WIP: American Indian Free Spirit and others

Just a quick look at my latest WIP"s (work-in-progress). I've been wanting to do an American Indian Free Spirit, and when Joyce was able to adapt the Fibre Craft pattern to make such a great outfit for her Scarlet, I wanted to do the same with Fibre Craft's lovely American Indian Princess outfits.

I had a lovely, lovely, Wool/Tencel yarn in jet black that is perfect for her hair. It is a Berroco yarn called Lustra, and it is just that.

Winters Dawn is complete and awaiting her costume. I'm going to choose one that is availabe free from this site:

http://barbscraftbooks.tripod.com/barbscrochet/id254.html

So if you choose, you can make a doll just like the one I am making. Of course, there are several other American Indian patterns available, and Amazon has several for sale that are used copies.


I created two other dolls while I was at it, and plan to get them wigged before making the American Indian costume. This way they can tell me their personalities while I am crocheting clothing.


I used Vanna's Choice yarn for all three. The Caucasian dolls are made with Beige, and the American Indian doll is made with Honey. This yarn makes up a lovely doll, and is not quite as rough as the Red Heart Super Saver yarn.




This Mini is destined to be a little gardener for my Sister's birthday. I hope to create a little garden that she will be the center of. My Grandmother was a great garderner, and my sister has inherited her talent and love for growing things :-)

Mini Bed Doll

When I designed the Mini Free Spirit doll, I really hoped that she could easily wear the outfits that have been designed for the Fibre Craft 'Cindy' doll. I have a few of these patterns, some which are still in print, like the one above.




Here, Sarah is wearing a lovely 'bed doll' style dress crocheted from size 10 crochet cotton. The only alterations I needed to make to this pattern were: a size 5 steel hook (instead of 7) for the bodice and bonnet, and I added two additional rows to the bonnet.







Showing off her ruffled petticoat :-) The petticoat was crocheted with size 3 crochet cotton, instead of the recommended acrylic sportweight. I also took a little fullness out of it; a personal taste decision, plus I didn't want to spend more than a day crocheting it.






Next I plan to make a full size Free Spirit and try a couple of bed doll patterns, like Joyce did! I have an American Indian doll in mind for starters.


Enjoy the crochet!

Is it Spring Yet?

I'd like to join Virginia in this meadow glade. Sit on the log and talk to the owl on the stump. Feed bread crumbs to the little mouse, and find out how the turtle has spent his day :-) Just don't pick the toadstools!

This little scene is all crochet, glued to a wooden plaque 6" x8". It is a little small, as I found out when I tried to get Virginia to sit on the log. She can, but the scene becomes a little cramped. The nice thing is you can make this any size you'd like. The patterns for this crochet scene are listed here, and on the left hand side of the blog page.

Stump, Log, and Meadow: 

Mushrooms: 

Tiny mouse: 

Tiny turtle: 

The directions for the stump, log, and meadow are more like guidelines than specific directions. This way you can make these elements any size you like, and from any yarn or combination of yarns. I used Lionbrand Fun Fur together with Red Heart worsted and a G hook for the meadow with grass. The mushrooms and turtle are made from worsted yarn and a size E hook; the little mouse from fingering weight mohair blend and a C hook.

The tiny owlet is from Brigitte Read's wonderful Roman Sock blog, which is listed in 'Links I Love.' This is a wonderful, simple, adorable pattern that I've made many times and highly recommend. All of the other elements of this scene are out of my own head :-)



These little guys are just over two inches long (not including tails). Enjoy the crochet!

Welcome 2010

Happy New Year! I hope that 2010 is filled with joy for all of you, and plenty of time to make dolls and enjoy the crochet :-)

Virginia, one of the Mini Free Spirits, has a couple new outfits to share with you. She now has a T-shirt, and Overalls and a Jumper that fit over it. The patterns are here:

T-shirt: 

Overalls and Jumper: 

And also on the left hand side of the blog page under Mini Free Spirit Patterns.

I plan on working on a diorama next; a small woodland scene composed of crochet, using either free patterns or patterns of my own design. It has been percolating in my head since before Christmas, and I'm looking forward to see if it evolves the way I have it pictured in my mind.

A-line Dresses for Mini Free Spirit

Here is a pattern for the Mini Free Spirit for an A-line dress. Actually, three dresses, each one with a different pattern stitch for the dress and different sleeve and neck treatment. All made with size 10 crochet cotton and a size 5 steel hook.

The link to the pattern is here:

A-line dresses

And also on the left side of the blog page.

Have a safe and joy filled New Year, hopefully also filled with plenty of time to crochet :-)

Merry Christmas!

Finally the mini's are all dressed, just in time for Christmas. We are all wishing you a very Merry Christmas and blessed New Year. Hopefully the New Year will bring joy to all of us, and plenty of time to crochet :-)

These little outfits were made from an Annie Potter Presents pattern leaflet designed for Fibre Craft's 'Cindy' doll. Sadly, this particular pattern set is out of print, but my next project is to design a cute little A-line dress for Mini Free Spirit that can be accessorized with collars and sleeve options.

Below are Emily and Sarah, with their Labrador pup Cody, also wishing you the very best for the holidays and the year to come.

Enjoy the crochet!

Crochet Abbreviations

Someone just asked about how to read crochet abbreviations. I found a site that lists the most common US crochet abbreviations and what they stand for. The link is here:

http://www.needlepointers.com/displaypage.aspx?ArticleID=29065&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.karpstyles.com%2fcrochet%2fcrochet-abbreviations.html

And I have also placed it in the 'Links I Love' listing.

Once you know what the abbreviation stands for, you can go to this link from Crochet Pattern Central (also in 'Links I Love') to see how the stitch is made:

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/stitches.php


Happy crocheting to all of you, beginners and experienced alike. And, Merry Christmas :-)

Do you read Russian?

If you can read Russian, you are in luck. Here is a link (which can also be found in 'Links I Love') to a Russian crochet forum with lovely crochet toys and dolls. One of the members graciously translated the Free Spirit pattern to Russian and posted it on the forum.

http://www.supersadovnik.ru/hmforum/post.aspx?id=433107&pg=3#433107

Enjoy the crochet!

A Good Hair Day

I really do love making wigs for my dolls :-) As you can see above, I decided to make three different wigs for my warm brown Mini Free Spirit. She could not decide if she wanted to be a blond or a brunette, or how she wanted to wear her hair. So, I made a dark golden blond long-haired wig, a strawberry blond wig with two ponytails, and a brunette wig with one ponytail.

These wigs really are easy to make. The yarn does all the work; for these I used a very hairy worsted weight yarn. I also used a mohair laceweight yarn held with the worsted weight to add highlights to the hair, but this is not necessary. The hairy yarn give a wig cap that really doesn't need to be covered with yarn strands, so I didn't. For various ponytails or pigtails I just hooked a few strands of yarn in the appropriate places and pulled the yarn together with little hair clips.

I have not had any luck finding these yarns locally, so my best advice is to try A Child's Dream Come True, Magic Cabin Dolls, or Weir Dolls and Crafts, all on the web.

Below you can see how she looks in her different wigs.


Enjoy the holidays, and enjoy the crochet!