Travel Doll Undies; don't leave home without them :-)

Columbine now has some undies!  Very simple underwear, knitted primarily in rectangles.  Two camisole options let you crochet the neckline and shoulder straps, or knit as one piece and form the armhole openings like a two row buttonhole.

My doll is 4.5 inches wide at the hips and 12 inches tall, so you may want to adjust the pattern to fit you doll.  Once you've made undies that fit, you can go on to make just about anything else:  dresses, nightgowns, pants, skirts, tops.

Travel Doll Undies

Edit 10/31/2013

I just finished this drop stitch nightgown for Columbine; here is the pattern:

Drop Stitch Nightgown

The shawl she is wearing is from a free Lionbrand pattern, which is available here:

Garter Stitch Shawl  You need an account with Lionbrand, but it is free and well worth it.

Enjoy!

Knit Travel Doll by Fiona McDonald

I would have thought that knitting a sweater would have over-dosed me on knitting for a while, but not so!  I've been wanting to make Fiona McDonald's travel doll, a doll pattern freely available on Ravelry, ever since she posted it over a year ago.  I wish I hadn't waited so long :-)

This is Columbine; she is 12 inches tall knitted in light worsted yarn (Bernat Super Value) and size 3 needles (3.25mm).  She is knit flat then seamed up the back.  I love the use of light needlesculpting and painted eyes, a specialty of Fiona's doll patterns.

The doll made up quickly; it took three days of lazy knitting to make her and wig her.

Next up, some undies and clothing for Columbine :-)

If you are interested in making this doll, here is the link to her on Ravelry.  You need an account there, but it is free.

Fiona McDonald's Travel Doll

Knit sweater!

With the help of the book pictured, which I borrowed from our library, I actually started and finished a knit sweater!  Almost exactly two years from the time I completed my first knit project, which was the Jean Greenhowe knit doll pictured here with the sweater.

This was a simple, drop shoulder sweater knit from chunky yarn (Lionbrand Woolease Chunky) on size 10.5 needles.   It has a simple ribbed bottom edge, cuffs, and crew neck.

 And it even fits :-)

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!

Butterflies are Free; at least, mine are :-)

Butterflies flew into my brain a couple of weeks ago, when I was thinking about adding wings to my Forget-Me-Knot kids.  I've always loved the illustrations of Cicely Mary Barker; her Flower Fairies drawings from the 1920's are delightful, and they all have very realistic butterfly and moth wings. Sooooo...

Here is my attempt at creating some realistic butterflies in crochet:

Crochet Butterflies

The patterns are done in one color, so it will be up to you to decide how to crochet your butterfly.  I used two books to come up with mine:   Butterflies of Indiana,  by Jeffery E. Belth; and Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America,  by Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman.  These are both excellent field guides full of pictures.  The Indiana book is also excellent from the wealth of information regarding habitat, ecology, conservation, and everything you ever wanted to know about the life of butterflies. 

I used acrylic paint to add some details to the wings, like dots of color and wing tips.  Dual Duty button and craft thread was used to make the antennae.  The butterflies were made with worsted, sport, and size 10 crochet cotton, with a slightly smaller than normal hook for the yarn or thread.

I've become captivated and plan to try a butterfly garden next year.  Maybe you will too :-)

Field of Flags

This weekend Larry and I went to an installation of flags honoring veterans, both living and dead, at the Muncie Minetrista center. 

My Dad was instrumental in the creation of this installation.  We were there to honor all of our family members that have served, but especially Larry's father, who was a member of the 101st Airborne during WWII. 

It was a beautiful day; a good day to remember all of those who have put themselves in harms way to defend our freedoms.

Remember them in your thoughts and prayers, and enjoy the freedom of this day.

The tail end of summer

A couple of weeks ago, I took my camera along when I rode with Larry to work.  I usually ride with him, about a 13 mile round trip.   I snapped pictures of the ride, which winds through disparate areas of the 13th largest city in the U.S.  If you are interested, you can see the entire trip at this link:

Ride to work.

I also shot some pictures of the city park we live next to.  It is the oldest public park in Indy, and one of the main reasons we settled in this neighborhood.

There are a lot of artifacts from years ago, like this stairway to heaven :-)

If you would like to stroll through the park, follow this link:

In Garfield Park

The kids are back in school, and the days are slowly getting shorter.  Time to pull out the hooks, needles, and yarn and work on Christmas future.  Hope your days are lovely.