Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Knit a Lacy Duster Perfect for Spring

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I have never knit a full length anything, but I have to admit this Silver Spring Duster pattern from Lovely by Lee is definitely tempting. 

This full length, lace covered duster is worked from the bottom up in one piece (and I think the sleeves are then worked in rounds from the armholes down). It has a drop shoulder design and straight sleeves. The upper body is worked in stockinette stitch.

The designer calls it “a long, earthy-chic style cardigan” that’s “folksy, whimsical and elegant.” I agree. 

The only skills needed for the pattern are knitting flat and in the round, making yarn overs and decreases and picking up stitches. She rates it an intermediate knit. 

Notes on the sales page indicate the pattern includes a chart for the lace. The pattern also includes a video tutorial and a link to a blog post that helps explain how to do the edging (which looks like a folded hem but it’s hard to tell what’s going on from the photos).

The pattern includes five sizes to fit a bust range of 28-34 inches (71-86 cm) for the smallest size and 62-68 inches (157.5-173 cm) for the largest. It’s intended to be worn with 2 to 10 inches/5 to 25 cm of positive ease (so for example the smallest size is actually 38 inches/96.5 cm so you can choose the fit you like from there. 

This project looks like a lot of fun to knit and maybe not as time consuming as it seems because once you get the lace pattern down it should be smooth knitting. The pattern calls for a worsted weight cotton yarn, which is the only thing about the project that gives me pause because cotton is known to stretch, so you’ll probably want to knit it shorter than you think if you choose a cotton yarn. 

You can see some other versions of the project on Ravelry, and buy a copy of the pattern from Lovely by Lee on Etsy. 

[Photo: Lovely by Lee]

Have you read?

Easy Knit Baskets to Use All Your Stash

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts. 

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts. 

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects. 

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version. 

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want. 

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do. 

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like. 

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.