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From short shorts to capris

May 82013

Capris on a Spring Day

When I made my short shorts pattern I knew I would eventually knit pants. The whole point of the shorts pattern was to work out the fit of the seat and rise because after that it’s just legs and whatever amount of stylish shaping I wanted to add to them.

These are my first pair of pants using that pattern, and what I changed to make them.

First off, this doll has the Resinsoul double-jointed 42cm girl body (known in the hobby as the Rong body after the first doll released using it). The shorts pattern was written to fit the Resinsoul single-jointed 42cm girl body (variously known as the Mei body, the old body, etc.) which has 17cm hips. The Rong body has 18cm hips so the shorts as written fit it very tightly, outlining the hip sockets.

Since I didn’t want the pants to be very tight I added one more set of hip increases, this adds four stitches around the hips, about one extra centimeter, and two additional rows of depth to the rise. These are low rise pants even with the added two rows and I could have added a few more rows before the crotch increases if I had wanted. I suggest adding one set of hip increases for every centimeter over 17 that your doll’s hips measure, so if your doll has 19cm hips add two additional hip increase rounds. If your doll has much larger hips consider adding stitches (4 stitches per centimeter) to the cast on instead of, or in addition to, the extra hip increases since the cast on edge has to be able to stretch over the hips.

The additional rounds of hip increases add two stitches per added round to each leg, so you need to account for them when placing the markers for the crotch increases and when dividing for the legs.

Spring Capris

[Please excuse the wrinkles, she’s been sitting in them for a while and I didn’t smooth them out enough when I took photos.]

After dividing for the legs I knit one and a half inches, about twenty-five rounds. This made the pants leg reach just below the fullest part of the doll’s thigh. I could have knit a bit less, maybe twenty rounds, so that I would start the decreases closer to the fullest part of the thigh. It is difficult to judge the length with the knitting in progress due to the fact that the crotch is still open when knitting the first leg.

Since I wanted a tapered leg I started decreasing one stitch every other round, alternating using a k2tog at the start of the round with an ssk at the end of the round, this creates the effect of an inseam (which you can see a bit of in the photo above). I made eleven decreases, leaving me with an odd number of stitches for the mock rib pattern I planned for the hem. If I had started the decreases sooner I would have spaced them at every third round to make the angle of the taper a bit less severe.

After finishing the decreases I knit one inch more of leg (sixteen rounds), putting the length just below the knee and about half an inch less than what I wanted the final length to be. Then to set up for the split hem I knit half the stitches so I would be at the outside of the leg to start knitting back and forth for the hem.

Mock Rib
Row 1 (WS): purl
Row 2: (k1, p1) to last stitch, k1

I knit seven rows of the mock rib and then bound off in the rib pattern. To neaten up the V slit I put the remaining loop from the bind off onto a #7 (1.5mm) steel crochet hook and slip stitched along the V before fastening off.

The bullet list of changes I made:

  • extra hip increases as needed
  • knit 1.5″ after dividing for legs (below fullest part of thigh)
  • decrease 1 stitch every other round, alternating start and end of round, 11 times
  • knit 1″ even (until 0.5″ less than desired length)
  • knit to outside of leg, turn and knit 7 rows of mock rib for hem
  • bind off in pattern
  • crochet slip stitch along hem V slit to neat it up

The bullet list of changes I suggest:

  • extra hip increases as needed
  • knit 1.25″ after dividing for legs (at fullest part of thigh)
  • decrease 1 stitch every third round, alternating start and end of round, 11 times
  • knit even until 0.5″ less than desired finished length
  • knit to outside of leg, turn and knit 7 rows of mock rib for hem
  • bind off in pattern
  • crochet slip stitch along hem V slit to neat it up

You can purchase the original short shorts pattern from Ravelry with this link:

This pattern is also available from PayHip.

Lace Yoke Shell

Mar 262013

It’s been about two years since I knit this, so this post is going to be based off my notes and my memory. If I knit another one and find errors I will correct them.

Lace Yoke Shell

First of all, this post is not a pattern. It’s a summary of what I did to convert the Dolphin Bay Eyelet Baby Top from the Naturally Caron site to fit an adult 42cm slim mini ball-jointed doll (specifically a Resinsoul Mei, default single jointed body). You will need to have a copy of the original pattern for this to make any sense at all. It’s free, go get it.

I used extra fine crochet cotton (#30 I think, I lost the label years ago), 000 (1.5mm) and 00000 (5/0, 1mm) needles. The final gauge in stockinette after blocking and plenty of wear is about 6-6.25 st/cm or 151/4-157/8 sts/in

[And now I’m going to quietly freak out about knitting about 61-63.5 sts to 4″/10cm….]

Step 1: Convert the lace yoke pattern for the smallest size to be knit in the round rather than back and forth. The pattern is well written and this should not be too difficult. Note that I also changed the k3tog to sk2p.

Step 2: Using your larger needles cast on 128 stitches (8 repeats of the lace pattern) and work rounds 1-14 of the yoke pattern.

Switch to your smaller needles and work round 15 and then four rounds of k1, p1 ribbing and bind off loosely. Check that the yoke fits on your doll’s neck before cutting the thread.

Step 3: With your larger needles and starting at one of the purl to knit transitions on the cast on edge, pick up 40 stitches across three knit and two purl segments of the yoke for the back.

Lace Yoke Shell - WIP

The above photo may help make that more clear. This was taken after the following two steps were completed.

Step 4: Make short rows as follows to even out the back so it’s straight across. When the instructions say “turn” use whatever method you like, I used Japanese short rows, then knit or purl back to the end of the row. Close any gaps as you pass over them.

p3, turn
p6, turn
p9, turn
p12, turn
p40
k3, turn
k6, turn
k9, turn
k12, turn
k40

Step 5: Cast on underarms and pick up the front. The underarms are “middle of the row” cast ons, so use whatever method you prefer for those. I generally use the crochet cast on, but knitting on or the cable cast on would work just as well. I would avoid the thumb cast on because it can become very loose and this will be the finished edge of the armhole.

Cast on 10 stitches for the underarm
Pick up 40 stitches for the front as for the back, placing markers after 12 and 28 stitches (16 stitches between markers).
Cast on 10 stitches for the second underarm and join to work in the round.

The start of the round is now the middle of the second underarm that you cast on (left underarm).

Knit 16 rounds. This should be right at the fullest point of the bust, the back will be lower than the front.

Step 6: Work short rows for the bust. Again, use whatever method you like and close the gaps as you pass over them. After turning continue to the next line of instructions.

Knit to the second marker, turn
p16, turn
k19, turn
p22, turn
k25, turn
p28, turn
k31, turn
p34, turn
k37, turn
p40, turn
k43, turn
p46, turn
Knit to the end of the round

At this point the front and back should be even and the bust should be covered.

Knit 12, place marker, k16, place marker, knit to the end of the round, closing the remaining short row gap.

Lace Yoke Shell - WIP 2

You should have something that looks similar to the above image at this point.

Step 7: Do waist decreases.

Knit to 2 stitches before first marker, k2tog, knit to second marker, slip marker, ssk, repeat for the second half of the round.
Knit 3 rounds

Repeat the last four rounds.

Work the decrease round once more.

Knit 20 rounds.

Lace Yoke Shell - WIP 3

Step 8: Do hip increases. I mirrored my m1 increases, right leaning at the first and third markers, left leaning at the second and fourth.

Knit to the first marker, m1, slip marker, knit to the second marker, slip marker, m1, repeat for the second half of the round.
Knit 3 rounds

Repeat the last 4 rounds three more times (104 stitches)

Step 9: Knit the hem lace pattern. There are 8 repeats per round. Every row is shown in the chart.

Bind off loosely in pattern.

Weave in ends and block.

Blocking this can be a bit challenging. Mine is knit in cotton so I wet blocked it, laying it flat and tugging the hem and shoulders into shape. I rolled up a bit of paper towel to fill out the bust area as it air dried.

I think, if I were doing this now, I would do the same until I was in the middle of the 20 rounds at the waist and then knit the hem pattern from the original baby top, adapted as needed, up to the waist and then graft the two parts. I like the top down construction for the ease of fitting the bust but I suspect the bottom up hem lace would look better.

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Omnifariously Knotty is where I plan to collect my various crafty patterns, tutorials, and projects. Most of the knitting and crochet patterns will be hosted on Ravelry and will be available through my storefront there as well as by direct links here. However, this will not be just a mirror of my Ravelry storefront, I will also be including things here that will not fit on Ravelry. Those things may include sewing patterns, crafting projects, and tutorials.