Happy Halloween!

Sweet Hemlock and Caspar the cat wish you a Happy Halloween.

The cat is from the Tiny Window Cat pattern on Ravelry, the rest came out of my head :-)  The pumpkins are just wood beads with a dowel stuck in them to look like a stem, then painted as pumpkins.

The stand was made in the post before, with a little preserved moss glued to it.

And Hemlock is a Spool and Button doll in a witchy outfit.

Knits for your tiny tribe

Knitting does not come naturally to me, but I love it just the same.  Tiny knit sweaters have a sort of magical charm, so I made some for my tiny tribe.  I used fingering weight yarn, and size 00 needles.  About as tiny as my fingers and eyes want to go!

The girls also wanted a knit sundress and rompers, which are basically the same pattern, with a divide for the legs for the rompers.  These patterns are all included here, if you want to make some tiny knits.  The only ones that require dpn's are the pullover, and the long sleeves on the sweater.  I used dpns on the skirt of the dress, but it could be made flat and hemmed up; the legs of the rompers are really easier to make on dpn's.

Knits for tiny tribe

Have a delightful dollmaking day!

Calm the mind; make a doll

Time to return to what I love, and love to share!  Raggedy Anns have always been a favorite of mine...I made several cloth Raggedy's several years ago.  But my true love is crochet, and I found a wonderful pattern to use as a base for all of these Raggedy girls!  The pattern for the basic doll is freely available on Ravelry here:

Kelli Newcome's JJ Doll

JJ is about 8 to 9 inches tall, and Kelli has lots and LOTS of patterns for outfits for this doll.  She also has two other free basic doll patterns, Pookie and Petey.  Each one is incrementally larger than the next.  These dolls make up easy, as they are made in worsted weight yarn.   I turned them into Raggedy's by using button eyes (glossy, dark colored buttons work best), and Raggedy smiles.  If you are feeling adventurous, darken the area around the eye with a colored pencil dipped in water, then rubbed into the yarn with a clean cotton cloth:

That is what I did with this girl above.  You can find tons of Raggedy inspiration from Pinterest (of course!)

I also have a couple of patterns to share, that will fit Kelli's JJ doll.

JJ's Knit Sweater,  knit with worsted cotton yarn and size 4 needles.  The short sleeve version just needs straight needles.  If you want long sleeves, you'll need a set of dpn's.

And JJ's Crochet Undies,   Crocheted with worsted cotton and a size D hook.

A link to all of Kelli Newcome's patterns can be found here:

Kelli's Kreations

Make a doll, and make the world a bit better.

Kitties for Hittys...and other tiny dolls

We love cats!  And so does Hitty Twig.  If you knit, Rabbit Hole Knits on Ravelry has two freely available and delightful knit kitties; one of which you see here in grey on the right.  This is the Tiny Window Cat.  There is also a Tiny Parlor Cat.

I do knit, but it is not my strong suit, so I used the inspiration of the Rabbit Hole Knit kitties and created two crochet kitties.  The ones you see in Twig's lap, and the one of the left.

Crochet Kitty for Hitty

So now, you can have a tiny cat for your tiny doll, whether you knit or crochet.  Enjoy!

Good things in tiny packages

I love tiny dolls.  They work up quick, they require small amounts of yarn to make,  they make great travel companions, and they are adorable :-)

This little sprite is Annie, from Laura Teggs Little Weebee pattern, which is freely available on Ravelry.  I used the bunny version of this pattern, but made Annie in a solid skin color.  She is 4.5 inches tall when crocheted with sportweight yarn and a size C (2.5mm) hook.  I used Knit Picks Brava Sport in Brindle for the skin color, and Wool of the Andes Sport in Fedora for her hair.

I couldn't resist making some simple outfits in knit and crochet for her, which I would like to share with you:

Mini WeeBee Knit and Crochet

Laura also has many patterns for clothing for this little doll, both free and paid.  I highly recommend her wardrobe essentials patterns.  I purchased the Wardrobe Essentials Part Two, there is also a Part One and a Christmas Carolers pattern pack. 

Check out all of Laura's patterns here.

This is Little Weebee Maddie, just in time for Saint Valentine. 

 

Wonderful Weebee

This is Bethany, made from Laura Tegg's freely available Weebee doll pattern.  Laura has several clothing patterns that are free for this adorable doll, and some paid patterns. 

This is a knit outfit that I designed for my Weebee's.  My dolls are small; they are worked with sportweight yarn and a size C (2.5mm) crochet hook, so they turn out about 7.5 inches tall.  My knitting gauge for this outfit is 6sts/inch in stockinette.  Here is the pattern, with some gauge recommendations if your doll is larger than mine:

Knit Outfit for WeeBee

I have NOT tested the pattern on any doll other than my own, so if you make this for your doll, definitely try to check the fit as you go.  This is not as easy with knit as crochet, so you may find yourself making more than one garment to get the fit right.

I would suggest starting with the dress and/or the cap.  These are pretty simple outfits, so adding a few stitches would not be difficult, to get the fit you want.

This dress and cat hat are both from Laura's free patterns; the sweater is from my knit pattern.

And this adorable hoodie and the overalls are also from Laura's free patterns. 

Have a great day, and enjoy the crochet!

Isobel and Moira

Moira and Isobel in their knit finery

Moira, in the navy blue knit, and Isobel, with her fox ears, and the latest two Eva dolls I've made.  I love little knits, so there is now a knit pattern to share for their sweater, cap, and dress:

Eva Knits

Also included is Isobel's fox-ear headband, in crochet :-)

Enjoy!

Mini Knits

Four more Mini Hitty's have leapt off my hook; these girls have the rainbow hair I wouldn't dare wear myself :-)

I've made two of them some knitted clothing:  a sundress and capelet for Ivy (of the green hair), and a tube knitted dress and cat cap for Jade, with the black hair. 

Mini Hitty Knits

The sundress could be easily adapted to bloomers.  Make the skirt less full, and once you've knitted past the crotch of the doll, divide the work evenly for the legs and work them the length you want.

Enjoy!

...but most days are like this!

Some days, a very few days, are blue days.  But thanks to friends, and shared enthusiasms, most days are filled with joy.

Georgia and Pearl finally are fully dressed!  Georgia's outfit of pinafore and gathered dress is from one of Hillary Lang's Make-Along patterns, and so is Pearl's dress.  Pearl's sweater is a sized down version of a sweater I made for a Lalaylala doll.  I used size 0 (2mm) needles instead of size 2 (2.75mm) and Knit Picks Stroll sock yarn.

Both of my girls are sized down to 60% of the original pattern.  The clothing patterns are sized down to 70%; then use the cutting lines as the sewing lines, and add the seam allowance when  cutting out the fabric.  Both dolls and dresses are hand stitched, so I can sit in my favorite chair and create these dear dolls :-)

The sweater pattern can be found here:  Miranda's Knit Cardigan.  Remember, use the smaller kniting needles to fit this smaller cloth doll.

Here is hoping that the spirit of the season chases all your blues away.

Helene's Wardrobe and Fox Box

Helene, and Fox, from the book Jane, The Fox, And Me

Based on the lovely illustrations from the book Jane, the Fox, and Me, I decided to make Helene a wardrobe.  When we first meet Helene, she is in school, and her basic school outfit is a long sleeve pullover and leggings:

Helene's knit pullover and leggings

And she also carries her school supplies in her backpack:

Helene's Backpack

It is winter, and Helene wears a knit jacket,  cap and scarf to keep warm:

Helene's cap and scarf

Helene's knit jacket

Before her friends became her tormentors, they all dreamed of having vintage crinoline dresses, and Helene's mother makes her one.   But, it isn't vintage, and it has become last year's dream.

Helene's crinoline dress

At camp, Helene wears shorts and a tee shirt and sneakers.   These outfits are made from some basic patterns for Yun Shu

Wardrobe basics for Yun Shu

Some items from Wardrobe Basics for Yun Shu

Put it all together in her Fox Box, with a cross stitched fox banner, peg rack of shank buttons and grossgrain ribbon, a flower garden afghan, and a chest made from a tea box and cardstock.  

I used three free crochet squares from Ravelry for the afghan, and some freely available printables from Pinterest to cover the tea box chest.  Shank buttons made great pegs for the peg rack, sewn onto a length of grossgrain ribbon, which was then glued to the back of the box.

All the patterns should fit Yun Shu, with the exception of the shoes.  I altered Yun Shu so that she has very tiny feet, and this is what the shoes fit.  Otherwise, any very slim bodied eight inch doll should be able to wear these outfits.

Enjoy the crochet!

Merry Christmas and last minute gifts

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas, and a New Year filled with Joy!

It is the 23rd of December, and I've just finished my last minutes gifts;  I wasn't going to do this, but I found this charming pattern for a little fox, and just had to make three of them as stocking stuffers for my nephews :-)

5-23-2023: The pattern for the foxes is no longer available .  The pattern is quick, simple, and very well written.  I made three of them last night!  I plan to add a little beaded lanyard to the top so the boys can clip them to a zipper pull or backpack.  They stand about 2 3/4 inches tall from the base to the tip of their ears.

And, as a Christmas gift, I have a pattern for a small wardrobe of tiny knit outfits for small (5 1/2 inch) dolls.  I used my tiny Simply Ami dolls for models; they are a little over 5 inches when worked with fingering weight yarn and a size 1 steel hook.  These knits should also fit Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls, and BJD's in the 12 to 16 cm size range.

Tiny Knits for Tiny Ami's

The outfits are knit with fingering weight yarn and size 0 (2.00mm) double point needles.  The pattern includes pull over sweaters, pants, pinafore dress and rompers.  The elf hat the girls are wearing is from my Pocket Spirit Christmas Hat pattern (found on the left sidebar of this blog) worked in fingering weight yarn and a size 1 steel crochet hook.

However you celebrate the holiday season, I hope it is filled with love of family, and childlike joy!

More dolls, more fun!

Jeanette is a hard plastic Nancy Ann with a painted face and jointed arms and legs.  I'm always amazed at how beautifully these dolls are constructed and painted.  All they need is a little cleaning, most times a new wig, and some pretty outfits to make them special indeed.

Jeanette's dress and hat are another outfit designed by Helga Kraft for Kelly dolls.  I end up adding two or three stitches to the waist line, to better fit Nancy Ann, and make the dresses a bit longer.  Otherwise, the fit is quite good.

Jeanette's shoes are from an Annie Potter Presents leaflet entitled Victorian Darlings.  I've used this leaflet for many outfits for these dolls.  I crochet the dresses using size 20 crochet cotton (or size 8 perle) and a size 9 hook.  However, for the shoes I crochet them with the thread and hook recommended.

Jeanette's raglan sweater is my own design, which I am happy to share!

Nancy Ann Raglan Knit Sweater

And remember, most of the outfits I designed for the Forget-Me-Knot kids, here on this blog, will fit Nancy Ann as well.

Nancy Ann projects in the wings include these three Nancy Ann's from the 50's, with hard plastic bodies and sleep eyes:

I've removed their wigs and cleaned and blushed them.  All ready for new wigs and outfits!

I hope you are enjoying the day.  Only 23 more days until White Friday!  Are you ready to knit, crochet, sew, or otherwise hand make someone a special gift for Christmas?  This is what White Friday is all about :-)

Painting with crochet

 
While making this crochet throw -------->

which took about a week to complete, all I could think about was this doll 
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The Medallion Throw is a free pattern from the Lionbrand yarn website.   I changed most of the colors to be brighter and richer.  The throw is crocheted using Vanna's Choice, a really nice acrylic yarn that washes like a dream.  These were my color choice:

A = Fern

B = Toffee

C = Silver Blue

D = Saphire

E = Mustard

F = Fern

G = White

H = Rust

I = Mustard

I liked  the square shape, and no motifs to sew together.  It was easy to weave in the ends as I worked.

But, it wasn't a doll!  And, I got a bee in my bonnet on making eyes with crochet, after seeing several dolls with lovely crochet eyes.  So all the time I'm working on this afghan, I'm thinking about Luna Moonflower and her crochet eyes :-)

Luna is a Simply Ami doll with eyes crocheted in size 20 crochet cotton and/or size 8 perle cotton.  The idea is not original with me, you can see many great examples of this on Pinterest.  What I did do was create instructions on how I would go about making these eyes.  And here it is:

Crochet Ami Eyes

I also have a sweet little knit shrug for Simply Amis to share.  It was originally intended for Luna, but the color didn't really suit her, and she wanted the moonflowers on her dress instead.  However, Violette loves this color, so she is modeling the shrug for me :-)

Simply Ami Knit Shrug

Lillian Hopewell

Lillian Hopewell is a young woman of the 1890's.  Graduated from Wilberforce College in 1893 with a B.S. mathematics, she is about to begin her first day of teaching.  She is nervous, confident, and excited; she knows that to teach is to touch the future.

One way that she personally wants to touch the future is to buy one of the new safety bicycles.  Imagine, being able to travel under your own power at 10 miles per hour!  

Lillian's mother came to Zanesville, OH in 1863 as a teenager, in the company of her aunt and uncle along the Underground Railroad.  In Zaneville she met Lillian's father, who owned a small dry goods store.  After a lengthy courtship, they married, and Lillian was born in 1870.  Their only child, and most beloved.

Patterns for Lillian's first day at school suit:

China Doll Dickey

China Doll Gibson Girl skirt

China Doll Gibson Girl jacket

Lillian Hopewell, from the knit China Doll pattern by Sarah Elizabeth Kellner

Sophia Delphine and her fantasy petticoat

I am still captivated by Sarah Elizabeth Kellner's China Doll pattern, and the wonderful possibilities she presents.  My latest doll is Sophia Delphine, a young lady of 1855.  She is wearing a petticoat with a strapless crochet sweetheart bodice and a lace net skirt, embellished with a bit of Irish crochet.

China Doll Strapless petticoat

I'm not sure poor Sophia will ever get anything more to wear than her petticoat; it is so pretty I hate to cover it up!

I have another doll in the works, Lillian Hopewell, a young black woman of the 1890's.  Right now she is just a head and shoulder plate:

Lillian has a story to tell; it will be exciting to hear what it is :-)

Anna Celeste, China Doll #2

Anna Celeste is the second doll I've made from Sarah Elizabeth Kellner's China Doll pattern, which is available on Ravelry.  The original pattern makes a doll about 14-15 inches tall when worked with sport/dk yarn and 3mm needles.  I wanted a doll slightly smaller, so I knit her with 2.75mm needles,  took out an increase row in the torso, shortened her arms a legs proportionately, and also made her head in the round in one color, so I could add a wig.  Anna Celeste turned out 11 3/4 inches tall, with a 5 1/2 inch waist and hips/bust 7 inches.

This pattern is great!  The resulting doll is an amazing reproduction of the antique china dolls, and becomes a wonderful canvas to create period costumes.  Anna Celeste is wearing a 1850's inspired walking suit, with blouse, belted skirt, and Zouave jacket.  All are separates and removable.

1850's Blouse

1850's Belted Skirt

1850's Zouve Jacket 

In addition to the walking costume, she also has a simple side-to-side camisole and pantaloons:

1850's Camisole and Pantaloons

This camisole top would be the perfect beginning for an 1850's style evening dress, simply attach a full skirt (like the belted skirt) to the camisole, and add some frothy sleeve and bodice treatment :-)

I would like to make Anna Celeste a trousseau, placed in a keepsake box.  Maybe she is about to go to Europe, and if so, she will need some traveling companions too.

Josephine, an old fashioned girl

Knitting and crochet are amazing; one is only limited by their imagination as to what can be created in these mediums.  How about a China Doll? 

Josephine is a knit China Doll, created from the pattern by Sarah Elizabeth Kellner, available on Ravelry.  This lovely knit China Doll is constructed very much like the antique originals, with swing legs, torso and arms of a contrasting color, and a knitted shoulder plate with head that attaches seperately to the torso.  It is a masterpiece of knit engineering, and produces a sweetly old-fashioned doll that can be your starting point for your own collection of knit China dolls :-)

With DK/Sportweight yarn and 3mm needles, my Josephine stands just at 14.5 inches tall.  Her camisole and pantaloons with the lovely knit lace are part of the pattern, and fit like a dream.

Swatching...Designing...Knitting

Swatching is one of those things, like sweeping behind the couch, that we know we should do, but don't.  However, if you want to create a design in knit or crochet, it really helps to know such things as:  how many stitches around the waistline of my doll?  the neckline?  around the arms?

So, swatching to the rescue!  I wanted to create some knit designs with finer yarn and needles.  I chose a yarn: Knit Picks Palette, an affordable wool fingering weight yarn, and three different needle sizes:  2.0mm, 2.50mm, and 3.0mm.  Above are the three swatches I worked, 20 sts wide by 24 rows long.  With 2.0mm needles my working gauge was 10 sts= 1 inch in stockinette.  With 2.50mm needles, the gauge was 9 sts = 1 inch in stockinette, and with the 3.0mm needles, 8 sts= 1 inch in stockinette.  This was knitting comfortably for me, as I would knit for clothing.  If I were making a doll, I would knit much tighter.

Having determined gauge for this yarn and these three needles, designing an outfit becomes much easier.  I know my doll has a waistline/chest measurement  of 4 3/4 inches, so this would be 48 sts with 2.00mm needles and fingering weight yarn; 43 sts with 2.5mm needles, and 38 sts with 3.0mm needles.  Dolls don't need the 'ease' that we build into human clothing, so these values will be close to what will work when you design an outfit. 

I wanted to make Kismet a camisole (it turned into a tunic) from a lace pattern from the book 150 Knitted Trims, by Lesley Stanfield.  I wanted this to be close fitting, so I knitted a piece of lace that was five inches long in the dimension that would fit around her waist, using the 2.5mm needles.

This lace was worked from side to side.  To turn it into a tunic, I bound off at the end of five pattern repeats, but did not cut the yarn.  Turning the lace so I worked back across the rows, I placed a pin every one inch across.  This would be the top of the tunic.  I picked up nine stitches between each pin, giving me 45 sts across the top, which is very close to my 43 sts around Kismet's waist.

Since this lace is worked on a background of garter stitches, I knit across the top nine stitches, bound off five stitches, knitted 17 stitches, bound of five stiches, then knitted the last nine stitches. This creates the places where the armholes are (the bound off stitches).  The next row is knit, casting on 12 sts when you come to the bound off stitches.  So, the armholes are 17 sts around, or about two inches in circumference.  A couple more rows of knitting, with some decreases to fit the neckline, and the lace is now a tunic!

I added a ruffle to the bottom, along with a picot bindoff which is also in the Stanfield book.  And here is the finished product!

Details:  from the Stanfield book,  I used lace #123 Garter Stitch Diamonds for the tunic panel, and #8 Picot Bindoff for the bottom ruffle edge.

Kismet is very happy with her tunic :-)

I posted those instructions to show that any bit of knitted lace can be made into doll clothing.  Here are some specific instructions for knitted tops made from lace from the Stanfield book, for both 8.5 inch and 7 inch Simply Amis.

  Kismet lacey tunic and undies

Kismet Cardigan

Kalliope lacy top and undies

Works In Progress

Works in progress include a Knit-Along on Ravelry with We Make Dolls; Meggie is the large doll with all the hair :-)  While waiting for clues, I worked up two more Ami's, Kismet and Kalliope.

Enjoy your day!

Simple Knit and Crochet for Simply Amis

 

Violette and Mignonette have some new clothing patterns to share with you!  A pattern for a simple top-down knit sweater can also be a dress, a turtleneck, a smock, or a nightgown; and overalls can also be a bibbed dress.

Simply Ami's Knit Sweaters

Simply Ami's Overalls

And Mignonette has a couple of wardrobe items of her own...

Mingionette's Wardrobe

All of these patterns are knit or crocheted with fingering weight yarn; I used some stash sock yarns, Brown Sheep Naturespun fingering, and Knit Picks Palette.  The knits were done with size 3 (3.25mm) needles, and the crochet with size D hook.