Dammit Doll

Started out to design a rag doll to wear some of the doll clothing and knits that I make....

this one won't do it, but she's kindof fun anyway!

She's destined to be a "Dammit Doll".... to be kept handy for when you feel the urge to whack someone, but your better sense tells you "NO!"

She is made from decorator weight cotton, her ankles are perfectly sized for grabbing, and her body is firmly stuffed for good whacking on the car steering wheel, the tv, sewing machine, or computer; maybe the phone that rings during the 6 pm news.... Yell "Dammit, dammit, dammit" as you give the offending item a couple of good whacks. +_+

She has no face yet and hasn't been closed up at the top of her head, but she is soooo expressive with those long unstuffed arms! With arms crossed I am tempted to give her face raised eyebrows; then I shifted the arms and she looks like the morning after the night before..... :D

On the other hand.... perhaps she should be a "Mood Doll"..... to keep at your desk to forewarn the unsuspecting that today is NOT the day to mess with you!

Textured Fall Head Wrap or Scarflette

I found this fuzzy textured yarn... it has been the rage for several years for those long skinny scarves; you know the ones! Anyway, I was inspired by the fall colors of the yarn... I added a strand of a German Crazy Zauberball self striping wool sock yarn to it for extra color.. Look closely and you will see a bit of blue in it! I also had in mind adding a natural fiber to the poly/acrylic stuff to give it (an me) integrity.... :D

The design is straightforward to knit; simply cast on three stitches, then add one stitch at each end on every row as in "K1, M1, K,... rib knit to the other side ending with P,K, M1, K1... yes, I increased on every row. Keep going until you are done, then stop! Mine ended up being about 8" x 20" excluding the braids.

Bind off loosely; add braided ties. The size is perfect for a head wrap or tied loosely at the neck for a pop of color over a jacket or sweater.

The uneven number of stitches resulted in an edge of knit 3.. with K1,P1 rib knit throughout. I had in mind to knit until the scarflette was wide enough to tie around the neck but changed my mind when nearing the end of the skein.

I liked the idea of the pop of color in the braided ties.

For the ties I wrapped yarn from hand over elbow and back again for 36 strands; cut; divide shaded yarns equally for each side. Slip the strands through the end of the scarflette and with ends even, begin braiding. You can be obsessive compulsive and count out even numbers of colors for the three strands or let them come as the fall... I fall into the obsessive compulsive route, so there ya are!

Happy knitting!

Clair with the new snowman. Waldorf inspired knitted doll. Knit from wool blend sock yarns; wool batting inside, wool embroidered facial features; felted wool fabric scarf..... sorry, plastic button! Firmly attached, but makes it not suitable for babies and small children. Better used as a doll for your larger dolls, or as an ornament.

The too pink doll is knit based on the pattern in the book of Pocket Pals discussed in a recent post. The snowman is my own pattern. ..... significantly smaller at 2.75" rather than 4.5"; and I gave it some shaping.

The original doll can wear hats I knit for Skipper, Momoko, Licca, Jenny, Barbie, and What's Her Face. Way too big for the snowman, so I wrote a new pattern for the smaller version.

Mini knitting is such a treat!

OK... it's tedious and tiny, and my eyes get buggy after awhile, but I keep coming back for more! I found this great little book of designs by Val Love...it's called Pocket Pals. She's taken an old favorite knitted doll and updated it... at least, I think that's what she did as knitted dolls have been around f-o-r-ever!
But they are so darned cute!

I knitted one with my morning coffee... didn't like that the pattern is written for straight needles, and I am in the process of rewriting it for myself for use with DP needles.

I hate sewing up, and will use circular or DP needles whenever possible. I am actually not going to finish this first one because I need some skin toned yarn to replace to too pink yarn I used, so will post a photo later of a completed one.
In the meantime, Happy Knitting!

Now, THIS is a good fit! But in needed something to set them off, so I knitted up a pretty straightforward shrug. I so love this yarn! The shrug can be worn either way, depending upon which colors you want to have at the shoulders, which show mostly at the front of the doll.

These are the mini stockings that I spoke of earlier. I actually began making them early in July.. but most of the yarn is self-striping that I have, and really isn't suited to "pairs" of socks for dolls. These will likely end up as tree ornaments... again.. they're addictive! The pattern was purchased; but adapted to suit my knitting. I didn't like the ribbed top as shown on the green stocking. Why? Because it is so small it is difficult to open it up; I envision them on a miniature tree with mini candy canes... so, modified the top for a purled top; subsequent stockings are a bit different, with two rows of purls separated by two rows of knit stitches.

Note: The stockings are shown on What's Her Face; she has much bigger feet than Blythe or the other 1/6 scale dolls, so I modified the pattern again to fit Blythe.
Did I say I knitted mini stockings while on the PCT? ... my brain must have fried in the sun.... The yarn I took with me was a skein of self-striping sock yarn, and I made these little Topknot Hats. They are sized for Skipper, which means they will fit most 1/6 scale dolls, such as Barbie, Licca, Momoko, Jenny, and What's Her Face. They will definitely NOT fit Blythe! I have another pattern for her.
The hats are like popcorn... addicting! You must keep knitting to see how the next one will shape up!

So... advancing in age as we are... we figured that there would be no better time to hike a bit of the Pacific Crest Trail.... it won't be easier next year, after all!!
Gathering up the newest equipment was the fun part! Lots of new lightweight things to get... I treated myself to the newest lightweight thermarest sleeping pad, coming in at 14 oz..... good thing! My pack weighed over 40 lbs, even after ditching some stuff the night before heading out. However, I must confess that some of the ditched items found their way back into my pack before we left. :D
We chose the section of the PCT nearest as we were shuttled back and forth.... beginning at Grouse Gap, about 10 miles east of Mt Ashland, and hiking to Wrangle Gap... about 10 miles or so. Didn't seem like so much, but it took us all day! When we thought we should be almost there we realized we had to go around Red Mtn... more uphill!! But the campsite at Wrangle Gap was great! So great, in fact, that we decided to stay put for 4 days; then hiked back out the way we came. Next year: lighter packs, and another section. At this rate, we will be hiking for 170 years to finish the 1700 mile PCT!!
While camping I knitted until I ran out of yarn.. I had taken only one ball of sock yarn, and knitted up some mini stockings with it. (It was worth its weight in the pack, believe me!)
:D