Delightful Big-Head crochet dolls

My latest crochet obsession is a pattern which is freely available from Ravelry.  It is Laura Tegg's Weebee doll.  Not only is the doll pattern free, but Laura has several clothing patterns for free as well, in addition to some paid patterns.

My dolls were made with Knit Picks Brava Sport and a size C (2.5mm) crochet hook.  They are about 7.5 inches tall, with adorably large heads. 

I like to make my dolls with move-able heads, so below you will find a picture tutorial for how to do this.

Almost any crochet doll pattern can be adapted to make a move-able head. 

 In this case, this is Laura Tegg's Weebee doll pattern with a move-able head. Simply work the body pattern as instructed to the point just before you increase to make the head. Instead, make a neck stub seven or eight rows long, tapering the last two rows as shown above.

 Make the head separately beginning at the neck end with an opening that fits snug over the neck stub (same number of stitches as the neck stub before you taper it). Join in a ring so you have an opening at the bottom (as shown in the middle image at the top), then work the head increases as written, closing the opening at the top of the head (as shown in the upper right image).

 Stuff the head firmly, but make a hollow up the center that you can insert the neck stub into; the fit should be very snug. Joint the head to the neck with four strands of craft or carpet thread and a dollmaking needle, as illustrated in the middle row of images.

 Tie off the carpet thread at the top of the head with a secure double knot. The wig cap or hat will cover this.

 Finally, take the yarn tail from the beginning of the head and join to the first stitch of the head at the neck opening and pull tight. Bury the yarn end in the head.

 Olive and Owen and I wish you all a happy new year; filled with the blessings of crochet and kindness!

Merry Christmas!

May your holidays be filled with joy and family; kindness and compassion.  

Merry Christmas!

The Adventures of Columbine Duskywing

On the trail of Giant Rainbow Snails is Columbine Duskywing, fearless freelance Malacologist for Hanover College, along the banks of the Ohio river.

Columbine is the daughter of Professor Horace S. Duskywing, head of the department of Invertebrate Studies at Hanover, an eminent Lepidopterist, and in 1869 elected chairman of the Society of Kentucky Lepidopterists.

Columbine's mother is the Lady Acadia Hairstreak, a woman of wealth and a notorious social butterfly of the lower Ohio river.  A longstanding question among the society of the Ohio river is how the dusty Professor Duskywing ever managed to beguile the lovely  Lady Acadia to be his bride.  Maybe Columbine being a seven month child had something to do with it...

Not having strong maternal instincts,  Lady Acadia left most of the childrearing to her husband;  a gentle academic with a vague fondness for this unexpected daughter.  He provided few rules of behavior, a shocking oversight in Victorian society.  He expected obedience, respect, and curiosity; he gave affection, and unlimited use of the university libraries.

From an early age, Columbine could be found sitting, crosslegged as often as not, on the dusty floor of the library, nose buried in some book of natural history or exploration.  Marco Polo! Amerigo Vespucci!  James Cook! Charles Darwin! Great stories of discovery, but no women.

Dust motes shimmered in the pale light of the one window in the library, but Columbine did not see them dancing.  No women.  Couldn't women discover a continent, or a new species, or sail around the world?  There was Ida Laura Pfeiffer, the Austrian woman who had traveled (twice!) around the world, documenting plants, minerals, and mollusks as she traveled, but no other woman on these library shelves.

What might she discover, Columbine mused.  The Giant Rat of Sumatra, Kraken of the Arctic ocean, Blue Mountains Panthers in the Australian Blue mountains?  Maybe the famed Rainbow Snails of Yellowwood Forest...

Quite unexpectedly, Columbine's mother realized that at 18, Columbine was quite a lovely girl, in spite of her shockingly unconventional behavior.  The only interest that Lady Acadia ever bestowed on her offspring was to plan her coming out season and ball, much to Columbine's dismay.  Columbine simply could not bear to be squeezed into a corset, and paraded to polite society like a prize broodmare.  Ugh!

So quietly, on a clear but moonless night, Columbine packed a small rucksack with her precious books on invertebrate zoology, journal, magnifiers, a spare shirt and a bar of soap, and some jewelry she would never wear.  Dressed as a laborer, she climbed out her bedroom window with the false dawn, and headed North.  Looking for Rainbow Snails and Adventure!

Looks like she found them!

Check out the links throughout the post :-)