American Girl Doll Ocean Waves Summer Dress

Free Doll Dress Knitting Pattern

Skills Required/Techniques Used:

-Knit & purl, cast on & bind off

-Increasing:yarn over (yo)

-Decreasing: knit 2 together (k2tog)

-Working in the round on double pointed needles

-Working lace patterns

-Picking up stitches

Materials: Comfy Fingering by Knit-Picks fingering weight yarn (75% Pima Cotton, 25% acrylic), 218 yards (199 meters)/
50 grams, color Peapod 1 ball and White 1/4 of the ball (for green dress)
Comfy Fingering by Knit-Picks fingering weight yarn (75% Pima Cotton, 25% acrylic), 218 yards (199 meters)/
50 grams, color Celestial 1 ball and White 1 ball (for white and navy dress).

Notions: yarn needle, 2 pieces of waste yarn, small plastic or metallic sew-on snaps, sewing needle and thred of matching color to sew on the snaps.

Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) circular and double pointed needles (dpn) OR SIZE NEEDED TO OBTAIN GAUGE

Gauge for stockinette stitch: 26 st x 36 rows = 4” x 4” (10 cm x 10 cm)

Pattern Notes:

Garter stitch: all rows knit

Stockinette stitch: odd rows (RS) knit, even rows (WS) purl.

Lace Pattern

The lace pattern is worked as a 6-row repeat, the first row has 7 sts, which increases to 17 sts in the last row. Five rows of lace are worked in the same way: rows 1-3 knit, rows 4 and 6 purl. All changes are worked in the 5th row of the 6-row repeat. Every fifth row will be described below.

Abbreviations

RS - right side
WS - wrong side
k - knit
p - purl
yo - yarn over

k2tog - knit 2 sts together
bb - button band
pu&k - pick up and knit
psso - (slip one, knit the next 2 together, pass the slipped over the k2tog) = 1 st instead of 3

RS - right side

WS - wrong side

sm - slip marker


Dress

The dress is worked top-down back and forth with button bands on the back. The bodice is worked in stockinette st with raglan sleeves, the skirt is worked with a wave-like lace pattern.

Raglan is worked with yarn over before and after the marked raglan stitches in each right side (RS) row. There are 4 raglan lines, thus the number of stitches is increased by 8 in each RS row .

Selvedge stitches are worked in the following way: knit the first stitch in a row, purl the last one.

The button bands are worked in garter stitch - all rows knit.

Yoke

With blue/green yarn and circular needles cast on 52 stitches (44 + 6 button band + 2 selvedge). Work 2 rows in garter stitch.
Change to white yarn, check the stitches :
1 selvedge - 3 button band (bb) - 4 right back - 1 raglan (place the first marker before this st) - 10 right sleeve - 1 raglan (place the second marker before this st) - 12 front - 1 raglan (place the third marker before this sy) - 10 left sleeve - 1 raglan (place the forth marker before this st) - 4 left back - 3 bb - 1 selvedge
Row 3 (RS) and all RS rows: *knit all sts till the marker, yo, sm, k1, yo - repeat from * 4 times, knit all sts till the last one, p1.

Row 4 (WS) and all WS rows: k 4 (1 selvedge st and 3 bb sts), purl to last 4 sts, k 3 (bb), p 1 (selvedge). Slip markers while working.
Work 22 rows. In each RS row you increase the number of stitches by 8.

After row 3 the number of sts is 60

After row 5 = 68 sts

After row 7 = 76 sts

After row 9 = 84 sts

After row 11 = 92 sts

After row 13 = 100 sts

After row 15 = 108 sts

After row 17 = 116 sts

After row 19 = 124 sts

After row 21 = 132 sts

Up to this point, the blue-and-white and green dresses are knitted identically. Here, I’m going to describe the blue-and-white dress. If you are interested in making the green dress, scroll down to the section titled “For the green dress”.

For the blue-and-white dress

Divide for bodice and sleeves:
Row 23 (RS): k 19, transfer the next 30 sts to a piece of waste yarn, cast on 3, k 34, transfer the next 30 sts to a piece of waste yarn, cast on 3, k 18, p 1. = 78 sts
Row 24 (WS): k4, p 70, k3, p1.
Row 25 (RS): knit to last st, purl 1.
Repeat rows 24-25 five more times, after row 34, start the skirt.

Skirt

The lace pattern on the skirt is worked over 6 rows. Change yarn every 6 rows.

With blue yarn:
Rows 1 (RS), 2 (WS), 3 (RS): knit, last st purl.
Rows 4 (WS) and 6 (WS): k 4, purl to last 4, k 3, p 1. (The first 4 and last 4 sts are the button bands.)
Row 5 (RS): k 4, *k2tog, (yo, k1) 3 times, yo, k2tog - repeat from * 10 times, k3, p1 (=98 sts)

With white yarn:
Rows 7 (RS)-8 (WS)-9 (RS): knit, last st purl.
Rows 10 (WS) and 12 (WS): k 4, purl to last 4, k 3, p 1.
Row 11 (RS): k4, * k2tog, (k 1, yo) 4 times, k1, k2tog - repeat from * 10 times, k3, p1. (=118 sts)

With blue yarn:
Rows 13 (RS)- 14 (WS)-15 (RS): knit, last st purl.
Rows 16 (WS) and 18 (WS): k 4, purl to last 4, k 3, p 1.
Row 17 (RS): k4, *k2tog, k2, (yo, k 1) 4 times, k1, k2tog - repeat from * 10 times, k3, p1. (=138 sts)

With white yarn:
Rows 19 (RS)- 20 (WS)-21 (RS): knit, last st purl.
Rows 22 (WS) and 24 (WS): k 4, purl to last 4, k 3, p 1.
Row 23 (RS): k4, *k2tog 2 times, (yo, k 1) 5 times, yo, k2tog 2 times - repeat from * 10 times, k3, p1. (=158 sts)

With blue yarn:
Rows 25 (RS)- 26 (WS) -27 (RS): knit, last st purl.
Rows 28 (WS) and 30 (WS): k 4, purl to last 4, k 3, p 1.
Row 29 (RS): k4, *k2tog 2 times, (k1, yo) 6 times, k1, k2tog 2 times - repeat from * 10 times to last 4 sts, k3, p1. (=178 sts)

With white yarn:
Rows 31-33: knit, last st purl.
Rows 34 and 36: k 4, purl to last 4, k 3, p 1.
Row: 35: k4, * k2tog 3 times, (yo, k1) 5 times, yo, k2tog 3 times - repeat from * 10 times to last 4 sts, k3, p1. (=178 sts)
Repeat rows 31-36 four times or to desired length. Change colors every 6 rows.
To finish the hem, work 4 rows in garter stitch and bind off.

For the green dress

Divide for bodice and sleeves: change to green yarn.
Row 23 (RS): k 19, transfer the next 30 sts to a piece of waste yarn, cast on 3, k 34, transfer the next 30 sts to a piece of waste yarn, cast on 3, k 18, p 1. = 78 sts

Rows 24 (WS) and 25 (RS): k77, p1.
Rows 26 (WS) and 28 (WS): k 4, purl 70, k 3, p 1.
Row 27 (RS): k 4, *k2tog, (yo, k1) 3 times, yo, k2tog - repeat from * 10 times, k2, p1. (=98 sts)
Continue the skirt as described above for the blue-and-white dress starting with row 7. Repeat rows 31 - 36 five times or to desired length.
To finish the hem, work 4 rows in garter stitch and bind off.

Sleeve

Sleeves are worked in the round on double pointed needles (dpn).
Transfer 30 sts from waste yarn to dpn, distribute them evenly. With white yarn:
Round 1: pu&k 3 sts underarm, knit 30. Place a marker, this is the beginning of the round.
Round 2: psso (slip one, knit the next 2 together, pass the slipped over the k2tog), k 30. (= 31 sts)
With green/blue yarn knit rounds 3 and 5, purl round 4. Bind off.

Finishing

Weave in the yarn ends. Sew snaps to the button band.