The Friday After: toys to crochet for girls and boys

 

The Friday after Thanksgiving is always a tremendous shopping day.  Having never liked crowds, and perfering to hand make gifts, I've never been a 'black Friday' participant.  In fact, I got to calling it white Friday, as a day to stay home and make something.

Today, black and white take on meanings and nuances that probably have always been with us, so I am going to change it up and refer to today as The Friday After...a day to stay home and make.  So, here are a few patterns from the past that make up quickly and will give you the satisfaction of giving a gift of your hands and heart.  And best of all, the patterns are FREE!

Lets start with Whoever Welcomes a Child the pattern for the doll shown above.  She comes with a set of clothing, and is a mere 3 1/2 inches tall if made with size 10 crochet cotton.  You can size her up, just remeber to use a size smaller thread for her clothing.

One of my favorite patterns is Simply Ami's, which you can crochet in two sizes with light worsted yarn.  There are several clothing patterns for this doll which you can find on the left side menu of this blog.

If you have boys on your list, here are some cute puppie patterns that make up withy worsted yarn:

Beagle

Labrador

Spaniel

German Shepard

Border Collie

and I will sneak in some Kitties as well.

Of course, girls will like them too!

And maybe your intended child would like a wee mouse in their Christmas Stocking!

And last but not least, Three Owls to Crochet:  A Snowy Owl, and Northern Saw-Whet owl, and a Collard Scopes Owl.

All of these patterns, and many, many, more are listed along the left sidebar of this blog.  I hope you enjoy your time making these, and may we work to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe this holiday season.

Enjoy the day, and enjoy the crochet!

Sweet Advent

I hope all of you have an Advent season filled with joy.  May everything you do be done with love.  We are celebrating a birthday!  Try not to over-extend yourself...if it is not fun for you, don't do it!  Our expectations of Christmas can be difficult to achieve, so simply try to enjoy the moment, the delight of children, and your own love for those around you.

Blessings of the season to all of you...warmly,  Beth

Make Magic

I am still completely enchanted with making these sweet bendy dolls from Emilie Lefler's video tutorials.   The dolls are so easy to make, and she shares so many imaginative variations.

I have a vision of my Christmas tree covered in these lovely fairies, so I added a jump ring to the head of the doll when inserting the floral wire, then made a hanging hook from 20 gauge jewelry wire using a wire-wrapping jig purchased from Michael's.  The doll in the middle I forgot to add the jump ring, so I just inserted one into her hand (I do my hands more like Salley Mavor's Felt Folk).

I have made several more dolls:

A Coral Reef mermaid for my friend Joyce...

Midnight Magic...

Spring Dreams...

Country Girl...

And Sweet Ann.

The last two dolls are dressable!  In my next post I hope to have some basic wardrobe patterns for anyone who would like to try their hand at a dressable bendy doll.  I use size 8 perle cotton, and a size 9 steel hook...small but manageable for most, I hope!

Christmas 2016

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year!

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!

The Finished Christmas Cabin

The Crochet Christmas Cabin is complete!  This project has pretty much consumed me for the last three or four weeks.  I have had so much fun thinking up and making all the details, and I am really pleased with the results.

This is a play-able doll house, as long as you are gentle with it (remember, the walls are cardboard).  Five inch dolls are perfectly at home here, we even managed to get two beds in the sleeping loft, with room left over for a tiny chest :-)

Some of the patterns, like the stockings, wreaths, and beds, are my own designs.  The Christmas Tree is from The NeedleCraft Shoppe entitled 'Snow Folks.'   The chairs are from an Annie's Attic Fashion Doll furniture series.  Both patterns I have had for ages.  The chairs were crocheted with fingering weight yarn, instead of worsted, and a size 1 steel hook instead of a G hook.

The coverlets on the beds are blocks from '200 Crochet Blocks,' by Jan Eaton.  I worked them in fingering weight yarn and a size F hook to give a bit more drape.

The gifts under the tree are Hitty Printables, just click on this link to take you there.

And the ornaments on the tree are glass beads threaded on a head pin.  The pin is turned down at the top to create a hook, then hooked onto the tree 'branches.'

Decorated Christmas tree and packages

Stockings hung by the chimney with care

A cozy place to sleep!

Winifred fits very snuggly here :-)

Now I better get busy and finish my Christmas list!

Creative Black Friday 2015

Hard to believe that Christmas is less than a month away!  Today is our traditional Creative Black Friday, where instead of standing in long lines for the latest gift that will be forgotten shortly after it is unwrapped, we fix ourselves a hot beverage, get out the hooks or needles, and make something special for those we love.

It could be a scarf, a shawl, a doll, a toy...a piece of jewelry crocheted in fingering weight yarns, a cowl knit in bulky weight yarns, anything made with love.

There are literally thousands of free crochet and knit patterns available on the Internet.  You can find many toy and doll patterns right here on my blog; just scroll down the left sidebar until you find a pattern that speaks to you.  Other great toy patterns can be found in the 'Links I Love' section toward the bottom of the blog on the left sidebar.

For great free wearable patterns, there is Ravelry.com, Lionbrand.com, and RedHeart.com...all have extensive free pattern libraries.   I think they all require registration, but it is free and well worth it.

And to set the mood, here is a crochet pattern for making tiny Hellebore flowers (the Christmas Rose), Ivy leaves, and a tiny wreath.  You can use the wreath for Christmas tree ornaments, to decorate your doll house, or to wear as a brooch.

Hellebore Ivy Wreath

The Christmas Cabin is coming along beautifully.  I have the outside decorated, as can be seen in the image at the top of the page.  The Christmas Tree is done and decorated, and now I am working on chairs for the living room :-)  But today, I will make three wreath brooches for my sister and sister-in-law, and be thankful for quiet time and the skills my Grandmother taught me when she taught me to crochet.

Have a lovely Creative Black Friday!

Crochet a Christmas Cabin

When it comes to making dollhouses, my favorite power tool is my crochet hook!  I cannot saw a straight line, and hammers mash my fingers as often as they hit the nails.  But a crochet hook is a marvelous tool, and you really can make a dollhouse with one!

Here is a picture tutorial on Flickr on how to construct your own.  It is mostly guidelines, so you can make a house any shape you want, as long as you can cut cardboard and cover it with crochet.

The Christmas Cottage is made with acrylic worsted yarn and a size H hook.  Sturdy cardboard is used to stiffen the walls and floors.

This house is sized sweetly for Nancy Ann, or my Forget-Me-Knot kids, or a downsized version of Simply Ami.  I've finished the basic house, now all it wants is decorating for Christmas (trees, wreaths, stockings, etc...) and some furnishings (sleeping palettes, chairs, etc...).

Make plan for your dollhouse, stitch and block the blocks, cut the cardboard (about a 1/4 inch larger than your blocks), and stitch the house together!

Three Easy Pieces

While I was roaming around Pinterest looking for interesting crochet, I found several beautiful cuff bracelets.  I wanted to make something with a Bohemian vibe, so I took a look at Ravely to see what kind of patterns they might have.

These three patterns were all available as Ravelely downloads from Gergely-Santa.  They were pretty easy to make; there are a lot of pictures in the pattern, and a bit of crochet diagraming.  They are not free, but certainly not expensive, and will make wonderful Christmas gifts :-)

Gifts of Love

Christmas this year included some very special gifts, from our nephews and one of my Aunts.  Top left are candle holders made by our oldest nephew; they are Ball Mason jars with colored tissue paper decopaged to the outside.  Inside were the most delicious cookies, baked by my brother, the Master Cookie Chef!  Top left is an embroidered stitchery depiciting myself, Larry, and one of our cats, created by our middle nephew.  Lower right is a birdhouse, made by our youngest nephew, and lower left is a lovely glass ornament with my Mother's picture, given by my Aunt.

Ivy Rose and Ginger Kate are flanking the favorite gift I ever received as a child...this sweet stuffed tiger.  I was eight or nine, I think, when I found him in my stocking on Christmas morning.   And nestled between them is the 2014 White House Ornament, a tradition my Mom and Dad began several years ago.  Our Christmas tree is now heavy with them.

Ginger Kate has joined my sweet family of knit Waldorf dolls.  We want to share her rompers pattern with you!

Ginger Kate's Rompers

I am going to call these dolls Cottage Flowers, as that is what they make me think of.  Knitting a doll, and thinking of flowers, in the middle of Winter is a happy pasttime.  I hope all of you are having a happy day :-)

A Merry Christmas to All!

Here is hoping that all of you have a blessed Christmas day, shared with those you love, and filled with wonder and joy.

My final project for 2014 is a sweet Waldorf doll with a knit body.  Ivy Rose is about 12 inches tall, with a classic Waldorf head secured to a body knit in worsted weight yarn on double point needles.  No seaming!!

The pattern for Ivy Rose and her pinafore is here.  The instructions include a link to a picture tutorial for making the head that I put together several years ago:

Head tutorial

and a tutorial for making hair:

Hair tutorial

Both of these tutorials are also available here on the blog, along the left hand side.

Ivy Rose and I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Cassidy and Noah

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving, and that your Christmas preparations are more joy than work :-)  I came down with a bug a few days after Thanksgiving, and it is only now beginning to loosen its grip on my health.   And of course, I ended up sharing it with my husband :-(  Thankfully, both of us are on the mend.

Something better to share is Cassidy, a doll I worked on, slowly, once I started feeling better.  She is based on Deena Thomson-Menards Lottie doll pattern, which is freely available on Ravelry.  Those wonderful hands are from a tutorial available on her Ravelry group We Make Dolls.   I modified the feet so they would feet those darling baby booties that Cassidy is wearing, which is also a free pattern on Ravelry: sneaker booties on Ravelry.

Alternate foot for Lottie

Romper Pattern for Lottie

Cassidy's puppy, Noah, is from a crochet pattern offered here a few years ago.  You can find it by scrolling down the left sidebar.  Look for the picture of the kitties and 'Links to my Animal Patterns'  :-)

Happy Holy Day season to all of you!!  Stay well.

A Christmas dress in June

This dress started life as a sleeveless summer dress, but somehow the pattern stitching and colors changed this to a Christmas dress :-)  Of course, change the colors and work a different pattern, and it can be any dress you like.

Grace Notes Red Dress

The pattern stitch came from the book "Alice Starmores's Book of Fair Isle Knitting,' which has an incredible number of pattern stitches that can be adapted for doll clothing.  This book is well worth purchasing, or borrowing from your local library.

Enjoy!

Rose is ready for Christmas!

I have always thought that union suits, those red one-piece undergarments worn in the 1800's, were pretty cute on dolls.  Probably a pain to wear in real life, but dolls live uncomplicated lives and enjoy looking cute :-)

So I knitted up a red union suit for Rose to wear for Christmas, and topped it off with a Santa cap.  Here is the pattern:

Travel doll union suit with Santa cap

We also had a lot of fun knitting up some other Christmas treats.  The stockings are made from a free pattern available on Jean Greenhowe's site; scroll down a bit, they are toward the bottom of the page:

Jean Greenhowe Christmas Stockings

The teddy's and rabbit are from a free pattern from Little Cotton Rabbits:

Teddy and Rabbit

And the blanket was a free pattern from Jennifer Jackson on Ravelry (you need to register, but it is free!)

Doll Blanket

All of these are quick and easy to knit, and the dolls and young (or old) girls in your life will love them :-)

Rose and I wish you a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holydays!

Happy Holy Days!

We had our first snow of the season Thursday night and Friday, and it left a sparkling six inches of snow, which is blindingly bright this morning.  Yesterday seemed the perfect day to get out the Christmas decorations and put up the tree (or trees, this year!).   I also got outside and took a few pictures of the lovely, virgin snow.

Whatever your spiritual persuason, I hope you  enjoy the spirit of goodwill that this season celebrates.  Without that, there isn't much point to the celebration.  Maybe fewer gifts, more hugs, donations to your local food pantry, or shoveling the neighbor's walkway of snow.  Be easy on yourself, and meet each day with Joy.

My very best wishes for all of you this Holy Day season :-)

Beth

Just in time for Creative Black Friday!

Just in time for Creative Black Friday; the Friday after Thanksgiving where we all stay home and make something special for someone we love :-)  For Ivy, my latest Travel Doll from Fiona's Travel Doll pattern, a new dress with a knit seed stitch bodice and hem.

Travel doll seed stitch dress

If you are at a loss for what to make someone for Christmas, there are many, many sites with free knit and crochet patterns.  Starting with Ravelry, all you need to do is register (free!) and you have access to literally thousands of free patterns for dolls, toys, wearables, you name it.   Many low cost patterns as well.

Lionbrand yarns is another great site for free patterns.

1500 Free Amigurumi Patterns is actually now 2000 free patterns, and a great site.

Crochet Pattern Central  and Knitting Pattern Central are also great sources for free patterns.

So make yourself a cup of your favorite hot beverage, put a Christmas CD in the player, get out some yarn and the tools of your choice (needle or hook), and enjoy the day!

Make some magic on Black Friday!

After I finish this blog post, I am going to fix myself a cup of coffee, get out my hooks, and make a little mouse (Neville the Nibbler) for one of my nephews for Christmas.   You can see him up in the left hand corner of the collage above; his pattern is under "Crochet an Outdoor Setting."  

Patterns for all of the dolls and toys pictured here are freely available on this blog.    Along the top are a mouse and turtle, a Free Spirit doll, a Crochet Bleuette, and a Basic Amigurumi Doll.  Next row is a Beagle from " Links to my Animal Patterns," and a Knit Waldorf Style Doll.  Next row is a Prairie Flower Cloth Doll and a Pocket Spirit with a simple bed made from a picture frame and wood turnings.  Along the bottom row is a Free Spirit, Mini Free Spirit, and Labrador puppy (around the Christmas tree), two Teacup Spirits, a Prairie Flower cloth doll, and a littler of Kitties.

You can find all the patterns by scrolling down the left sidebar, looking for the header, or a picture of the type of doll or toy you want to make.  Links to all of the patterns are listed there.

We can all make this Friday a creative Black Friday, and give the gift of handmade love.  It just takes a little time, and a little yarn.

However your day, have a good one!

UPDATE: Saturday 11/24/2012

Meet Neville, Ernie, and Trevor :-)

 My Black Friday Mice!

Creative Black Friday

Welcome Creative Black Friday!  To celebrate a new tradition, here is a simple knit doll, about nine to ten inches tall, and her simple knit wardrobe.   With some very easy needle sculpting, she looks very much like a small Waldorf doll.  Here are the patterns:

Knit doll pattern

Knit Undies

Simple Knit Dress

Simple Knit Sweater

Simple Knit Pullover Sweater

Simple Knit Pants

There is also a picture tutorial to help you make the doll,  here at Knit Doll Tutorial.   All of these patterns and the tutorial can also be found on the left sidebar of the blog, under Knit Waldorf Style Doll Patterns.

These are the first knitting instructions I've put together, so if you have problems with understanding them, let me know and we'll figure out what it is I'm trying to convey :-)

What a pleasant way to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving; a gentle alternative to waiting in line for the latest toy or gizmo, that most likely will be forgotten in the crush of so many gifts.  I can't help but think that a single gift, made with love and given with joy, trumps store bought any day :-)  And think of the pleasure you will have in the making and creating.

 I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving, and enjoy the coming Holy Day season.  You should enjoy every gift you give :-)

Finishing the Christmas list

I had to take a break from the knitting and dollmaking to finish up a couple of items left on my Christmas list.  I don't know about you, but it has been a couple of decades since I shopped on 'Black' Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving.

The plum colored cowl is from the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Crochet Today, made up in Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe.  It was lovely yarn to work with, and has a wonderful drape.  You can wear it with the buttons in front, or in back.  Looks great either way.

The bolero is a pattern I've had for ages, published in 2001 by the American School of Needlework.  It is worked in Lionbrand Homespun, which is NOT my favorite yarn to work with.  However, it made up beautifully.   This is the second time I've made this bolero; an easy pattern with a neat 'cable' look border accomplished with front post double crochet stitches.

Maybe we should start a new trend, called 'White' Friday, and spend the day making something as a gift for friend or family for Christmas :-)

Have a heartfelt and blessed Thanksgiving, my friends!

Charlie, helping to oversee the photo shoot :-)

Kaitlyn, a Christmas commission

Kaitlyn is a sweet little cat-eared Pocket Spirit, commissioned as a Christmas gift.  She was a lot of fun to make :-) 

Patterns for the doll, and her outfits, are available free here on the blog.  Look on the left sidebar for 'Links to Pocket Spirit Patterns.' 

I'm starting to run out of time!  Still have several Christmas gifts of my own to make, but I can't stop knitting :-)  I'm enjoying the heck out of learning something new.

Kaitlyn in her birthday suit :-)