Improvise Your Way Through This Dress Knitting Pattern

I occasionally find myself scrolling through new patterns on Ravelry just to see what’s out there that I might want to share with you, and it was on one of these occasions that the Black Cloud Dress by Julia Monning stopped my in my tracks.

I mean, you’re seeing the same picture. Isn’t it stunning? And while it shouldn’t be a difficult dress, that is a ton of knitting, with a full circle skirt the designer worked in mohair yarn.

The pattern is more of a guide than a strict pattern that will help you improvise your own dress to whatever size you need. The top can be worked with any yarn in the fingering, DK or worsted weight range. It’s a little hard to see in the photo but the top was worked with different patches that look like different yarns or yarns worked singly and held together.

The skirt calls for mohair yarn, but you could probably use anything light in a fingering weight. It’s just with that much knitting it will get heavy really fast and you don’t want it to sag on your body. It looks like the top of the skirt is worked with two strands held together while the lower part is worked with a single strand. The bottom I’m going to guess is hemmed, but it could also be worked with two strands to give a little weight to the base.

This pattern also calls for six different sizes of knitting needles, so that can also account for some of the transparency (and it makes the skirt get progressively bigger as you go without having to do as much shaping.

This looks like (is) a massive project but it also looks like it would be so much fun to wear. If you make one I absolutely want to hear all about it!

You can learn more and get the pattern from Ravelry.

[Photo: Julia Monning]

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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