knitted pants

Tie Dyed Knits!

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Have you ever tie dyed your knits? I’ve always wanted to but was nervous that I wouldn’t like the result and cry about all of the time I spent knitting. I’ve definitely had my tie dyeing efforts on my own clothes go south, but at the same time, sometimes they turn out amazing! Ultimately I decided to be brave and try something new. I had some white fingering weight yarn in my stash from Knitcrate that was meant to be experimented with and dyed, so I knitted up my “Girly Knits Bra Top” and “Lounging My Best Life” pants pattern on my knitting machine and gave it a go. Thankfully, they turned out as fun and colorful as I was imagining!

The dye that I used was a highly rated kit that I found on Amazon in “Unicorn” colors, which you can find here. My vision was to have an ombre effect of pastel colors. While these colors were a bit brighter than I was going for, you can’t deny that they are fun! I invited some friends over to tie dye their white goods alongside me, and it was a lot less nerve racking doing this process with their support. As you can see, all I did was tie rubber bands around sections of the top and pants, and use a different color dye for each section. The second photo was the set in a bucket after I rinsed the dye out, which clearly did not fade!

Part of the fun of tie dying is that you do give up a bit of control, and let whatever colorful artistic magic is going to happen happen. It was very exhilarating to take off the rubber bands and ultimately see the end result. Here is the finished set below, I like to describe it as what I would look like if I collided with a rainbow!

I hope you enjoyed seeing this knitting tie dye journey and perhaps inspires you to give tie dying your knits a go!

Happy Knitting!

šŸ’œ Lauren

Knitted Pants and Shorts using Fingering Weight Yarn!

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When I designed my “Cozy Up With Me” machine knitted pants and shorts pattern last year, I got a lot of requests for them to be adapted for a standard gauge knitting machine using fingering weight yarn. So here they are! ā€œLounging My Best Lifeā€ is a machine knitting pattern now available on Ravelry and featuresĀ Knit Picks “Muse” Hand Painted Sock Yarn in Thrill. You can knit them on a standard gauge (4.5mm) flat bed knitting machine, and still use the video tutorial I created as the techniques used are the same. Paired with the ā€œGet it Girlā€ Bra Top, a tank top pattern that can easily be converted to standard gauge, this makes an undeniably adorable loungewear set!

ā€œLounging My Best Lifeā€ is also a machine knit shorts pattern which you can make using your standard gauge knitting machine. These shorts are so cute and comfy, and I have loved wearing mine around the house and to sleep in. For this pair I used Knitcrate’s “La Brebis” Marled Sock Yarn in Grey Twist. While this particular yarn is discontinued, you can use any 4-ply yarn you like to make this design!

I know a lot of hand knitters also prefer knitting with fingering weight yarn, so these shorts and pants are available as a hand knitting pattern as well. ā€œKeep Dreamingā€ is a hand knitted shorts (and pants!) pattern featuring Knit Picks “Muse” Hand Painted Sock Yarn. Isnā€™t this yarn gorgeous? It is the Kindness Speckle color way, and when knit up looks like a beautiful piece of art . This design is basically the same as ā€œOmbrĆ© All Dayā€ Shorts and Pants but using fingering weight yarn. I love how they came out, especially paired with the ā€œGet it Girlā€ Bra Top (which you can adapt for any gauge). You couldnā€™t look any cuter while getting some zzz’s!

I always listen to your pattern requests, so if you have any please comment below!

Happy Knitting!

šŸ’œ Lauren

Knitted Shorts and Pants!

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In my last post I shared how to make knitted shorts and pants on a knitting machine, and they turned out so cute that I decided to make them into hand knitting patterns too!

These knitted pants are shorts are super cute, and are so much fun to make.Ā  They are the same as the machine knit designs, but are knitted in the round from the top down so that they are seamless and you can try them on as you go.Ā  A much smaller needle is used for the waistband so that it creates an elastic-like fabric so they can stay up on their own, with instructions included for inserting elastic if you wish, or adding eyelets to insert a drawstring because drawstrings are super cute too!

The pants have a relaxed fit and are so comfy and cozy, you won’t want to take them off!Ā  If you want them to fit more like leggings (perfect for Winter outings!) knitting them a size down will do the trick šŸ˜Š

The shorts feature KnitĀ Picks Chroma Twist Worsted which is a new Superwash Merino Wool yarn that comes in 10 fabulous color combinations.Ā  Each colorway has a twisted color changing gradation that is so much fun to watch take form.Ā  This yarn is super soft and luxurious and was such a delight to work with.Ā  I bought a couple skeins because I was obsessed with the pink and purple Lupine color (šŸ’œ šŸ’•!!) and ended up making these shorts, which I think are the perfect project for it!

If you wouldĀ like a non-wool yarn, Lion Brand Ferris Wheel is a great alternative.Ā  I used this yarn to knit the pants in the Carousel colorway.Ā  LikeĀ Chroma Twist Worsted , this yarn naturally forms a gorgeous color changing gradient, and comes in tons of fun color combinations.Ā  Any option you choose will guarantee you a beautiful and unique pair of knitted pants that you will treasure.Ā  Both the shorts and pants use a worsted weight yarn, so either yarn can be used for either pattern.

You can find the patterns for the knitted shorts and pants on Ravelry or Etsy as “Ombre All Day” Shorts and “Ombre All Day” Pants.

You could of course knit these designs in solid colored yarns as well and they would be just as cozy and cute!Ā  For inspiration, here are machine knit versions of these designs.Ā  The dark grey pants were knitted using Lion Brand Pound of Love in Charcoal, the burgundy leggings were knit using Knit Picks Brava Worsted in Currant, the grey shorts the same yarn in Cobbestone Heather, and the pink shorts were made withĀ Lion Brand Touch of Alpaca in Blush.

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Hope you enjoy these fun new patterns!

šŸ’œ Lauren