The Design Process

This doll design started with a foot.

I had made a couple of Arne&Carlos dolls, which I really enjoyed.  But the feet were so BIG.  It sort of limited what you could dress the dolls in, so I thought...


 a smaller foot might be nice...

with a more child-like body type...

 and hands that are not perpetual fists...






and a move-able head...

An altogether smaller doll.  I wanted to name the first doll Ruby Grace.  Then Grace Notes, those tiny accent notes in the musical sphere, came to mind as a perfect name for these tiny, charmed creatures.

Three iterations later, the doll and pattern are finished.   I've learned a couple of interesting things in making this doll:




 1.  She is knit in the round on dpns; this technique seems to produce a firmer and more uniform knit fabric.  This is especially  apparent when stuffing and embroidering the face.  Additionally, for very tight gauges, wool yarn is much friendlier to knit with than acrylic: the stitches slide off the needle much easier with wool than acrylic.





2.  Not all knit increases are created equal.  The first two prototypes were knitted using the 'knit front-and-back' increase, which looked, frankly, clunky.  For the final doll, I used a lifted increase (do a Google search for this if you are not familiar with it) which made a lovely, practically invisible, increase.

The leg on the left used 'knit front and back' increases; the one on the right the lifted increase.

So here is the pattern:  Grace Notes Knit Doll

I hope you enjoy adding a tiny bit of Grace to the life of a child with Grace Notes :-)

Making peace with Double Points

HarmonyAnn is my second Hippie doll from the Arne & Carlos book "Knit and Crochet Garden."  I've made my peace with double point knitting needles, and although the first few rounds of knitting are still a bity wonky, it is worth putting up with as the doll unfolds upon the needles.  Nice it is there are minimal seams to sew :-)

Hippie's Cardigan

Hippie Joy, from the Arne & Carlos book "Knit and Crochet Garden" is a delight to knit for.  She is 12 inches tall with a slender waist, so any outfit knits up quickly.  I've already made her a pair of overalls and pullon sweater from the book, but Hippie Joy wanted a cardigan sweater to wear with her pretty dresses.

I adapted a pattern from the 'Knitted Dolls' book, also by A & C, and freely offer it here for your very own Hippie :-)

Hippie Knit Cardigan

Now I want to work on a 'mini me' in Hippie style!

New Dolls: Jade and Joy

I've been making dolls and playing in the flower beds, now that Spring really has arrived here in the Midwest.  This is Jade, from Fiona McDonalds free 'Babe's Little Sister' doll pattern. 

Her sweater dress is stranded colorwork, using the template for raglan sweaters from the Arne&Carlos 'Knitted Dolls' book; the patterns are from Alice Starmores book 'Charts for Color Knitting'.  The sweater is knit to Arne&Carlos's instructions, but with worsted yarn and size 6 double point needles. 

Here is the colorwork pattern for the dress:

Sweater body

Sweater sleeve

Click on the link and you should get a gridded pattern for the body of the sweater and for the sleeve.  If necessary, enlarge the image so you can see the individual grid lines.  The body pattern is one half of the dress body; the sleeve  pattern is for the whole sleeve.  Best if you have Arne&Carlos's book for the sweater construction directions.

Planted some of my favorites, violas, in a clay strawberry pot.  These are city cousins to violets, another of my favorite spring flowers.

And rejoiced that my hellebores survived this cruel winter, even to bravely blooming through the last snow of the season :-)

And finally, a new Arne&Carlos doll!  This is Joy, from their Hippie pattern from 'Knit-and-Crochet Garden.'   After making their dolls from the 'Knitted Dolls' book, I thought I would NEVER knit another doll on dpn's.  However, this little doll just had to be made, and amazingly, she made up quite easily.  Perhaps two years and more experience with dpn's made the difference :-) 

Joy is smaller than the original Arne&Carlos dolls, about 12 inches tall.   I think she is going to have some Hippie sisters joining her soon!

My Mother: 1934 - 2014

My Mother passed away this week.  She died as she lived, with great courage and grace.  The words of Proverbs 31: 10-31 describe her best:

"Who can find a noble woman? For her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband safely trusts in her, and her food supplies never diminish.

She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and linen, and works willingly with her hands.
She is like the merchants ship, she brings her merchandise from afar.

She rises also while it is yet night, and gives food to her household and work to her maids.
She considers a field, and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vinyard.

She girds her loins with strength, and strengthens her arms.

She perceives that her merchandise is good; her lamp does not go out all night.

She stretches out her hands to the poor; yea, she stretches forth her arms to the needy.

The members of her household are not afraid of the cold; for all of them are clothed with scarlet.
She makes herself a covering of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

Her husband is known in the cities, when he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes fine linen, and sells it; and delivers girdles to the merchants.

Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom; and upon her tongue is the law of kindness.

The ways of her household are above reproach, and she does not eat of the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her blessed; and her husband also praises her.  Many daughters have done well, but you have excelled them all.

Comeliness is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman who reverences the Lord shall be praised.  Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gate."

My Mother is free from pain and fear; we who are left are hurting, but we will heal.

Nutmeg Dressed

Nutmeg is now cozily dressed in a raglan sweater and sweet jumper, both adapted from patterns from the Arne & Carlos book "Knitted Dolls."  Instructions on how to adapt the patterns to Fiona's Babes' Little Sister doll are on the left sidebar, under the picture of Babes Little Sister :-)

The sweater is knit in pale blush Berrocco Vintage yarn, and the jumper in Patons Classic Wool black and Berrocco Vintage magenta.  The colors are the same as her striped socks.

This was the first time I had attempted stranded colorwork, and now I'm hooked!  Gathering many books from the library for patterns and inspiration, among them:

Alice Starmore's "Charts for Color Knitting," and "Book of Fair Isle Knitting."
Arne & Carlos "55 Christmas Balls to Knit"
"Teach Yourself Visually Color Knitting."

The last book was not as helpful as I had hoped, but I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the Alice Starmore books!

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is my second doll from Fiona McDonald's free "Babes' Little Sister" pattern.  She is knit from Knit Picks Brava yarn in brindle, which is a wonderful, warm chestnut brown.  Her stripey legs are a combination of Paton's classic wool in black, and Berrocco Vintage in blush and magenta.  Her hair is a combination of two high mohair content yarns, which I really love for hair :-)

The Brava yarn worked up a slightly smaller doll than Bernat Super Value, but knitting is so forgiving that the outfits for Patience will fit Nutmeg.

I love this doll form; it is a simple, child-like body that knits quick and easy.  A bit of a nose bump on the face turns into a delightful button nose with a couple of easy needlesculpting stitches.

I'm going to knit Nutmeg a blush pink raglan sweater and black jumper from the Arne&Carlos book...something to go with her stripey legs :-)

Sweater and Pants for Patience

Finally something to keep Patience warm, here at the end (I hope!) of winter.  A very simple knit cardigan sweater, and pull on knit pants.  Both are knit flat.  The sleeves of the sweater are knit into the side seams, then seamed from wrist to waist.  The knit pants are knit in one piece, then seamed up the inseam and then the center back seam; they pull on and fit nicely over the bikini panties.

Little Sister Sweater

Little Sister Pants

Both of these pieces are designed to fit Fiona McDonald's 'Babes' Little Sister' pattern, which is freely available on Ravely.  You can find a link to this pattern on the left sidebar of this blog under "Fiona McDonald's Babe's Little Sister.'

For Valentines Day

Fiona McDonald has created a delightful, free, knit doll pattern called "Babe's Little Sister."  The pattern is available on Ravelry:

Babes Little Sister

I've made my little sister, Patience, some unders, which are also useful as a starting point for other clothing designs.  The patterns are available here:

Little Sister Undies

and I will also put them on the left sidebar under Babe's Little Sister.

She is a bit smaller and more slender than the popular 18 inch American Girl doll.  Here she sits between and AG and a similar doll made by Goetz.

Happy Valentines Day :-)