Monday, January 26, 2015

Weir Craft's Waldorf Doll Kit

 Weir Craft Doll Kit cover image

Since starting to make Waldorf dolls with knitted bodies, I've been wanting to try this kit, which is offered by Weir Crafts.  They sell all kinds of Waldorf dollmaking supplies, plus lovely wool felts, roving, and batting.

So, I bought the kit and made up a doll!

The kit has everything you need to make a 12" to 13" doll; Alice Blue turned out to be about 13" tall.  If you have never made a Waldorf doll before, and like to knit, this is a great place to start.  All the supplies needed to make a simplified Waldorf head are included in the kit, and I really liked the way it turned out.

The yarn for the body is a dk/sportweight yarn.  I little thinner than I like to use, but it knitted up very nice and soft; it is a lovely quality wool yarn.  I would also have liked a bit more mohair yarn for hair;  I added some from my stash to give her a fuller head of hair.

I put together a picture tutorial of making this doll, which is available on my flickr photoshare site:  Weir Kit Waldorf Doll Tutorial.

If you are interested in this kit, here is a direct link to it:  Waldorf Doll Knit Kit
The kit is customizable for doll skin color, hair color, and body yarn color.

Happy Dollmaking!

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you so much!

      Warmly,

      Beth

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    2. Alice Blue came our beautifully! Love your color choices!!!

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    3. Thank you, Sandie!

      Warmly,

      Beth

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  2. Oh, she turned out just fantastic....beautiful Beth! I want, really bad to make one, but I am having shoulder surgery soon, so I will have to wait a bit, I will be in an arm brace for 6 weeks....ugh! I will live vicariously by yours.... off to order a kit. ;o)

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    Replies
    1. Oh Sherry, I'm so sorry to hear about your surgery. I know six weeks sounds like forever...but it WILL pass and you WILL return to dollmaking. In the meantime, enjoy browsing the internet for dollmaking inspiration. Healing thoughts coming your way :-)

      Warmly,

      Beth

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  3. Hey Joyce!

    I still find starting with few stitches on dpn's to be a challenge, and you certainly could cast on 24 leaving a long tail, and sew the toes closed.

    As for the foot shaping, I would bend up the foot, then take stitches where the crease is, going from the top of the foot to the front of the ankle, instead of stitching all the way through the foot. It is enough to give the idea of a foot :-)

    Here is a link to a picture in my photostream of a traditional Waldorf foot; the knit one is made the same way. Not a great explanation, but all I could find:

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/29184580@N04/3508120769/in/set-72157617798912890

    I hope you are enjoying the making!

    Warmly,

    Beth

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  4. Hi Joyce,

    It can be hard to stuff the stockinette firmly enough that you don't get a squishy head. The wool batt can be packed down really, really hard, and you don't need to worry about it showing through the stitches since the 'skin' fabric will cover the inner head. Also, if your head seems elongated, you can do two things: one, do not make the head as 'long' before you tie it off. The pattern says seven inches, make it 5 1/2 or 6 inches instead. Two, after you make the eye line, tie another line from the neck to the top of the head, like a regular Waldorf head. That will take the elongatedness (is that a word????) out of it.

    Or, set it aside and work on something else :-) I got motivated to make a new crochet ami doll after looking at Vanya's blog, and drooling over several crochet dolls on Pinterest.

    Take care, my friend, and make sure to enjoy whatever you are working on!

    Warmly,

    Beth

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