Frozen Fever Inspired Transition Knits

These last couple weeks we've been taking a look back at all my Frozen inspired knitting projects over the last year or so. I wanted to wrap it all up with this amazing hand knit set inspired by the Frozen Fever short. I shared with you all my Frozen Fever inspired poncho earlier this summer. It's a lighter weight poncho than I usually wear, but I am always looking for a little something as the seasons change that isn't overbearing. I really loved the way the poncho turned out, and I had SO MUCH yarn left over that I was able to make some fingerless mitts and a hat to complete the look! I am thrilled with the result! I used a bunch of odd balls of knit picks Palette fingering yarn that I had collected over the years. This was an incredibly economical project and the yarn looks great with this color work. And for me it was a great way to use up some of the stash yarn I've been collecting! If you are interested in the pattern collection or more detail on the project you can head over to my ravelry page and check them all out!

Now if there's a freak snow storm in the middle of summer I will be TOTALLY prepared. And if not, I really can't wait for fall! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Hand Knit Disney Princess Anna Mittens

These darling mittens are my very own creation! Millie asked me to knit her some and I just couldn't say no! Who could resist such a request? Of course it's finally getting warm enough here that she won't need them now; but won't they be adorable next winter?

I couldn't find a pattern on Revelry that suited me; after all, the rosemaling in Frozen is so beautiful and rather specific to the region. So instead of endless searching I decided to make a pattern myself. I've knit enough mittens and socks to understand the structure and they don't have to fit just so, the way a sweater should. They can be forgiving. Especially for a child!

I designed the charts from those found in Mastering Color Knitting. And I used a basic toddler sized mitten pattern and adjusted the size ever so slightly to accommodate the patterns I chose. If you are into making your own charts you should check out the Tricksy Knitter. There you can create your chart and edit the colors quickly and easily until you have the combination you like.

In the end, I love the way they look! They definitely remind me of Anna, who inspired them. I used Palette yarn, a wool blend, from Knit Picks, a very affordable online yarn supplier. You can find all the details, and a rough idea of the pattern, on my Ravelry pages.

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney's Frozen Inspired Hand Knit Socks

These are the Official Ice Master And Deliverer socks! No refunds, not exchanges! Perfect when you want to stay in and cuddle.

I have been wanting to make a pair of men's socks for a while now, and had been playing with the idea of themeing them to Kristoff from Frozen. And when I walked into a local yarn shop in Maryland and saw this lovely sparkly grey yarn, I knew I had found exactly what I needed. Now, not too many men will wear the sparkly yarn (which doesn't show up so well in the photos, but is really pretty in person), but this pattern would be fantastic in a muted grey as well. You know, for that less flashy Ice Master.

I made this pattern up, but if you have experience knitting socks and wanted to make your own pair, I have all the details on my Ravelry page. Just use a basic sock pattern as a reference. And if you do knit up a pair be prepared to be amazed at just how quickly they will come together. I did the pair of these in a week flat. That's lightening speed for me! I could easily see making these as gifts for that reason alone.

I don't know about you, but I'm certainly getting the itch to get back into fall sweaters and warm socks. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Cowl Knitting Chart Inspired by Oaken in Disney's Frozen

Since I have been busy knitting up a new Frozen Fever inspired set (Poncho, Fingerless Mitts, & Hat), I thought it would be fun to rerun my other Frozen inspired knitting this week. After all, it's time to start thinking about all those Christmas gifts you have to knit! Enjoy this post from two summers ago!

Those of you who follow me regularly know that I love to knit up Disney patterns. And when I saw Frozen for the first time I just kept thinking about all the knitting that was possible from the patterns in the movie! Nordic design lends itself to that sort of knitting, but there are just SO MANY PATTERNS in the movie! I'll be busy for months.

The first project I've created is this wonderfully warm cowl inspired by Oaken. You remember him, right? Big summer blow-out! I loved his sweater from the start - it is a fabulous sort of ugly sweater that was just begging to be knit. I first designed the pattern using my trusty colored pencils and graph paper. And once I had the chart all drawn up, I realized that this pattern, having been originally though up and drawn by graphic designers, and not knitters, did not have the correct stitch count to be easily converted to an actual sweater. So I decided to go with something that wouldn't need any shaping or decreases/increases. A cowl was perfect. It can be knit in the round and then sewn together at the ends so no one has to see the backside of the fair isle! Perfect.

Except that the larger pattern with the two-color diamonds (circles) should really be knit intarsia. Well, I decided to go for it anyway. And while the intarsia was working I was getting frustrated with all the strands of yarn. I decided to knit it as I would fair isle, sort of making it up as I went along, holding three colors instead of two. As long as I remembered to wrap the floats it was just fine. And far less tangled! I didn't mind the extra thickness in back, as it's supposed to be keeping me warm and will be all bunched up around my neck anyway.

I really love the way this cowl turned out. Please forgive me for not having blocked it before taking the photo; but these carrots were destined for dinner and I really wanted to use them in the photo! If you are interested in my charts, you can find them at Tricksy Knitter in the shared charts section. I've also included them here for your personal use. If you knit anything with them I'd love to see it! Please be sure to tag me on Ravelry (@HarrisonAmy) or IG (@merryweatherscottage)!

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney's Frozen Arendelle Notebooks

Here is another great use for the Frozen Travel Posters available at the Disney Movie Rewards site. (I swear, I'm not getting paid to promote them; I just love that they have all this stuff available for free!)

While we do have a younger set of kids traveling with us to Disney this fall, we also have an older set. This means that the coloring pages and activity sheets just aren't going to cut it for them. They needed something a little more grown up. And I really like how these are not gender specific. I think these could easily go to a boy or a girl.

I decided to make notepads for them from some of the old paper we have lying about. (Do you have all sorts of unused school supplies that come home too?!) I put in regular lined paper, but I also included some graph paper and some 3-D drawing paper too. I made sure to cut it down to about 1/4" smaller than the covers. I printed the covers out on card stock as a booklet in Adobe Reader. If you are looking for a source for the heavy book boards for the covers, check with a local photographer. Sometimes they have it for free! You can also search for "book board" on Etsy or Ebay for suppliers. And of course, you could recycle some from existing composition books and notebooks around the house!

I loved to doodle and journal as a kid (well, as an adult too!), so I'm hoping these will be just the thing for the older kids in our travel party. And of course, they could be used as autograph books too should the need arise!

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Hand Knit DIY Disney Inspired Frozen Poncho

So this spring I needed a stash busting project for all these gorgeous sample yarns I purchased. I had originally thought about making a boatload of socks, because I really wanted a small airplane-worthy project; but this yarn is 100% wool and with my laundry habits, it was sure to produce some felted socks by the end of the year! So I opted for a poncho instead. (I tend to be much better about hand washing the sweaters. They don't hide in the laundry basket the same way the socks do!) It was kind of a bulky project for the airplane, but I was committed to it by the time my flights were upon me!

I found this lovely free pattern by DROPS designs at Garn Studio. I altered the color scheme of my poncho to fit my Frozen-inspired color palette. And the pattern has a different design around the neck, but I just couldn't make it work properly around my neck. So at last I ripped out the scarf-like neck and just did a simple K1, P1 rib for a mock turtle neck instead. I much prefer the look of it!

You can see all the details about this poncho on my Ravelry page if you want to make one yourself or for your Frozen obsessed friend! With so much flight time, I was able to complete it in just about a month. And, I have enough stash yarn left to make some of the matching wrist warmers! It's the perfect "chill is in the air" set that will look lovely in the fall. I can't wait until it's cool enough to use it! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Hand Knit Disney Princess Anna Mittens

These darling mittens are my very own creation! Millie asked me to knit her some and I just couldn't say no! Who could resist such a request? Of course it's finally getting warm enough here that she won't need them now; but won't they be adorable next winter?

I couldn't find a pattern on Revelry that suited me; after all, the rosemaling in Frozen is so beautiful and rather specific to the region. So instead of endless searching I decided to make a pattern myself. I've knit enough mittens and socks to understand the structure and they don't have to fit just so, the way a sweater should. They can be forgiving. Especially for a child!

I designed the charts from those found in Mastering Color Knitting. And I used a basic toddler sized mitten pattern and adjusted the size ever so slightly to accommodate the patterns I chose. If you are into making your own charts you should check out the Tricksy Knitter. There you can create your chart and edit the colors quickly and easily until you have the combination you like.

In the end, I love the way they look! They definitely remind me of Anna, who inspired them. I used Palette yarn, a wool blend, from Knit Picks, a very affordable online yarn supplier. You can find all the details, and a rough idea of the pattern, on my Ravelry pages.

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Disney's Frozen DIY Sundress

This Olaf-themed Pinwheel Sundress is just the thing our Minnie needs for our fall trip to Walt Disney World!Honestly, there are just so many things about this sundress that make me happy!

First, the fabric is so much fun. It's all Olaf and summer postcards and bringing back summer! It is currently being sold at JoAnn's, both in the store and online (at least at the time of this writing). It's a cotton poly blend, but it works because it's so kitschy! It was a bit slippery to sew, but using some spray starch to keep the folds in place made a huge difference!

If you missed the post of Little Chef's Hawaiian shirt made from the same fabric, be sure to catch it. The style of this dress is the perfect thing for a hot Disney theme park day. And it will definitely be worn (along with Little Chef's shirt) the day we meet Anna and Elsa! I can't wait!

The second thing about this dress that makes me happy, is that it's an Oliver + S pattern and I have been dying to try one for the longest time! I think they are so adorable, classic yet modern, but they seem really intimidating. I think that's because they are so classic (which usually means tailoring). But let me assure you this Pinwheel Dress was NOT HARD to make. The pattern only called for one technique I had never tried and the entire thing was explained step by step in the directions. It was super easy to follow and so fun to make!

Lastly, I love the fact that Minnie can be rough and tumble in this dress. It doesn't hinder her play at all but still looks adorable. It can play with Pooh and still be royal enough to meet a queen. It's perfect. I'd love to know what toddler patterns you are sewing right now.

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney's Frozen Inspired Hand Knit Socks

These are the Official Ice Master And Deliverer socks! No refunds, not exchanges! Perfect when you want to stay in an cuddle.

I have been wanting to make a pair of men's socks for a while now, and had been playing with the idea of themeing them to Kristoff from Frozen. And when I walked into a local yarn shop in Maryland and saw this lovely sparkly grey yarn, I knew I had found exactly what I needed. Now, not too many men will wear the sparkly yarn (which doesn't show up so well in the photos, but is really pretty in person), but this pattern would be fantastic in a muted grey as well. You know, for that less flashy Ice Master.

I made this pattern up, but if you have experience knitting socks and wanted to make your own pair, I have all the details on my Ravelry page. Just use a basic sock pattern as a reference. And if you do knit up a pair be prepared to be amazed at just how quickly they will come together. I did the pair of these in a week flat. That's lightening speed for me! I could easily see making these as gifts for that reason alone.

I don't know about you, but I'm certainly getting the itch to get back into fall sweaters and warm socks. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney's Olaf Hawaiian Shirt

It's been such a long time since I have been able to get to my sewing machine! I have loads of projects ready to go, but our little Minnie has been her typical toddler self, into everything and destroying most of it! This does not make me anxious to get out the sewing machine! But I finally, finally found some time to create this adorable little Olaf shirt for Little Chef! It's crazy cute and as intimidated as I was about putting in that collar, it was far easier than I ever imagined.

Both of the littles have had an obsession with Frozen from the moment the DVD arrived. They sing along at every song and even repeat some of their favorite dialogue. When I saw this fabric at JoAnn's I knew it was coming home with me! And since we managed to get a meet and greet with Anna and Elsa for our next visit to WDW (squee!) I know exactly what Little Chef is going to be wearing!

To make this adorable little button up shirt, I used the Kai's Shirt pattern from Heather Ross's book, Weekend Sewing. I love every pattern I have used from this book. They are very easy to follow and the step by step directions make things like sewing a collar and putting in sleeves easy. I even used my button hole presser foot to create button holes, and my button foot to sew on the buttons! I felt quite good about myself.

I have other projects in the works, including a little something for Minnie in this same fabric if I can find the time for it in the near future! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Disney DIY Back To School Lunch Ideas

It's hard to believe it's that time again! We are all headed back to school this week here in our neck of the woods. And because, apparently, I need a certain level of chaos in my life to be fulfilled, we are also heavily into potty training right now. In lieu of all this, I thought I'd run a few of our back to school posts from last year. Enjoy them!

Lunch Sacks

I think one of the best things that Disney (and especially Pixar) does is create an entire world you can believe exists. I love the detail that goes into these movies. And one of my particular obsessions is Disney's fictional brands: Lightyear Tires, BnL, Dinoco, etc. So for this particular project I thought it would be fun to make take-out sacks for those lunches that require disposable packaging. (Our field trip days are always like that!)

These are two of my favorite fictional restaurants, Tiana's Palace, from The Princess and the Frog, and Gusteau's from Ratatouille. I created a couple of PDFs using some custom shapes and Adobe creative suite. The font for Tiana's Palace is Edwardian Script. You probably already have it on your computer. The font for Gusteau's is Futura. It's one of my favorites. If you would like to download these free PDFs, you are welcome to use them! You can find Gusteau's here, and Tiana's Palace here. And to find the info on the Arendelle Chocolatier bag, head on over to this post for all the details.

To print, simply load the bag into the left side of the printer bottom down, bottom fold facing away from you. Don't worry about it looking upside down, it should be. Also, ignore any cropping warnings you get. It should print out properly, but I would recommend running a test copy on paper before putting your bag through. And if you need more visual instructions for printing the bags, check out Geeky Paper Ideas. There was a small learning curve with loading the bags for me. One went in flawlessly, the other was eaten. Ah well. Not everything is sprinkled with fairy dust!

I'd like to design a few more of these in the future, but until then, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney's Frozen Arendelle Notebooks

Here is another great use for the Frozen Travel Posters available at the Disney Movie Rewards site. (I swear, I'm not getting paid to promote them; I just love that they have all this stuff available for free!)

While we do have a younger set of kids traveling with us to Disney this fall, we also have an older set. This means that the coloring pages and activity sheets just aren't going to cut it for them. They needed something a little more grown up. And I really like how these are not gender specific. I think these could easily go to a boy or a girl.

I decided to make notepads for them from some of the old paper we have lying about. (Do you have all sorts of unused school supplies that come home too?!) I put in regular lined paper, but I also included some graph paper and some 3-D drawing paper too. I made sure to cut it down to about 1/4" smaller than the covers. I printed the covers out on card stock as a booklet in Adobe Reader. If you are looking for a source for the heavy book boards for the covers, check with a local photographer. Sometimes they have it for free! You can also search for "book board" on Etsy or Ebay for suppliers. And of course, you could recycle some from existing composition books and notebooks around the house!

I loved to doodle and journal as a kid (well, as an adult too!), so I'm hoping these will be just the thing for the older kids in our travel party. And of course, they could be used as autograph books too should the need arise!

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Cowl Knitting Chart Inspired by Oaken in Disney's Frozen

Those of you who follow me regularly know that I love to knit up Disney patterns. And when I saw Frozen for the first time I just kept thinking about all the knitting that was possible from the patterns in the movie! Nordic design lends itself to that sort of knitting, but there are just SO MANY PATTERNS in the movie! I'll be busy for months.

The first project I've created is this wonderfully warm cowl inspired by Oaken. You remember him, right? Big summer blow-out! I loved his sweater from the start - it is a fabulous sort of ugly sweater that was just begging to be knit. I first designed the pattern using my trusty colored pencils and graph paper. And once I had the chart all drawn up, I realized that this pattern, having been originally though up and drawn by graphic designers, and not knitters, did not have the correct stitch count to be easily converted to an actual sweater. So I decided to go with something that wouldn't need any shaping or decreases/increases. A cowl was perfect. It can be knit in the round and then sewn together at the ends so no one has to see the backside of the fair isle! Perfect.

Except that the larger pattern with the two-color diamonds (circles) should really be knit intarsia. Well, I decided to go for it anyway. And while the intarsia was working I was getting frustrated with all the strands of yarn. I decided to knit it as I would fair isle, sort of making it up as I went along, holding three colors instead of two. As long as I remembered to wrap the floats it was just fine. And far less tangled! I didn't mind the extra thickness in back, as it's supposed to be keeping me warm and will be all bunched up around my neck anyway.

I really love the way this cowl turned out. Please forgive me for not having blocked it before taking the photo; but these carrots were destined for dinner and I really wanted to use them in the photo! If you are interested in my charts, you can find them at Tricksy Knitter in the shared charts section. I've also included them here for your personal use. If you knit anything with them I'd love to see it! Please be sure to tag me on Ravelry (@HarrisonAmy) or IG (@merryweatherscottage)!

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney's Frozen Take-Out Sacks

I recently posted about the Disney Movie Reward site where you can download all manner of cool Disney printables. In that selection of things there is a PDF bundle of Frozen Travel Posters (they also have a bundle of Planes travel posters!). I LOVE this sort of thing and knew I needed to find a way (or several ways) to use these gorgeous graphics. As I was looking at this poster for the Arendelle Chocolatier, I realized it would look great printed on my take-out sacks!

If you missed the earlier back-to-school posts (can you believe it's almost time for that again?), we have printable designs for Gousteau's, and Tiana's Place. These chocolatier bags will fit right in! I also think they would make a great presentation for some lovely chocolates (and maybe some wine!) for a Disney fan. And if you are throwing a Frozen party in the near future (perhaps to bring back summer?), these would be great as goodie bags!

In order to print these on white kraft bags (mine are 6x11"), I had to turn the image upside down. Once you have downloaded your PDF files, open them in Acrobat reader. Once you have it open, select "view" and then "rotate view" until your image is upside down. Load the bags in the printer, centered, and right side up with flap facing back. I printed "current page" at 50%. I love the way these came out. So simple and budget friendly! Just a reminder that if you are printing for the first time, I would recommend doing a test run on paper before loading your sacks to see if the layout is the way you want it.

Have fun with this idea! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!