Archives for March 2017

The winner of my review copy of  Knit Noro: Accessories 2: 30 More Colorful Little Knits by Sixth&Spring Books is Denny Stein, who has been emailed. Thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway.

And look! I still knit!

I have finished the body of Aspen and am working on a sleeve.

But I have been spending a fair amount of time on sewing doll clothes. Like this:

This pinafore and dress are made entirely of silk, which frays like crazy! So it was less than wonderful to create, but I do love the results.

And this, which I made without a pattern:

I used a set of fat quarters in coordinating colors and some vintage eyelet trim.

And the little prince sleeps through it all.

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I have another book to review:

This is Knit Noro: Accessories 2: 30 More Colorful Little Knits by Sixth&Spring Books. As you might have surmised from the title, it has 30 patterns for various accessory items: Hats, wraps, cowls, gloves, and socks.All worked in glorious Noro yarns.

You can take a look at the projects on Ravelry, here.

In picking out my favorite projects from the collection I am trying hard not to be influenced by my color preferences. Here goes.

This is the Art Deco Wrap by Cheryl Murray. It is worked in Noro Silk Garden Sock and Silk Garden Sock Solo — fingering weight yarns. This is a modular knit, worked entirely in garter stitch. It reminds me very much of a project I finished not too long ago: Welcome Back Garter. Totally different look, but same technque: knit modularly in garter stitch. That was a very fun andsatisfying project and I anticipate that the Art Deco Wrap would be just as fun!

And this is another project in my favorite colors — can’t get away from thsoe blues and greens:

Corrugated Basketweave Hat by Michelle Porter, also knit from Noro Silk Garden Sock and Silk Garden Sock Solo. I love the subtle color changes achieved here!

Okay, branching out a bit in colors now:

Slanted Poncho by Sandi Prossner is knit from sportweight Noro Taiyo 4-ply, a self striping yarn. This poncho, which is knit in stripes that are joined as they are worked, is a good showcase for Noro self-striping yarn.

Lisa Craig’s Wavy Eyelet Cowl is knit from aran weight Noro Silk Garden (and I imagine you could use Noro Kureyon as well). More fun with self-striping that would work up pretty quickly!

Those are just a few of the projects — there are many more in a range of delightful Noro yarns.

Who’d like my review copy?

To be entered in the drawing for my review copy, please leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite project from the book. Leave your comments by 11:00am Eastern Time on Wednesday, March 29, 2017 to be entered in the drawing.

Loki is all excited about the giveaway!

This whole doll clothes creation thing is a slippery slope. I’ve gone from having not sewn anything in 20 years to possessing a decent size fabric, lace, and trim stash in a remarkably short period of time.

Several of you asked where I am finding these patterns. The answer is — a number of different places. For the most part, I’ve been buying old patterns from the “big” pattern companies (McCalls, Simplicity, Butterick, and Vogue) on Etsy. You can get sewing patterns for a just a few dollars there and all the ones I have bought have been new and unused.

Another option for doll clothes patterns is buying them via pdf download. There are lots of pattern-makers selling doll clothing patterns via Etsy. There is also a website that has patterns from a number of different “indie” designers: PixieFaire. A nice thing about PixieFaire is their “Freebie Friday” — if you sign up for their email list, you’ll be notified each Friday of a free pattern. It changes every week and is only free for a short period of time.

So a couple of weeks ago I found a very sweet doll dress pattern on Etsy, this one:

I purchased and downloaded the pattern. And I noted the following about the pattern:

• No list of materials or any indication of how much fabric is required.
• The pattern pieces do not include any seam allowance!
• Some of the pieces are unmarked as to what they are.
• The skirt pieces are only partial and have length notations on them for cutting the pieces — some of the notations are correct and some are obviously incorrect.The written instructions are very sparse and were written in another language and translated into English using translation software (the seller is apparently Ukrainian). For “fold” she uses “bend” and for “elastic” she uses “rubber band.” Totally incomprehensible.

The only saving grace is that there are lots of pictures so I could figure the pattern out. So just to prove that I could, I made a version of the dress. I estimated the skirt pieces. After all, if my skirt has a few more or fewer gathers, it is not going to matter — it’s a doll’s dress! I had purchased off eBay a set of fat quarters in coordinating fabrics so I used those.

Please excuse that I have not yet thoroughly ironed the dress, but here it is:

There are a few obvious differences between mine and the original. We’ll call those “artistic differences. ”

Loki is not sure what to make of all this sewing but he is happy as long as I don’t attempt to dress him up!

I do still knit, honest. But I am really enjoying getting back into sewing. Here is today’s project:

A dress and pinafore for Kirsten. She’s been feeling the love because she got some new footwear this week.

Dala horse clogs!

Knit boots!

Ugg boots!

And in other news, Loki has become adept at selfies.

Thanks for your lovely comments about my American Girl doll project. I sent out the first three dolls last week and they arrived at the Butterfly Ministry yesterday. You can see them on their Facebook account.

Several of you asked where I got the dolls to refurbish. I got them all via eBay. There are always lots of AG dolls for sale that are in less than perfect condition, so you can get them for a relatively reasonable price.

Today I made a dress for one of my dolls:

And I am working on the right front of Aspen.

Loki is helping by standing in my lap while I attempt to accomplish something.