When Other People Made Your Pattern .....

I want to show you something that made my heart leaped with joy.

Ta..daaa.....

I saw this FO (Ravelry link) yesterday in Ravelry. It looks soo nice and soooo familiar. Guess what? It’s my Dahlia! YUP! Isn’t it so gorgeous? When I read her note, I got a goose bump all over my body. She called me genius! Hahahahaha! Me… Genius…. I could not pass through the door after that due the size of my head.

But seriously, when I read how she did the color change, I was amazed. Because of wanted to avoid cutting and re-attaching yarn (to avoid ends), she used 11 balls of yarn simultaneously, and she even managed to create her own “devise” to be able to do that.

See what I mean? She really put a lot of work into this project.

Lets see some details, shall we.....

Sighhhhhh!!! (I am very happy, can you tell?)

Edited to Add:

Although I managed to sell quite many of my Dahlia Top pattern, I only saw a handful of FOs. Some people even complain about the complexity of this pattern. I guess not everybody like to do math before they even begin, which is a must since you can make this pattern using any yarn or hook, so you have to know your own gauge and based on that gauge and your body measurement, you calculate the number of beginning chain you have to crochet.

Someday, I want to make Dahlia again using DK or even worsted yarn, just to show how it looks like, because I know not everybody like to work with thread or fingering yarn.

My Dahlia as Featured Pattern in Ravelry

In the beginning of this month I got an email from Mary-Heather from Ravelry. Here is what she wrote:

Hi there Lily!
I hope you are well!
Jess and I wanted to write to you because we wanted to feature your beautiful Dahlia Top pattern as the September “Jess’ and MH's Pick,” featured pattern, if you are interested.

This is a free promotional spot that Ravelry uses to highlight indie designers who are distributing patterns on Ravelry, and it appears on the main patterns page when you click on the "crochet" filter or when "knitting + crochet" (the default setting) is selected. The pattern will appear for all of September, not a half-month like the paid Featured Ads.

If you are interested, we will create the image for you using your pretty photo, and put the ad in for you and everything. We think Ravelry users will love the pattern and hope that you would like to highlight it in this spot!

Please let us know what you think! :)

Best regards,

Mary-Heather

And you know what my response was right? Of course I said YES! I AM INTERESTED. As the result you can see the my Dahlia pattern feature in the crochet pattern section.

Other Version

Here other people's version of Dahlia and Sunshine:

See photo below for Sarah's version of Dahlia. She is using Bernat Satin Sport a 100% acrylic yarn.

And here is Rachael from Cattywampus version of Sunshine. She is using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece teal color.

By the way, she is also the designer of Fibonacci Cardigan (Magknits November 2007).

I love them both!

Dahlia Top Crochet Pattern for Sale

I have a weakness on dress or top with empire waist cutting, it makes me look slim. Specially if it’s flair out on the bottom part. Combine with belled sleeves, and we have a winner.



You can make this top with cotton thread or yarn and it will be excellent for summer. Or you can make this with wool, wear it like a jacket and it’s perfect for Fall.
You can wear with a jeans, or you can wear it with a skirt for formal occasion. This top is must for your wardrobe.

This pattern is worked from top down, so you can try it as you go. Also this pattern will show you step by step how to incorporate your own measurement into the pattern. So it will fit you nicely.

This pattern comes with row-by-row written direction in US crochet term and charts.



Sizes: Custom fit
Needle: Your favourite needle. I use size 3.5 mm or US size E - 4
Yarn: Thread, fingering weight or lace weight or any yarn available. I used Cannon Thread size 8 (9 balls)
Yarn requirement: enough for your project
Thread: For size S (M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL) needs 1750 (1925, 2100, 2275, 2450, 2625) meter
Yarn: For size S (M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL) needs 2200 (2420, 2640, 2860, 3080, 3300) meter
Notion: Tapestry needle, 6 buttons (4 fancy and 2 plain), marker
Gauge: Variable
Difficulty: Experienced
Note: Since I always like the clarity of Japanese pattern in symbol, I would like also to use those symbol into my pattern beside the normal english written instruction. You can choose which one you prefer, but I suggest to use both.
Other people version of Dahlia
All entry about this project in my blog

Here is the few pages (total 26 pages) samples of how the pattern looks like:


Click on the button below to buy a copy. It will be sent to you in a zipped PDF file via email once payment is complete. Thanks!

US$ 6.00,-

add to cart

FO: Dahlia Top

Finally after long everdue, I managed to take the photos.

Pattern: Dahlia Top

Source: Here

Materials: Cannon Crochet Thread by Coats Manila Bay. 100% mercerized.

Size 8, 175 metres, Dye Lot No. 019496
Hook: Tulip Crochet Hook 3.5 mm (F)

Start Date: 29 June 2007

Finish Date: 7 Sept 2007

All entry about this project

I love the result of this top. Yes, it took a long time to make (almost 3 months) but the result is worth it. It took a long time because I had to frog so many times. I think I could make almost 3 Dahlia if I didn’t have to frog.



I also love the transition between the sleeve and the body. I chose the solid motif for the body but when reach the sleeves it become lacy and transparent. All worked in the same round. I still amazed how I figured it out.

At first I thought I will use up 10 balls of thread, but in the end I only use 9. It’s because I change the sleeve a bit. Originally the belled sleeve part mimicked the dress part, but when I wore it, I found it a bit heavy. Thus, I changed with more lacy motif.


I also had difficulty with the collar, at first I used all single stitch, but the result was not nice, so I used the same motif like the body and it worked fine.
Actually the waist part a bit too tight for me. However, I frogged that part 2 times already. The third times, I don’t bother to try. Even it was still too tight, I was to lazy to frog. I am not fond of sc stitch. So I let it be. It’s cotton anyway, after used I am sure it will stretch.

Dahlia Photo

I have finished my Dahlia more than 2 weeks now. Two weekends have already come and passed, but still not able to take picture of it. It’s because it always rains in here for the past 2 weeks. This is the perfect weather to knit and lazing around. I need the sun to take photo, otherwise the photo will not turn out nice.

In the mean time, I give you real Dahlia photo:

As for the pattern, I finally managed to finish writing it down. Yippie!!! Finish! Finish! Finish! Opps sorry for the over excitement! It required a lot of work to write the pattern. Actually it’s not the written part that required a lot of work, it’s the drawing part. I had to draw one by one. I tell you, my hand feel painful after 1 or 2 hours drawing using the mouse. That is why normally I just draw about 1 hour everyday. Just one step at a time.

Dahlia Finish!!

Today I finish my Dahlia. I weaved in all the thread ends and also attached all the buttons. Now, I have to wait until Sunday to be able to take photo. I really like how it turns up.

Now, I really have to finish the final part of the pattern and send it to my testers.

Another Dahlia Progress Post

One sleeve is done and another one to go. Then I realized that I didn’t have enough thread to finish this top. I need another 2 balls to be able to make this top tunic length as I plan it. I sent e-mail to Mimi for help. Guess what! She still had 2 balls of thread in the same dye lot. Thanks Mimi! I sent an e-mail a week ago, and what I got in my mail today? Yup, threads from Mimi.

In the meantime, I already started the pattern testing. I managed to write the pattern up to the waist, and thinking that it’s better for me to start the testing, while I am still working on it and still fresh in my mind. Thus by the time I finish this top, hopefully, I won’t have to wait too long before all testing is done, and I can put it on sale and move to another different project.


As usual, I give a lot of flexibility on the pattern. You can use whatever thread or yarn you have and use your favorite hook size. You measure your own gauge. Then using your own measurement and using your own gauge, you just plug in the numbers into my template to get the starting chain. Then from then, just follow the pattern. By doing this, it doesn’t matter how small or how big you are, because you make this top using your own unique measurement.

However, I just realized that not all people like to do calculation. Some people just don’t like to see numbers. So, probably I also need to provide fixed measurement and fixed gauge, just in case.

So far, all my testers have given me valuable inputs. I really appreciate all their efforts and times that they dedicate to test this pattern. You know who you are. I really thank you for that!!! BIG TIME!

Progress on Dahlia

Almost finish my Dahlia.

I started the sleeve before finish the bottom to my desired length, mainly because I want to know whether I got the overall looks as per my original vision. I also attach the button. In the end it will have 4 buttons as per original drawing, but in the meantime I only attach two (just so I can button it up when trying). I must say that I really satisfied with the result so far. It fits me nicely. It doesn't look that good in the photo, but it looks nice on me, and that is more important, right?

After I finish with the sleeves, I will continue with the bottom part to make it longer, pick up the colar and FINISH! No seam no nothing. It work in one piece. Don't you love working in one piece?

In the mean time, I already started drawing my diagram pattern. Boy, it is a lot of work.

Introducing Dahlia

This is going to be my next crochet design.

I am going to make 2 version: thread and yarn. The thread is Canon thread size 8 from Mimi, the yarn is 4 ply fingering weight yarn from Bendigo Woolen Mills.

This time I need several tester. I will finish writing pattern possibly around mid or end of August. If you are interested, pls email me with your size (XS, S, M, L, XL, or even XXXL).