Knitting a dress, how hard can it be right? It was actually pretty managable garment as an intermediate knitter. I would not recommend unless you have made a sweater before but would definitely recommend knitting a dress if you want a soft and stretchy garment that hugs you!
Inspiration
I have made plenty of dresses over the past 5 years, but they have all been cut and sewn from fabric. Knitting kicks it up a notch, asking you to assemble the dress, but make the fabric to boot. I thought it would be silly to try until I discovered some lovely crochet designers on You Tube who make with imagination!
I was inspired by Mama Gwen of TL Yarn Crafts to give designing a knit dress a try. She makes such beautiful dresses all from self-drafted patterns in knit and crochet. Along with Dana from Blondie Knots. Her Coachella scrap two piece outfit helped me have the boost of confidence to try something new.
Materials
Last summer at Joann, before the shenanigans began, I purchased 14 Big Twist Cotton 50g skeins on a sale with the intention of knitting a top. Many months later, this yarn was sitting in my stash with my mind uncertain if the punchy color changing yarn was my cup of tea for a cotton knit top. But a dress? Yes, that could work. Did I have enough yarn though? I’d have to make it so because there was no more being sold.
Because of the circumstances, I decided this dress would be my goodbye to Big Twist.
Design
I knew from sewing, my design would need to be a dress that was either tubular or empire waist to suit my body shape. I decided to knit this on US 7 needles, straight needles. Sometimes I would shift to circular, but this was not knit in the round. With the combination of yarn minders, a measuring tape and patience this dress came together!
To start I knew I wanted the bodice to be the anchor I worked out from so I cast on stitches to work horizontally. From the bodice, I then added one strap to plan the width and placement of the top. I was uncertain how much yardage the skirt would consume, therefore I paused to determine sleeves later.
My plan for the skirt was to knit a section by casting on the bottom of the bodice, adding stitches to increase width until I finished a skein. Repeat and fill out the row by picking up stitches to join the sections vertically into a tube. I continued on, and on until weeks later I had a skirt but panicked that I was not going to achieve my desired length and second sleeve!
I decided to pull a teal yarn from my Landscape Painting with Yarn project. This hue pulled the cool tones into harmony in a pleasing way. I used two skeins of this teal color and then finished with the original Water Lily tonal yarn. I finished the second sleeve and tried on the piece with relative ease. There was one fit issue – plunging neckline. But it was a lovely, cozy knit from scratch dress!
The final touches to this project were addressing the neckline and the sleeves which were set too deep. I cast on to the neckline to fill in the gap and provided structure to the straps with several rows of decreases to give the dress a cap sleeve befitting my vision.
Final Thoughts
I am definitely making more dresses with knit! It’s far more pleasant than sewing if you want a comfy yet elegant style. You have both control of the drape and the fabric design. It’s your world, as Bob Ross would say.
This project was more than a goodbye to Big Twist, it was a new chapter for me. I began this journey 5 years ago to learn how to make and now I feel empowered by knowing I can make my own clothes, not just with fabric but with skeins of yarn and needles. It has been a wonderful journey of discovery!
If you want to knit a dress, I’d say go for it! If you’re a beginner, make one but not as your first project – you will be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of time this project took. It was weeks of work that as a beginner, would have scared me. In time I know you can do it though! ❤
This year I’ve been looking for ways to use my stash as completely as possible and use up what I have to make new fibers and new projects. One way I accomplished this was through color palette knitting and through the stripe hype sweater. But another project idea I had this summer was to try minimal colorwork knitting by “painting” with yarn through a mix of new cotton yarn I purchased and yarn extras my mom passed onto me. This helped stretch the teal cotton yarn I bought, underestimating how much I needed to make a t-shirt. It was an opportunity to make a “graphic print” t-shirt out of yarn, something I didn’t have in my wardrobe, but sounded like a fun piece to wear.
These are the yarns I decided to use for the landscape painting section of the garment. Cotton yarn that was originally purchased by my mom to create handknit dishcloths in a color selection of blue, green, and pooling gray-to-white-to-blue, a lime green cotton-bamboo yarn, and the teal cotton I purchased. The pooling yarn was perfect for the clouds. Each side of the garment is unique because of this pooling yarn like a real sky. The plain blue was used for water, the dark green for a marshy grown-up bank, and the lime green for sunkissed meadows of grass. The teal was used for a distant tree line that was framed by the clouds.
I opted to make this oversized with a short sleeve opening, somewhere between a vest and a t-shirt because I haven’t decided how I want to wear this. As a t-shirt of course but do I want this to be a layering piece in the cooler months of the year? Or do I want to make detachable sleeves? That is something I am still milling over in my mind. I did split the back of the piece in a moment of indecision, where I thought it would be cute to make it a short-sleeved button cardigan. I may do this in the future. I opted to keep the t-shirt structure for simplicity and the ability to wear it more quickly. I was impatient to wear it.
I love projects that utilize things I already own and use techniques I haven’t tried before. Since this project I’ve begun to learn proper colorwork knitting, it’s been fun. Thank goodness for YouTube and knitting books to make the complicated things, like learning how to switch colors, feel approachable!
How have you been expressing your creativity this week? Do you like getting crafty? Are you a knitter and have you tried colorwork knitting before?
In my post about summer knitting plans, I featured a lovely blueberry speckle cotton yarn. I expressed interest in making this yarn into a t-shirt. Initially, my goal was to knit a long-sleeved tee but as time went on and I started getting into knitting podcasts, I realized that knit t-shirts are truly adorable – and versatile! I pivoted and I am absolutely thrilled with the result!
This was my first time making knitwear for the summer and it unlocked a whole new world of design possibilities. For this project, I self-drafted my pattern, which consisted of four pieces. Two body pieces with a shaped neckline and two sleeves that were all sewn together afterward. I used size 6 US needles and used 7ish out of 10 skeins of 108 yards. A grand total of 756ish yards were needed to complete this project.
Going into June, after being in a yarn stash busting low-buy for the first half of 2024, I knew I wanted to break away from the acrylic in my stash and go for something lighter. In preparation, I watched a summer yarn review from NE Knits (I recommend her channel) to get a lay of the land for these lighter yarn and the best projects in her opinion to make with them.
Now if you look at my summer pickups below, they don’t really match what I thought I would buy based on her review. I gleaned a ton of fiber knowledge from her video that I plan to apply to future purchases (and one I already did from Knit Picks) to try silk, linen, and bamboo yarn.
As far as what I am actually working on this summer, these were capricious finds from the sale and clearance bins, as well as one destashed lot from my mom. Going into these purchases, I knew what to expect from some because of NE Knits review which helped me lower my expectations of one brand that has led to me being pleasantly surprised. It also helped me get in a good mindset for shopping so that I browsed with intention instead of reckless abandon. Let’s get into it!
Big Twist Cotton in Blueberry Speckle
Based on the online reviews, Big Twist Cotton is not a fan favorite, which is probably why these balls of cotton yarn were marked down to $0.97/107 yard skeins. This blend of 85% cotton and 15% polyester in composition is delightfully soft and easy to knit up. I instantly felt in love with the dye work on this yarn. It looks like blueberry ice cream! There were 10 balls of yarn left at my local store so I gathered the lot in hopes of making a long sleeve knit tee. The label calls for 11 balls to make a sweater so I hope it pans out because this project is stitching together so well! The fabric it makes feels cozy, breathable and like a garment I will enjoy wearing in multiple seasons.
I’m currently 6 skeins into the project, wrapping up the back panel. I’m about to split for the neck and shoulder pieces. Next I’ll split the remaining 4 balls of yarn between two sleeves and sew up. I’m knitting on size 6 needles.
Lion Brand Comfy Cotton Blend in Chai Latte
This set of yarn was an unexpected plan, but was graciously given to me by mom from her de-stashing project we worked on over the fourth of July weekend. It is a yarn that I was familiar with but as a knitting novice, I didn’t understand how to use at the time. It has a blend of colors that somewhat stripe and somewhat cluster throughout the stitches to make a knit fabric that resembles a meadow or hillside dotted in flowers.
Instead of calling this color way “chai latte” I prefer ‘seashell’ for its subtle variations of creams, a soft peach, and a purple-gray that is reminiscent of the variety of seashell colors you find washed up on the sand. I get distracted as I knit, looking at how the colors deposit across the rows. It’s a beautiful play on highlight and shadows.
I am currently knitting a cardigan, unless I change my mind to a sleeveless sweater dress, time will tell. I enjoy the weight of the yarn, the only thing I don’t enjoy is how the strands split whilst knitting them. It’s caused me to drop stitches and have some messy yarn work. In spite of that it is comfy, cozy, and a lovely yarn to behold. I have 5 balls of 392 yards that is a wonderful amount of yarn to be gifted. I’m knitting on size 7 needles.
Big Twist Cotton in Sea Glass
This yarn is vibrant and exciting – I can’t wait to get started on this project. It was on the same sale as Blueberry Speckle and is the same composition and yardage. I bought 12 balls of yarn for 1274 yards in total. I am planning to make a garment, probably a knit shirt because I’d like to knit more basics. If not a shirt a very short sleeveless sweater dress. This colorway combines my favorite shades and looks like salt water taffy. It was a win-win of a find!
This kind of blend I have been wanting to try again since I bought a blend like this as my first knitting project after a 5 year knitting hiatus. I ended up leaving the project as a UFO (unfinished object) and I regret that decision. I’m excited to see what comes of this multi-color blend and how I will style it once its done. I plan to knit my garment on size 6 needles.
Loops & Threads Everyday Cotton Yarn in Peacock
This was my first yarn purchase of the summer, a pick up during a big week, the week of our closing and this was definitely a stress purchase. I was wanting a new project to distract myself with and I’d say I got what I paid for. This yarn is not my favorite. It dyed the ends of my bamboo needles. I have actually taken my first project off the needles and put it back in my stash because I was so frustrated.
This was on sale for $1.99 per 120 yard skein and I bought 8 balls. I’m not certain what I’m going to make with it because of the dye transfer issue. I had originally thought of a knit top. I’ve also brainstormed a skirt, a bag, and wash clothes, but again the dye transfer. Will it stop after the first wash? I’ll have to try and find out.
Overall, I was dissatisfied with my experience with Michael’s this time. They did not give me the remnant price for the end of the bolt I purchased and their yarn seems subpar to Joann Fabrics and Walmart. It was also more expensive for both yarn and fabric with the fabric being but not fantastic. I think I’ll stick to Michael’s art supplies next time.
Eddie Bauer Cotton Adventurer in Blue Bird
This delicate yarn was an unexpected sale find with a yarn weight more like a fingering yarn for socks. It was an exciting and affordable way to plan a delicate project while seeing the yarn in person. I love this shade of blue and think a cardigan would be a great piece to make from this yarn. It’s lightweight and natural fiber should allow this finished garment to used almost 12 months a year. It seems gimmicky when I see clothing brands put out a yarn collection, but these skeins of “adventurer cotton” felt like good quality that I would purchase without the fancy label.
I haven’t worked with this yarn yet but plan to knit this with size 5 needles or possibly smaller if needed. I don’t want an open weave. I bought 6 skeins with 344 yards per ball in fingering weight yarn. If I like this yarn I think fingering weight will be a permanent fixture in my stash because I have plans to learn sock making.
Final Thoughts
Now, this can’t be a complete review because I haven’t worked with all the yarns I purchased yet, but I do have some takeaways from this experience. I highly recommend watching yarn reviews. Not because you have to take their word as law, but it was great inspiration. It helped me go into this season of knitting with ideas of what I wanted to look at. I went into the yarn store with a plan and took the time to read fiber content, examine the yarn weight and needle size, and to be particular about what I was buying.
My original plan without the clearance finds, was to buy Coboo instead of Truboo based on NE Knits suggestion of how the yarn knitted up. I took the time to look at each version and decided that Truboo also seemed like a better yarn for my needs. If it had been on sale I would have purchased but the price compared to some of the other finds did not make sense at the time.
I bought a yarn that was not reviewed well by customers because of the under $1 price per skein and because I wanted more time to practice with cotton yarn. That made sense to me before I splurge on a Coboo, a Truboo, and eventually a mulberry silk or linen for summer. More experience was my tipping point. So far I haven’t found the Big Twist Cotton to split like the reviews said, I hope this stays true for the rest of my projects.
This was the most organized I’ve been for a knitting shopping trip and a knitting season of project planning. I liked having a plan for each project, as silly as that sounds because I don’t believe I over bought which is important to me since the storage in my new studio is tricky at the moment. I don’t want to be overrun with materials. If you are a knitter or crocheter I hope this mini-review is helpful for your future projects, or that you just enjoyed the yarn content. If you are not a yarn junkie I hope this was still fun, I appreciate you being here and taking the time to read my blog. Have a wonderful day ❤
One Rabbit Riot 