the blue blog archives: wee need skirts

Wee one is so done with pants. She is in some ultra girly girl phase right now and pants are completely out. I've managed to get her to wear tights under her dresses in the last week, but when she wants to wear a shirt and I insist that she must wear something to cover her derriere, there's only one choice: the twirly skirt I knit her last year. So it is clear that we will be needing more of these skirts.

In the stash I found four balls of all seasons cotton in a pale blue - some Rowan member gift pack - just begging to become another Twirly Skirt. I had to dig harder to find my old copy of the pattern though. It's the Barefoot Knits Twirly Skirt but it wasn't ever in the book (which, itself is now, sadly, out of print). The skirt pattern has, however, recently been posted as a free pattern (available in pdf format) on their website. Hooray! It is a super easy and fun knit - just a bit boring with all the stockinette.

I'm pretty sure that my four balls of asc won't be enough to finish the size 4 skirt I'm making, so I'm planning on doing the last tier of the skirt in some navy handknit dk I discovered in the stash near the asc. Also found in the stash: some pinky pink cotton glace for yet another version of the skirt. And if I can make it to the back of the closet - to the back stash - I bet I can find even more twirly skirts waiting to be made!

posted by alison at 5:50 pm | in skirt love

Comments

Could you change it up a bit by adding a texture stitch in alternate tiers? Say, seed stitch?

Posted by: Charlotte at March 25, 2010 7:01 PM

My friend has a tutu pattern on Ravelry. Seems about right for your girly girl!

Posted by: JJ at March 26, 2010 8:17 AM

Thank you, so much, for posting this link and the pic. I follow your blog and often get wonderful ideas for my granddaughter, who is about 6 months younger than your girly girl. They look a lot alike, too, which helps. I even have a ton of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in my stash! Life couldn't be any easier when your stash is all you need! ;-)

Posted by: Susie at March 26, 2010 9:02 AM

Are you knitting the front and back panels separately or knitting it in the round? I love this little pattern and would like to knit it in the round, but I'm not sure if it would affect the twirliness of it.

Posted by: Samantha at March 26, 2010 9:05 AM

I just queued this up to make my 5 year old for the beginning of kindergarten! She loves to twirl, so this will be perfect!

Posted by: Dorothy at March 26, 2010 9:44 AM

I just queued this up to make my 5 year old for the beginning of kindergarten! She loves to twirl, so this will be perfect!

Posted by: Dorothy at March 26, 2010 9:44 AM

Samantha, I'm knitting this in the round. I just cast on 2x the number of stitches called for for front or back and knit every round. Easy peasy!

Posted by: ALISON at March 26, 2010 9:59 AM

Why not add another tier to last year's skirt and get a freebie, so to speak ?

Posted by: Regina at March 26, 2010 10:44 AM

The skirt looks like a really easy (though a bit dull) knit with a terrific shade of blue. How many of these skirts do you think you will be making? We wouldn't want you to go bonkers with all that stockinette!

Posted by: Seanna Lea at March 26, 2010 11:09 AM

What a treat -- and a blessing! As one with four great-nieces and four other young females in her life, this skirt could be a real winner! Many thanks. (And your not-so-wee one is beyond adorable.)

Posted by: Luise at March 26, 2010 11:32 AM

Why not make this pattern up with the same striping as the mandarin sweater? LOL, that would be just enough to push you around the bend, eh?

Posted by: Sandee at March 26, 2010 2:23 PM

i was just planning to cast on for this tonight. i think my 4-year-old niece will love it!

Posted by: Katie B. at March 26, 2010 4:13 PM

I'm sure it'll be gorgeous, whatever yarn you use next. And thanks for the link to the pdf.

Posted by: Toni at March 27, 2010 6:04 AM

Hey -- a question. I want to make these for my girls and I definitely like your elastic option. Looks neater. I'm assuming you made a casing for the elastic and hand-sewed it in place? How did you decide what length of elastic to use? (I know, naive question!) Thanks so much,

Marilyn

Posted by: marilyn at March 29, 2010 12:03 PM

Marilyn, I totally forgot that I'd changed that! Yes, I made a casing (just a hem) deep enough for some inch wide elastic. I usually measure my daughter's waist and then subtract an inch or so. That's pretty standard for elastic waists on kids' skirts in sewing and it's worked for me. You could also measure the waist on an elastic skirt or pants that fit your girls and then use that measurement.

I'm so glad so many of you are excited about this pattern! It's so easy to make and so fun for the girls! :)

Posted by: ALISON at March 29, 2010 9:01 PM

Hey, I hope that you and all the kiddos are going to be "in the pink" (not "eye") very soon.

Posted by: Sandee at March 30, 2010 11:15 AM