, that Charlene could use a proof reader. The book contains some funny little typos, like the instruction to make 3 button holes and sew on 4 buttons. Not so funny, giving two different tensions for the same operation. She has you making a full needle rib hems, which inevitably flip up. Much fiddling with less than good results, in my opinion. I thought it would be better to do a hung hem, just stockinette. If you did the outside at a slightly larger tension or with one more row than the inside of the hem, it would look good. The sleeves aren't supposed to flare out in the pattern, but changing from fnr to 2 x 2 rib makes them look ruffled. Cute, but I don't think the picture of the completed coat looks the same. I'll have to double check that.

What I do like is the bodice. Red is hard to photograph, but changing to 2 x 2 rib makes it pull in for a more fitted look. A little beret matches the coat, which I haven't knit yet. Well, I hope she likes it. Here are some more views:

Maybe I'll make her a 2 x 2 ribbed scarf. That would be easy enough to do.

18" Doll Clothes

Husband thinks I've gone off the deep end to be making doll clothes. Don't know why I'm doing this, even though there's no grand daughter to knit for, but it's fun. Sometimes you just need a mindless project that goes quickly. There's the urge to knit, but not ready to do something substantial.

This outfit is for the American Girl Doll-sized doll. I nabbed a copy cat at the local Michaels and only paid $10 for her with my 40% off coupon. The skirt pattern is available in an earlier post (June 10, 2009) and it's the same doll. The shell is improvised. I measured the doll, did a 7st x 10row gauge. The only nifty thing I did was to come up with easy edgings for the neck and armholes. I hung the armhole/neck with the RIGHT side facing me, knit 8 rows reducing the tension from 6 to 3 over those rows then bound off. It looks like a garter stitch but is really just reverse stockinette. It rolls a little, but with steaming is presentable. Might even look ok on an adult sweater. Here's the schematic if you want to knit one in your gauge: These dolls have kind of an odd shape---heads are huge so you have to make the neck opening really large. I did a shrug for her in the current issue of Knitwords, if you happen to be a subscriber. It's the same shrug that is in the June 9 post.

Other than this, I haven't done much knitting since the MN State Fair stuff. A friend and I delivered our things plus a friend's items last week. I think there will be a better showing for the Machine Knitting category this year. Stiffer competition too! If you live in the area, be sure to check out our display. It promises to be a good one.

Daughter and boyfriend just left after a week's visit. They saw friends, did a lot of interesting things, helped us around the house. It's always a big adjustment when they leave. Wish they didn't live so far away!!!

The garden is winding down. Nights are already cool to cold and some plants are not happy with that. I have 3 mini tomatoes on the vine. Planted too late this year. You'd think I'd know better after all these years of gardening. With the cooler weather, the urge to take on a bigger knitting project will overtake me I'm sure.

18" Doll Skirt

My friend Carol lent me her 18” doll so that I could design a shrug for Knitwords to fit her. (If all goes well, the doll and adult shrugs will be in the next issue.) I decided she looked indecent without a skirt, so I whipped one out. When I give her back she will look dressed. Doesn’t she look cute???? She needs a camisole or something for underneath the shrug, but we’ll leave that for another day. Recognize that pink yarn? I rescued it from the waste yarn bin to make the hearts and match the shrug. (I used it to make the shrug "prototype".)

Here’s how I made the skirt.

Machine: Standard gauge
Yarn: Bramwell 4 ply acrylic; small amounts white and pink (many other yarns can achieve this gauge)
Gauge: 7 st x 10 r at T 7
Other: ½ inch elastic, 10”

Directions:
Over 131 needles, cast on with waste yarn and knit a few rows at T 6 1/2. Change to main yarn and knit 5 rows. Use the lace carriage to transfer every other stitch, making the picot edge. (Or, transfer the stitches by hand.) Leave emptied needles in work. Knit 5 rows T 7 and hang a hem. Change to T 10 and knit one row to seal the hem. RC 000. Change back to T 7 and knit 3 rows. Set up the heart pattern and knit it for 3 rows. Knit plain to RC 40. Decrease the stitches by half, either with the lace carriage or by hand. Take off on waste yarn and rehang over every needle. Knit 11 rows T 7, one row T 10 for a turning row, 12 rows T 7. Hang hem, bind off. Thread the elastic through the waistband and sew ends to make a circle. Seam with main yarn to enclose waistband elastic and the back seam. Hide yarn ends.

Even with change of tensions for the hem, it tends to flip up. Steaming it judiciously helps, but acrylic melts so easily you need to be careful.

I could get into this doll clothes thing. The knitting goes really fast and you don't have to worry about her complaints about color, fit or style. She pretty much smiles through it all.