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Thrifty Wedding Features Gorgeous Knit Dress

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knit wedding dressI don’t know if you’ve gotten married recently (it’s been 10 years for me!) or if you’ve taken part in any sort of wedding planning recently, but weddings are expensive. Couples and their parents are going all out for that first party they will throw as man an wife, making the average wedding in Britain cost £20,248, according to the bridal industry there.

Knitter and yarn shop owner Linda Tayler wanted none of that when she married video director Ash Pears. They decided they’d rather spend their cash on an awesome honeymoon to Bali and a down payment for a house than on a lavish party. So they did it DIY, complete with homemade decor and fabric flowers, handmade party favors, a dinner on dishes picked up at thrift shops and, of course, a handknit wedding dress.

Lydia only paid about $200 for the fine wool used to knit the lacy sheath dress (lined in fabric, of course) and said it took about 4 months and more than 100,000 stitches to complete. She said some guests didn’t believe she made the dress herself, and in all the couple only spent £5,000 on their wedding.

[Photo by Johnathan Pow/Daily Mail.]

Check out this free knitted coat hanger cover pattern on our sister site here.

Knitted coat hangers are a lovely handmade gift for a bridal party, as it allows the bride to be to hang her delicate dress on a soft hanger to prevent her dress for having fold lines. Knitted coat hangers are perfect for cashmere sweaters and delicate fabrics too.  You can even add some dried lavender for knitted fragrant clothes hangers.

 

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Add Mushrooms to Your Knits with these Fun Knitting Patterns

A few years ago I wrote a post that was full of patterns for knit mushrooms, but I don’t think I ever did a post that was knitting patterns with mushrooms on them, so today’s the day. 

I love the Fungi Beanie from Jacki Bean, which calls for worsted weight yarn and uses duplicate stitch to add the mushrooms and other details. I think the colors she used for the design are tonal/multicolor so it doesn’t use as many colors as it looks like, but you can use whatever red, green, brown and white yarn you have in your stash for those details. 

How about some mushroom socks? The Magic Toadstool sock form Stone Knits includes a ring of mushrooms around the leg, contrasting heel and toe and a little more colorwork at the toe for extra cuteness. As shown it uses four colors and comes in three sizes. 

Or there’s the Fairy Ring Socks from Katie Green, which have mushrooms of two sizes on the legs, plus a bit of wavy grass. They have a contrasting cuff, heel and toe and some colorwork flecks in the body of the sock as well. This one is available in eight sizes to fit everyone from a baby to an XL adult. 

This trippy cowl from Hunt Hand Knits looks like a lot of fun to knit. The Fungus Among Us Cowl is shown using four colors of DK weight yarn, though you can do it with as few as two if you’d rather. 

Stitch some mushroom mittens with this cute pattern from Holly C Watson. This design uses three colors, and it’s shown with a self-striping yarn on the mushroom caps, which makes the colors change without you having to do any work. The pattern is charted but it’s a pretty easy repeat. The mittens are one size. 

If you don’t feel like knitting mushrooms but still want to give your project a touch of the forest, the Toadstools Cardigan from Julie Taylor may be what you’re looking for. It’s stitched as a plain cardigan worked in DK weight yarn and sized for newborns up to 4 years old. The mushrooms are added with embroidery and the pattern includes the design, which you can trace onto water soluble stabilizer to stitch the mushrooms onto your sweater. Or anything else you want. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.