For St. Valentine's Day

Valentina!

Born on St Valentine's day; Valentina is adapted from the Minnow's pattern.  Longer arms and legs, and DK weight yarn instead of size10 crochet cotton.

I used Knit Picks CotLin (70%cotton/30%linen)  which I had purchased for a knit doll a couple of years ago.  I didn't like the way it slid off my knitting needles, but it was just fine to crochet with.

Valentina has an internal armature much like the floss-wrapped dolls of Salley Mavor.  I used 6mm pipe cleaner, and loosely wrapped them with fingering weight yarn.  The larger body cavity and head are stuffed with wool batting.  This worked great, as I wrapped the legs with black yarn, and the arms with white...no stuffing showing through the stitches :-)

Now for some clothes!

Now she has a cropped tank top :-)

A School of Minnows

2/2/2017 Please Note!  I found an error in the instructions this morning, and have corrected this.  If you downloaded the pattern yesterday, please redownload it.

After several months of pursuing other dollmaking mediums, I've returned to my favorite:  crochet :-)

These little minnows are only 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 inches tall, constructed with one piece bodies and a move-able head.  They are crocheted with size 10 crochet cotton and a size 6 steel hook; the hair is embroidery floss, and the eyes and facial features are embroidered.

I am happy to share Minnow's pattern with you.  There are a lot of construction pictures, especially regarding embroidering the face.  The pattern includes instructions for making her camisole and pantaloons.  These garments are crocheted with size 20 crochet cotton and a size 8 or 9 steel hook; there are suggestions on how to make other garments from these two simple patterns.

Minnow Micro Ami and Wardrobe

I also have a very simple, tiny knit cardigan you can make for your Minnow, knit with fingering weight yarn and size 0 needles:

Minnow Knit Cardigan

The many faces of Minnow! 

 ...and some of the different outfits that can be made from the pattern, with a little imagination :-)

 Have a lovely day, and enjoy the crochet!