Lace Dress in Rowan Kidsilk Haze - D176 - Downloadable PDF

Lace Dress in Rowan Kidsilk Haze – Pattern Summary (D176 by Sarah Hatton)

This Lace Dress is an elegant, intermediate-level knitting pattern designed by Sarah Hatton and published by Rowan. Available as a downloadable PDF, the pattern produces a beautifully feminine dress featuring an intricate lace body, delicate bead embellishment, and a smooth stockinette stitch upper section. It is a sophisticated project that rewards knitters who are comfortable working from charts and managing multiple needle sizes and stitch techniques simultaneously.

What Is Being Made

The finished garment is a full-length or midi-style knitted dress designed to fit a range of bust sizes from 81 cm to 107 cm (32 to 42 inches). The dress features a lace-patterned skirt section that transitions into a stockinette stitch bodice, shaped with waist shaping, armhole shaping, and a back neck opening. The design is photographed in Smoke 605, giving the finished piece a soft, smoky, and luxurious appearance.

Techniques Used

• Lace knitting from a chart: The lower body of the dress is worked from a 32-row lace pattern repeat chart, requiring the knitter to read and follow a charted stitch pattern with defined beginning and ending points that vary by size.
• Waist shaping: Decreases and increases are worked at regular intervals to shape the garment through the waist and hip, including decreasing every 6th row and increasing every 10th row to create a fitted silhouette.
• Needle changes: The pattern transitions between three different needle sizes — 3¼mm (US 3), 3¾mm (US 5), and 4mm (US 6) — to control tension and fabric density across different sections of the dress.
• Armhole and shoulder shaping: Stitches are cast off at the beginning of rows and then decreased on both right-side and alternate rows to form neat, tailored armholes.
• Back neck shaping: Stitches are worked separately on each side of the neck with decreases on consecutive and alternate rows to create a smooth, shaped neckline.
• Bead knitting: Small matt glass beads are incorporated into the fabric using a special technique abbreviated in the pattern as bead 1, which involves placing a bead by taking the yarn to the front of the work at a specific point in the row.

Stitches Used

• Lace pattern stitch: A 32-row repeating lace pattern worked from a chart, forming the decorative skirt section of the dress. Lace knitting typically combines yarn-over increases with corresponding decreases to create open, decorative holes in the fabric.
• Stockinette stitch (st st): Used for the bodice and upper sections of the dress, worked by alternating knit rows on the right side and purl rows on the wrong side to create a smooth, classic fabric.
• Standard increases and decreases: Used throughout for shaping, including single stitch decreases at each end of rows and increases that are integrated into the lace pattern where required.

Tension

Achieving correct tension is essential for this pattern. The specified tension is 22 stitches and 28 rows to 10 cm measured over the lace pattern using 4mm (US 6) needles, and 22 stitches and 32 rows to 10 cm measured over stockinette stitch using 3¾mm (US 5) needles. Knitters should work a tension swatch before beginning to ensure accurate sizing.

Materials

• Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in a lace weight, requiring 4 to 5 x 25g balls depending on size. The yarn is photographed in Smoke 605. Kidsilk Haze is a signature Rowan yarn known for its blend of kid mohair and silk, producing a halo effect that enhances the delicacy of lace patterns.
• Needles: Three pairs of straight needles are required — 1 pair 3¼mm (no 10) (US 3