Fresh Off The Needles: Stars and Stripes Toddler Sun Dress

Well, I meant to post "Scrumptious Strawberry Season: Vol. 2" within a day or two of posting "Vol. 1" but time got away from me, and it has been a BUSY holiday weekend! So "Scrumptious Strawberry Season" will now be interrupted by the latest installment of "Fresh Off The Needles."

Since my first post showing the knit toddler sundress that I made in May, I have made two more. I have not had the chance to post a picture of the second one yet and the the most recent one is the dress I will talk about here. I have been designing a 4th of July themed dress in my mind for awhile, and actually started knitting it before I had the design pegged. The construction is the same as the first ones that I knit, but I made the skirt on this one a few inches shorter. The color theme is American Flag inspired (obviously) but I chose "country Americana" colors instead of straight red, white and blue. It was meant to be worn by the Little Princess for all of our Independence day get-togethers, but it turned out really cute and she will be able to wear it all summer!

I finished it the morning of the 4th, right before leaving to go watch the parade!

Since I have had tons of blog hits from people looking for a knit toddler sun dress pattern, I will post it here. Parts of it were inspired by a free pattern I found for a tank top online, but I have changed and added so much that I now pretty much call it my design, hehehe. Keep in mind I am no expert pattern writer!

Stars & Stripes Toddler Sun Dress (Size 2T)

Materials:
Size 9 (US) straight needles
1 skein each of worsted weight yarn in red, white, and blue

Back:

*CO 84 sts

Knit 8 rows in red for garter stitch border.

Switch to white and p 1 row
Work 4 more rows in stockinette stitch.
Next row: k2, sl 1, k1, psso, k across to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2
These 6 rows form 1 stripe.

Work 5 more stripes, reducing in the same fashion every 6th row. (72 sts remain)

Work 2 more stripes even with no reductions.

Switch to white and begin the last stripe (total of 10 stripes). Work two rows even.
Next row: k3, (sl1, k1, psso)x15, k6, (k2tog)x15, k3 (42 sts remain)
Work 3 more rows even.

Switch to blue and k 1 row.

Work the following chart bottom to top, left to right, right to left, etc...


Next row: BO 5, p across
Next row: BO 5, k across
Next row: p2, p2tog, p across to last 3 sts, p2tog, p1
Next row: k across.

Repeat the last 2 rows 2 more times*, BO

Sew in ends.

Front:

Work the same as given for back between **

Straps

Next row: p7, BO 12, p7

Work on these last 7 stitches for 20 rows in stockinette stitch (approx 5 inches), BO.

Re attach yarn to remaining 7 stitches and work on them for 20 rows (approx 5 inches), BO.

Sew in ends. Join front to back and sew side seams, sew straps to back of dress.

And that's it. I am hoping there are no errors, but it's almost a guarantee that there is, please let me know if you find anything glaring! Thanks for reading!

-Diana, The Ivy Kitchen

Fresh Off the Needles: Toddler Sun Dress

I finished my most recent knitting project this A.M. before getting to any much needed house work! But what is housework when those unfinished stitches are calling your name? :)

I have knit several tank tops for the Little Princess based on a pattern that I found on the Internet. But I changed the tank top pattern quite a bit to fit my needs (and my child, lol). After knitting a total of six of those, I decided to alter the pattern even more to try and make a little sun dress. I have knit baby dresses before so i used the knowledge I have gained from that to add a skirt portion to the tank top. I was worried about the outcome, because I am nowhere near to considering myself a knitwear designer. But this time the risk seems to have paid off! Here is the final result (I am hoping to knit a few more, if time permits):

I knit it with Caron's Simply Soft (and simply CHEAP, hahaha) on size 9 needles. Light Blue and White.

I chose the coloring and checked pattern to try and "match" this bonnet (which was given to the Little Princess by a random stranger at the local recycling center, lol). I take full credit for the shoddy Photoshop work!

So on to the next project! It will most likely be something for an upcoming, and very important baby shower in June. I just realized that is only 2 weeks away, so I better get those needles to smokin'!

-Diana, The Ivy Kitchen