Dolphin madness

This fall break, my brother and his girlfriend wanted to go to London for the weekend. That’s not easy with two small children, so I agreed to stay in Belgium with my god-daughter. The baby went to London too as she still needed to be breastfed ;).

Staying indoors with a two-year-old for a whole weekend wasn’t recommended by my brother and he proposed that I’d look for an activity. After some contemplation and research I decided to take Janne to the Dolphinarium.

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And what a splendid decision that was! Even today Janne still mentions dolphins at least once when I see her. This talk is often accompanied by her lying down on the floor with both legs in the air to demonstrate how dolphins move their tails. So cute!

So when it was time to decide on my Christmas gifts, a dolphin couldn’t be missing.
It had already been a while since I made an amigurumi, so I wasn’t really enthusiastic about it, but when I saw this pattern on Ravelry, my fingers immediately started to itch.

I chose Veritas Nevada for the yarn, an acrylic yarn I had bought a long time ago to make a rabbit, in lila.
And this was the result

When this present was being unwrapped, my god-daughter initially reacted very frightful of the thing that appeared from the wrapper. This gave me a fright as well! But once she realized what it was, she cuddled it very tightly. Phew!
And today, the dolphin still receives his daily cuddle. I would say this turned out to be a succes! ^_^

Angel Wings Pinafore turned to Dress

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The original pattern for this dress is, as its name says, actually a pinafore, which means it is made to be open at the back. The pattern is a free one by Maxine Gonser.
I made some small adjustments to make an actual dress. Below I’ll provide a copy of the actual pattern in black text. My adjustments are added in blue text.

Have fun!


Angel Wings Pinafore © Maxine Gonser

Original: here

Yarn:
On Ravelry they suggest Bernat Baby Sport Solid, an acrylic yarn with a recommended hook of 4mm. The stated amount of yarn needed it approx. 3oz or 85g.
I used Bergère de France Sport, an acrylic-wool blend with a recommended hook of 3.5 and 4mm. I used a total of 3 skeins, but I made the pattern slightly larger than the original pattern.

Size: newborn – 3 months
My dress fits my niece of 8 months very widely. So she’ll be able to wear it a couple of months more!

Gauge: 7 sts =2 inches 2 rows of dc = 1 inch
I didn’t make a gaugeswatch.

Hook size: 5.0 mm (H)
Because I intended the dress for my niece, older than 3 months, I opted to use a bigger hook. I used an 8mm to cast on and a 7mm for the rest.

Abbreviations:

All terms are US-terms
ch = chain
sls = slip stitch
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
shell = (dc 2, ch1, dc 2) in appointed space
st = stitch
sts = stitches

Body

Start: ch 52

Row 1: sc in second ch from hook an in each ch across. [51]

Row 2: ch 3. turn. dc in each of next 2 sts. * 2dc in next st. dc in each of next 3 sts. repeat from * 11 times. dc in each remaining sts to the end. [63]

Row 3: ch 3. turn. dc in each of the next 3 sts. * 2dc in the next st. dc in each of the next 4 sts repeat from * 11 times. dc in each remaining st. dc on top of ch 3. [75]

Row 4: ch 3.turn. dc in each of the next 3 sts. * 2 dc in the next st.dc in each of the next 4 sts. repeat from * 13 times. dc in each of the remaining sts, dc on top of ch 3. [89]

Row 4b: ch3, turn. dc in each st until end, without increasing. [89]

Skirt

After my extra row (4b) I started crocheting in the round, instead of in rows.
The original instructions are copied below in regular text. My adjustments are in blue text.

Row 5: ch 3. turn. dc in the same st. * skip next st. shell (2dc ch 2 2dc) in next st. repeat from * to end 2dc on top of ch 3. [43 shells]

Row 5 = Round 1: sls in top of beginning ch3 of row 4b, to connect both pieces. Make sure the work isn’t turned on itself. ch3, dc in same st as sls. * skip next st; shell in next st. Repeat from * until end. Skip next stitch, 2dc in last st. sls in top of beginning chain.

Row 6: ch 3 . turn. dc in the same st. shell in next 6 shells. ch 3. skip next 10 shells. shell in next 11 shells. ch 3. skip next 10 shells. shell in next 6 shells 2dc on top of ch 3.

Row 6 = Round 2: ch3, dc in same st as sls. Shell in next 6 shells; ch3. Skip next 10 shells. Shell in next 11 shells; ch3. Skip next 10 shells. Shell in next 6 shells. Skip dc. 2dc in last dc. Sls in top of beginning chain.

Row 7: ch 3. turn. dc in same st. shell in next 6 shells. dc in each of next 3 ch. shell in next 11 shells. dc in each of 3 ch, shell in next 6 shells. 2dc on top of ch 3

Row 7 = Round 3: ch 3, dc in same st as sls. Shell in next 6 shells. dc in each of next 3 ch. Shell in next 11 shells. dc in each of 3 ch. shell in next 6 shells. 2dc in last dc. sls in top of beginning chain.

Row 8: ch 3. turn. dc in same st. shell in next 6 shells. skip first dc of underarm and shell in next dc. shell in next 11 shells. skip first dc of underarm and shell in next dc.shell in next 6 shells. 2dc on top of ch 3. [25 shells]

Row 8 = Round 4: ch 3, dc in same st as sls. Shell in next 6 shells. skip first dc of underarm and shell in next dc. Shell in next 11 shells. skip dc of underarm and shell in next dc. Shell in next 6 shells. 2dc in last dc. sls in top of beginning chain.

Row 9: ch 3. turn. dc in same st. shell in each shell to end. 2dc on top of ch 3.

Row 9 = Round 5: ch3, dc in same st as sls. Shell in each shell to end. 2dc in last dc. sls in top of beginning chain.

Row 10-17: repeat row 9. (so originally 8 repeats)

Row 10-17 = Round 6-13 Repeat row 9. (8 repeats)
Because I wanted a longer skirt, I repeated row 9 an additional 3 times:
Round 14-16: Repeat row 9. (3 extra repeats)

Row 18: ch 3. turn. dc in same st. sc in space before shell.* 5dc in shell. sc in space between shells. repeat from * to the end. sc in space after last shell. 2dc on top of ch 3

Row 18 = Round 21: ch3, dc in same st as sls. sc in space before shell. * 5dc in shell. sc in space between shells. repeat from * to the end. sc in space after last shell. 2dc in last dc. sls in top of beginning chain.

sew 3 buttons on the rt side of the yoke. use space at end of rows for buttonholes. you can also sc up the back side . working 3 ch2 loops for buttonholes on the left side. sc across the neckline and sc down the other side.

If you crocheted a closed skirt (blue instructions), than you now only have a small opening at the top of the neck.

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Around this opening I crocheted sc and created a loop of 2 chains on the left side. On the right side I sewed on a tiny button.

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And that’s it. With these instructions you should be able to make exactly the same dress as me!

Cheers,
Charlotte

Princess dress

The second Christmas present that I finished was the gift for my littlest niece, Emma. Emma also was the lucky recipient of the rainbow hearts-blanket, but for this gift I wanted to make something wearable: a dress.

On Ravelry my eye fell on this project by Gabeycakes.

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And the best bit was that the pattern for this dress turned out to be free: Angel Wings Pinafore by Maxine Gonser.

However, before I start a pattern I have the habit to first read it to get an idea of how it works. That’s when I found out that a pinafore isn’t really a dress, but more an apron.
Too bad, as I really wanted a dress. But no worries, I saw it wouldn’t be too difficult to change the pattern to create a real dress.

I grabbed my chosen yarn (Bergère de France Sport, colour Rosier), a couple of crochet hooks and got to business.
A few hours later, I kid you not, this appeared from my crochet needle.

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W00t, I was so happy! Doesn’t this look incredibly cute? And the changes I made worked really well! The pinafore was successfully changed into a dress!

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The only opening that was left was completely at the top, in the neck. This way the dress could easily pass over the head.

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And Emma’s parents? They immediately changed Emma’s clothes.
Mission accomplished! :D

XxX,
Charlotte

The details:

Pattern: Angel Wings Pinafore with changes
Yarn: Bergère de France Sport
Colour Rosier
Hook: 7mm
Amount of yarn: Exactly 3 skeins
Make your own?: In a next post I’ll post the changes I made.