Mushroom Manor Revisted

This is a project I made back in 2013, which I put on Ipernity.  Since then, I've returned to Flickr, and the tutorial for this is no longer available in Ipernity.  I've been asked by a couple of folks what happened to it, so I've finally put the tutorial on Flickr.

It is primarily a picture tutorial, with no written instructions.  The crochet is done by fit, as you go along, but there are plenty of pictures to help you.  You can find the tutorial here:

Mushroom Manor

The Manor is sized for small dolls, about five inches tall.  It was originally made for my Forget-Me-Knot dolls, but Nancy Ann's and tiny BJD's will be quite at home here as well.

Some of the little embellishments are available on this blog under Crochet An Outdoor Setting; just scroll down the left sidebar until you find it.

Enjoy the crochet!

Lavender White complete

Lavender White, with her best friend :-)  She posing with the sweet allysum since my lavender are not blooming at present. 

I have plans for more winged Forget-Me-Knots, but I'm going to try my hand at knitting a sweater...for myself!  Hopefully it won't take me forever :-)

In the mean time, enjoy the crochet!

Lavender White

Lavender White, inspired by the fragrent lavender growing around the house that entices the cabbage white butterflies.

Next step, fairy finery :-)

Nightshade

Nightshade is my first Forget-Me-Knot with wings!  The whole idea of making butterflies was to create wings for these tiny dolls.  Nightshade has Mourning Cloak wings (appropriate, don't you think?).  They are crocheted right into her back.  For the next doll, I think I will crochet them inboard a bit closer; the clothing will fit better.

Her dress is from a lace pattern from the Leasure Arts leaflet 20 Beautiful Edgings (they are!).  I wanted one with popcorn stitches that would look like Nightshade berries when crocheted in red.  I don't enjoy crocheting with black, but the lace wasn't too hard to work up.  Putting a white sheet of paper in your lap helps to see the black stitches.

Her hair is Lionbrand Fun Fur, crocheted with a size 1 steel hook.  This is a much smaller than recommended hook for this yarn, but it made a great cap.

Nightshade among her namesake berries.  Very poisonous...Do Not Eat!

The Mermaids Tail

Urchin is a mermaid of the coral reef.  Here is a pattern to turn your Forget-Me-Knot into a siren of the seas :-)

Mermaids Tale

She needs a coral reef to live in, and so my next project will be to crochet her one.  If you've never heard of the idea of crocheting a coral reef, just do a Google search on 'crochet coral reef.'  You will be blown away by the color and forms and amazing realism of a crocheted coral reef :-)

Enjoy the day, and enjoy the crochet!

Mushroom Manor

Fern's wish has come true!  She and Merlin now have a cozy little Mushroom Manor to call home :-)  A little place to curl up in at night, and stay dry when the rains come.  I have a picture tutorial for making the Mushroom Manor on Flickr.  All you need is some worsted yarn from your stash, and some cardboard and oatmeal containers that would probably end up in the landfill.  Other embellishments to the scene are from this blog under 'Crochet an outdoor setting.'

Fern is also pleased to finally have some clothes!  I made her a dress from some pretty crochet lace, for which there is a tutorial to do this.

We've been happily crocheting these sweet summer days.  Hope you are making some joy in your life as well :-)

Fern Forget-Me-Knot

Current work in progress is Fern Forget-Me-Knot.  She is a wee Elfin maid, making herself at home among the Hostas.

Her wig is full styling.  The wig cap was crocheted with laceweight kid mohair yarn and a size 2 steel hook.  I worked in the front loops for the entire cap, then hooked strands of yarn into the unworked loops all over the cap.  Yarn was hooked into each stitch on the last row, then in every other stitch all around the cap.  It took a little time, but it is easy to do and perfect if you're listening to good music or watching a movie. 

Fern tells me she would like to live in a mushroom...hmmm....gotta think about this one for a bit :-)

Forget-Me-Knot goodness

Art imitates art!  The Forget-Me-Knot kids are also great subject matter for some simple embroidery.  Here, Emma and Elizabeth (the latest Forget-Me-Knot) become the inspiration for a bit of needlework.  Stem Stitch, French knots, lazy daisyies, and a bit of colored pencil.

Elizabeth is wearing a very simple knit dress and undies, for which the pattern is here:

Simple Knit Sundress

She put on a sweater this morning to see how the Fairy garden was growing...

As you can see, it is growing very well indeed :-)

Fairy Gardens

Be it sluggish or spectacular, spring never fails to arrive.  When it finally does, create a fairy garden for your small dolls.  Not only is it just downright fun, but then you get to have a garden in miniature to admire...it is easy on the knees and requires no weeding!

The little garden above, Angela's garden, was planted in a 12" diameter basket with a plastic liner that I had left over from last year.  Make sure whatever you use to plant in has drainage holes in the bottom.  You want to find low  and slow growing plants; here I used Elfin thyme (what a delightful name!), Irish moss, speedwell (a creeping form of Veronica) and a polka-dot plant.  They were all available at my local nursery; look for the area that has ground covers. 

The twig bench, watering can, and shepherd's hook came from Winter Greenhouse (http://miniature-gardening.com/).  They also have a large selection of plants suitable for miniature gardening.

Plant yourself a sweet little garden; your dolls will love you for it :-)

The perfect weekend.

We had a nearly perfect Spring weekend, and we tried to make the most of it :-)

Saturday my sister and I went to our favorite nursery (more on that later) and Sunday Larry and I drove south a few miles to a county park, were we rode our bikes to our hearts content, free of traffic and crowds.

This park shares space with a National Guard Training center, and in WWII was also a POW camp.   In 1942 Italian prisoners of war petitioned to build a chapel here, and thus the 'Chapel in the Meadow' above.  It fell into disrepair after the last German prisoners left in 1946, but was partially restored in 1953 and 1963.  It was fully restored in 1989. 

The interior, which is not accessible, has painted images of Mary and other holy artwork.  It is as precious in this remote location as a perfect pearl in the sand.
I took along Ruthie, my latest Forget-Me-Knot, and she had a great time as well;  and when we got back, she even helped me plant the flowers my sister and I picked up the day before :-)

Another embroidery project

A simple embroidery project inspired by the Forget-Me-Knot kids.  The motifs are my own, with the exception of the bunny and the stump, which came from the book Doodle Stitching.  This is a fun book, full of very simple line drawings of just about everything under the sun that you might want to embroider.

I used very simple stitches:  stem stitch, lazy daisy, French knots, and satin stitch.  It is fun to color in the larger areas with colored pencil, an idea from Shelly at Gingermelon dolls. 

Now all I need to do is finish the project...any suggestions?

From Doodle to Embroidery

I wanted to create a little logo for my Forget-Me-Knot kids, and one thing led to another, and it became a small embroidery project.  On the left is my original drawing, and the right is the same rendered in simple embroidery stitches.

The coloring of the little girl was done with colored pencils, an idea I borrowed from Shelly at Gingermelon dolls.   Shelly has used this technique to lovely effect on some of her sweet embroideries.  It is a great idea if you don't want to fill the open space with embroidery stitches :-)

Here is a collage with some closeups of the embroidery.  Nothing but stem stitches, lazy daisies, and French knots.

I have a little knit pullover sweater for the Forget-Me-Knot kids to share as well:

Knit Pullover Sweater

The sweater is knit from DK weight yarn (I used Berrocco Comfort DK) and size 1 single point knitting needles.   Her blue jeans are just the panties pattern, lengthened to pants length.









Enjoy the day, and enjoy the crochet :-)

Tiny Trousseau

From a basic underwear pattern, you can make just about any outfit you like for your little Forget-Me-Knot or Nancy Ann doll.   Krystal, in the middle, is modeling the undies which are a simple camisole and panties. 

Nancy Ann on the left is wearing a pretty lavender dress based on the camisole, with a very full skirt and puff sleeves.  Cherry, on the right, is wearing deep red rompers with gold trim, a melding of the camisole and panties pattern.

All of the outfits are crocheted with size 8 perle thread and a size 9 steel hook.  All of them button up the back.

Basic Forget Me Knot Undies

Enjoy the crochet!

Six years on, Nancy Ann and the dolls she inspired

About six years ago, I was smitten by the little doll above.  She is a Nancy Ann Storybook doll.  These dolls were produced from the mid 1930's through the 1950's, and transitioned from all bisque to hard plastic in the 1948 time frame.  The little girl above is a hard plastic Nancy Ann, with move-able head and legs, and sleep eyes.  She is 5 1/2 inches tall, and free standing.

I purchased this book at the time; it is a wonderful reference book for the bisque Nancy Ann doll, and is chock full of pictures, especially comparison shots of the undressed dolls and their dimensions.  A dream book for a dollmaker :-)







The summer of 2007 found me making many, many little crochet cousins of this dear little doll.  I wrote down some rudimentary instructions, dressed them in international costumes, then walked away from them...for six years!

So, this post is more about inspiration than instructions, although I do have instructions for you to make your own little doll, that I call Forget Me Knot Kids

I'm afraid there are no instructions for the outfits above; sometimes it is just fun to sit down with thread and hook and create, without writing down every step of the way.  However, I did record a basic bodice and underwear; every outfit I ever make springs from these simple patterns.

Here is my updated doll, free standing and with a move-able head and leg joints:

And the pattern:  Forget-Me-Knot Kids.

A great source of costume inspiration is Dover Publications.  I used a paper doll sticker book for the International costumes above; I think this book is still in publications.  Paper doll books are inexpensive, colorful, and simply fun :-)

Coming soon: basic clothing patterns.  They can be the start of a creative journey; enjoy the crochet!