Princess Morgan Frilly Jumper free pattern

After seeing some cute, fun knit dress designs for little girls that utilize ruffled scarf yarn in the skirt, I wanted to knit a jumper for my grand niece, Morgan. However, since none of the dress designs I had seen were quite what I had in mind to make for her, I started working freehand, from the bottom hem of the skirt upward.

The skirt and the bodice part of the jumper were totally straightforward, so I had no trouble improvising them. But I knew I was going to be in trouble when it came to making armholes and a yoke because I had never done anything like that before from the bottom up. So I started scouring through Ravelry patterns in the hope that I would find a bottom-up little girls top pattern with a yoke design that would be close enough in garment size, needle size, and yarn weight that I could use its yoke to finish the jumper I was working on.

The yoke of Kristy Demoe’s gorgeous Arrowhead Lace Topper fit the bill EXACTLY. After finishing my prototype for the Princess Morgan Frilly Jumper pattern, I approached Kristy to ask her permission to use her work as part of this free pattern, and she agreed. Therefore, to complete this dress pattern, you will need to also download a copy of Kristy’s free pattern at the link above.

Princess Morgan Frilly Jumper knits up quickly in aran or worsted weight yarn on circular needles and is easy enough for an advanced beginner. This pattern is free because it is ONLY being released in little girls’ size 4.

The skirt is a simple garter stitch in the round. Ruffles are added on alternating rows by holding the main and scarf yarns together. The bodice is a very stretchy twisted rib. And it is all elegantly topped off by Kristy’s Arrowhead Lace yoke. Instructions for an optional button-on flower are included.

Dress sample shown in the photos is made with Red Heart With Love Candy Pink 100% acrylic yarn and Rozetti Yarns Marina Multi Valentine 100% acrylic ruffle scarf yarn.

Approximate finished dimensions: Dress circumference: 24 inches. Hem to neck length: about 21 inches.

Update: I got some photos today of Princess Morgan wearing her dress, and it just barely fits her but I think she looks beautiful! Mom reports that getting Morgan’s head through the neck opening was pretty tight, so I will definitely have to make the next one larger.

Lunch with friends

Today we had lunch with Tony, Annie, and Rose. It was great to spend some time together!

Shawlcowl Pullover pattern is free for a limited time

I released my Shawlcowl Pullover pattern on Ravelry on April 10, and the pattern has been receiving lots of yarn love from Ravelry users. The Shawlcowl Pullover is designed to mimic the trendy look of wearing a shawl as a scarf combined with the comfortable ease of wearing a pullover cowl.



If you use this link, you can download a free copy of the pattern through midnight PDT on May 1. On May 2, the price becomes $3.00 USD, so head over to Ravelry and grab your free copy while you still can using coupon code "spring."

Another reason to grab your copy now is that on May 2, everyone who has added Shawlcowl to their Ravelry library will automatically receive an updated version of the pattern that includes the Shawlcowl 2 variation. Shawlcowl 2 has a different neckline edging and a more open look to the feather-and-fan lace border.

This is my first knitting pattern design, and in the process of creating it, I discovered that developing, then testing, then ripping out and reknitting, then writing, then editing, then shooting photos, then editing some more, then test knitting it again ... was A LOT OF WORK!! Which is why I decided to put a very reasonable price on the finished pattern product.

I have gained a great amount of additional respect for people who develop pattern designs for knitting and crochet. These people WORK HARD at their craft, and they deserve our support. I have always enjoyed finding and sharing free patterns online, and of course I will continue to do that, but I have also paid for a significant portion of the patterns in my personal library. The experience I gained while developing the Shawlcowl Pullover has shown me that indie designers have earned every cent that they charge for their work.

Please respect the copyrights of indie designers!

Working on a new free pullover scarf pattern

I am currently testing new design for a free knit pullover scarf pattern and plan to be releasing it here and on Ravelry within the next week or so.

I'm excited about the design because I have been rather taken with the pullover scarf concept recently. These items are great because they mimic the look of wearing a shawl wrapped around your neck, but with the ease of pullover. My design incorporates a squishy, texture-rich garter stitch front panel with a classic feather-and-fan trim.

The test pieces are looking good, so I believe this will be a piece you will love to knit and love to wear! So stay tuned! Here's a sneak peek at one of the finished test pieces:

Hitchhiker - the full mathy

I received a partial skein of sock-weight two-ply self-striping yarn in blue-green-white in a box of yarn given to me by a friend. And I had no idea what to make with it.

After searching for several years for the perfect pattern to go with this yarn, I found it in the Hitchhiker shawlette designed by Martina Behm (on Ravelry at Maltina).



The 8-row repeat is easy to master to produce a delicious-feeling, ready-to-wear neck wrap, which you can make as short or long as you like.

Sock yarn Hitchhiker project after 15 points completed.

The scarf above ended up at 18.5 points long when the yarn ball ran out, but it's just long enough to wear around one's neck to chase away a chill. I plan to add a small button and loop to fasten it closed and donate it to my local cancer center as a small yarn hug for a patient.

But if your goal is to make a full-size, 42-point Hitchhiker scarf, progress feels like it slows down exponentially after one reaches about the 25th point because by then there are more than 100 stitches on the needle (and still growing).

For an impatient knitter like me, that makes achieving the "full" 42-point version of Hitchhiker rather difficult toward the end. However, if you are able to persevere, the rewards of the finished shawlette are definitely worth it.

Full-size Hitchhiker project after 23 points completed.

A recent yarn blog post by humorist Franklin Habit says: "When a non-knitter asks a question about my knitting, that question is most often, 'How long will it take you to finish that?' or the common variation, 'How long would it take you to make me a (type of knitted thing)?'

"So I explain that a hat may require several evenings, particularly if worked in a complicated technique or a fine yarn. I tell them the average number of stitches in a pair of socks (eight million) or a plain sweater (seven hundred trillion) and that completion of the latter may take months.

"The gasps of astonishment are strong enough to suck the stitch markers right out of a raglan."

After I stopped laughing (because I can especially relate to the "seven hundred trillion" feeling), I started wondering just how many stitches are there in a full-size, 42-point Hitchhiker scarf.

The pattern's array of increases and decreases are standardized, so I figured with the help of a spreadsheet, I could calculate the exact number of stitches in each row of the pattern and then add them all up.

My result? 29,579 stitches!!! (And at a minimum average of 3 seconds per stitch, that works out to at least 25 hours to complete.) So, yeah, knitting (particularly for me) takes some determination.