Knit a Dress without Knitting a Swatch

You might not know this about me, but I’m a stickler for gauge when it comes to knitting garments. It’s hard for me to get gauge (I actually just did swatches for a sweater and it took me three tries to get it right!) and I know how easily a little difference in gauge can make a huge difference in whether your sweater fits.

But I also understand how appealing the prospect of not knitting a gauge swatch is for a lot of knitters, whether you’re someone who “always gets gauge” or you just hate doing it.

When it comes to garments, patterns that work for any gauge allow you to just start knitting with the yarn and needles that you want to use, but they typically involve lots of math and/or trying things on once it’s big enough so you can figure out how the rest of the pattern needs to go so it will fit you. I’ve done this with top-down sweaters before, and in the case of the Mamaki pattern by Nicola Susen you can do it with a dress.

The pattern suggests you’ll need about 1.7 times the amount of yarn you would need for a sweater in order to make a dress with the same kind of yarn, so if you have yarn you’ve used before to make a sweater that can give you a place to start for yardage requirements. Or you can make it a total stash buster and use all the leftovers of a single weight of yarn that you have.

(I did something sort of like that last year when I decided to turn the scrap yarn sweater I was knitting into a tunic. But I did start with a sweater pattern I’d knit before, and I did check my gauge and do the math for increases I needed to cover my hips.)

If you want to make your own dress or tunic on the fly (you could totally use this same pattern to make a sweater, just knit to the length you want), check it out on Ravelry. This is a fun one to look at all the different versions people have made, too. A lot of the pattern notes are in German but the pattern is available in both German and English.

[Photo: Nicola Susen]

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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