Happy Halloween!!

Minerva Wormwood is my latest Nancy Ann remake, one of the dear dolls sent to me by my good friend Tomi :-)  The time of the year just begged for a Halloween doll, so Minerva was born.

Minerva's outfit is a purchased pattern written for Mattel's Kelly doll (Barbie's very little sister), from Helga Kraft.  I tweaked it ever so slightly to fit a slightly taller and slightly pudgier doll.  However, I can share with you Minerva's Halloween mask, which should fit similarly sized dolls like small BJD's, Riley, and others.

Minerva's Halloween Mask

Have a frightfully fun Halloween!

Playing with dolls

For the last several weeks I have been engrossed in buying and re-making distressesd Nancy Ann dolls.  These are vintage dolls that were made from the late 1930's through the 1960's.  The earlier dolls were bisque; in 1948 production shifted to hard plastic dolls.  They are small and endearing, and a great way to play with dolls :-)

I also love, absolutely love, presentation boxes for dolls.  So I scrounged around in my work room for some cigar boxes I had purchased many moons ago, and they looked to be a nice size to present these dear dolls.  With scrap book papers I had on hand (for another project that never materialized), and cardboard that I save like it is going out of production, I made the little box above for one of my Nancy Ann's. 

The scrapbook paper was easy to work with...generally I am a mess when it comes to gluing anything!  I just sort of winged it with measurements, using the box mostly and creasing the paper to make the cutting lines. 

I cut two seperate pieces of cardboard to fit the top of the box, with the ribbon wrapped around it to hold various outfits for the doll, and for the bottom of the box, to thread the ribbon through to hold the doll in place.  These covered pieces of cardboard also make a nice finish to the box and hide the edges of the scrap book papers that line the outside and inside of the box.

Another great box to use for this purpose are the photo storage boxes that Michael's carries.  That will be my next project :-)

I am also still restoring Nancy Ann's.  This darling girl came to me from a dear friend, who rescued several disheveled dolls and sweetly thought to send them to me!  They have been so much fun to re-create.  This is Jane Ann, named not only for my cousin (of the same name) but for my friend and also myself.  Her outfit is crocheted in perle cotton 8 with a size 9 steel hook, from the Annie's Attic leaflet Victorian Darlings.  Except for the length of sleeve and skirt, the outfit was crocheted to the pattern, with the finer thread and smaller needle.

Three more dolls waiting to be!  A hard plastic, frozen leg bisque, and jointed bisque with legs borrowed from a headless doll.  We can't wait!

New life for distressed dolls

I've always been drawn to the old Nancy Ann Storybook dolls; several years ago I bought a plastic one and used her for a template to create the Forget-Me-Knot crochet dolls.  Produced in bisque from 1936 to 1948, and in plastic from 1948 to the 1960's, they are small (4 1/2 inches to 7 inches) and have simple and endearing faces.

But, I like making dolls more than buying them!  So here is the neat part: my friend Joyce started re-making distressed Nancy Ann's.  Dolls that had been loved very nearly to death, and looked it.  These are not collectibles, and can be found fairly inexpensively on Etsy or Ebay.  Joyce hooked me (literally!) into the world of re-make for these sweet dolls.

So above you have a 7 inch Nancy Ann, who came to me with a broken hip and competely unstrung.  I mended her hip with glue and fabric, and restrung her with stretchy beading cord, as below:

The idea to use glue-soaked fabric to strengthen the break at the hip came from another Flickr friend.  It appears to work quite well.

I removed what little hair she had left and crocheted her a wig cap from boucle mohair yarn, available here:

Weir Craft Boucle Yarn

And crocheted her undies with size 20 crochet cotton, size 8 perle cotton, and a size 9 steel hook.  The pattern is a slight modification to the undies pattern for the Forget-Me-Knot kids.

I now have nearly a dozen urchins waiting patiently for a new life, and a new opportunity to bring joy to someone special.

The two on the left are bisque, the three on the right are hard plastic, and all are charming.

Before leaving, let me introduce you to Charlotte, a very special Southern Belle made especially for me by Joyce :-)  I couldn't ask for a better friend, or a sweeter gift.  Joyce's crochet skills, and her imagination, are amazing!

Charlotte, by Joyce Yearsly

Field Of Flags 2015

Field of Flags installation at the Minnetrista center in Muncie, Indiana.  Honoring Veterans the week of Labor day.  Our family, and especially my Dad, are all involved in this tribute.

LOTR Crochet goodness

A crocheted item with the name Goblin Cleaver was bound to catch my attention!  This pattern is available on Ravelry, and makes a wonderful asymetrical shawl/scarf.  It is crocheted with fingering weight yarn (I used Knit Picks Stroll in Raven colorway) with a G hook, which gives this crochet a wonderful drape.

To go along with this awesome scarf, I used some of the leftover yarn to make Strider's Cuff

The charm with the saying came from Michaels, and I used size 8 seed beads from my stash.  Christmas for my sister, who is every bit as much a Hobbit as I am :-)

Stella Nightshade

Companion to Luna Moonflower is Stella Nightshade :-)

Painting with crochet

 
While making this crochet throw -------->

which took about a week to complete, all I could think about was this doll 
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The Medallion Throw is a free pattern from the Lionbrand yarn website.   I changed most of the colors to be brighter and richer.  The throw is crocheted using Vanna's Choice, a really nice acrylic yarn that washes like a dream.  These were my color choice:

A = Fern

B = Toffee

C = Silver Blue

D = Saphire

E = Mustard

F = Fern

G = White

H = Rust

I = Mustard

I liked  the square shape, and no motifs to sew together.  It was easy to weave in the ends as I worked.

But, it wasn't a doll!  And, I got a bee in my bonnet on making eyes with crochet, after seeing several dolls with lovely crochet eyes.  So all the time I'm working on this afghan, I'm thinking about Luna Moonflower and her crochet eyes :-)

Luna is a Simply Ami doll with eyes crocheted in size 20 crochet cotton and/or size 8 perle cotton.  The idea is not original with me, you can see many great examples of this on Pinterest.  What I did do was create instructions on how I would go about making these eyes.  And here it is:

Crochet Ami Eyes

I also have a sweet little knit shrug for Simply Amis to share.  It was originally intended for Luna, but the color didn't really suit her, and she wanted the moonflowers on her dress instead.  However, Violette loves this color, so she is modeling the shrug for me :-)

Simply Ami Knit Shrug

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 :-)

Ready to Ride!

From left to right: my brother, nephew #2, Dad, me, nephew #3, nephew #1, beloved husband, sister-in-law

Ready to ride in the Great Greenway Tour!  My sister is the camera-person :-)