Category Archives: Alice

“Around the Corner are Roses”

Our warmer than normal temperatures have gotten me thinking of spring already. And I’m afraid it’s affected what I feel like creating. I am so sorry to all of you winter lovers out there. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get back to winter things; I have spring fever early this year!

On Wednesday we did get a light dusting of wintry snow, but I must admit that when I took the dog out Thursday morning there was that springlike smell in the air—the smell that comes with an April snowfall, not one that happens in January. I am not the only one fooled—my crocuses have started popping up already.

My Little Darling, Alice, is feeling the fever too. We both know that roses growing in the garden are indeed just around the corner. Meanwhile we’d like you to enjoy the roses from my studio.

around-the-corner-are-roses-076

around-the-corner-are-roses-087

around-the-corner-are-roses-102

around-the-corner-are-roses-111

around-the-corner-are-roses-120

around-the-corner-are-roses-069

“Around the Corner are Roses” will be available tonight (January 27, 2017) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

“A Little Wish for Spring”

5 Replies

So far winter has not gotten the best of me. It should have really; we’ve had a LOT of extremely gloomy days! However, I am enjoying the coziness inside my house with cups of tea, twinkle lights around the window, and a fire in the fireplace.

So . . . Alice and I are only sending out “A Little Wish for Spring”. It is so nice to see roses, even if they are the embroidered kind.

I chose Alice to model this ensemble because she looked the prettiest in it. Her coloring goes perfectly with warm, neutral, and rosy colors. This pink yarn is a little bit neutral—it is a heathered yarn with very faint hints of lavender and warm red. So all three primary colors are accounted for to make this yarn a neutral color even if it is “pink”.

a-little-wish-for-spring-935

Alice’s beret features a hand made silk ribbon bow in a hand dyed warm lavender with ecru pearls decorating the center. (Alice’s beret is knit from my beret pattern which is available for your knitting pleasure.)

a-little-wish-for-spring-942

I chose the embroidery colors from my notes when I made Patsy’s sweater dress. I added the very pale peachy pink colonial knots for a pop of light. You can see Patsy’s sweater dress set here.

a-little-wish-for-spring-946

I am currently working on this sweater dress knitting pattern which will be ready for purchase very soon. It will have two sleeve length options and two dress length options. This is the short sleeved and shorter length version. The Little Darlings have adorably shaped arms and legs which I like to show off.

a-little-wish-for-spring-953

Alice’s “A Little Wish for Spring” will be available tonight (January 12, 2017) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

How about you? Are you faring well this winter? I’d love to hear about your winter where you live.

“A Nostalgic Christmas”

7 Replies

Hello everyone, from snowy Illinois. It snowed all day on Sunday! We ended up breaking a record for getting this much snow during the first December snow (or something like that). With even colder temperatures arriving, this white stuff will stick around for a while. I’m not sure how I feel about that . . . so far so good though. I’m surviving!

Yes, Alice is here again to show you something new. Nelly’s dolls have a muted rosiness that I notice above their eyes; it’s kind of a vintage look. The colors in this ensemble are perfect with her coloring, so she gets another chance. I love how all the artists paint the Little Darlings a bit different.

I wanted to photograph my newest outfit this past Sunday. I think I fussed around with the photos all day. The Christmas tree seemed so busy and the color wasn’t as pretty as I wanted it to be. Finally, my husband gave me some tips (he was probably tired of hearing me complain–lol). He had me put a different lens on my camera, so I could stand back and zoom in on Alice. I also put Alice farther from the tree and opened up my f-stop as much as I could. The result was that I got a somewhat blurry tree with Alice all in focus. My favorite photos were taken when it was around 4:00 in the afternoon! It was quite dark in the room, but I had the tripod set up and Alice stayed as still as possible.

a-nostalgic-christmas-344

This isn’t a typical Christmas print for a Christmas ensemble, but it kept calling to me to be made into one, so I did. The colors in this ensemble are shades of mauve, a little deep red, warm pink, salmon. They all go together beautifully because all the colors are neutral, nothing is bright. I even added a little bit of plumminess with the organza ribbon used for the sash and present.

a-nostalgic-christmas-335

a-nostalgic-christmas-348

The embroidered motifs, are all slightly different compositions, both on the sweater and cuddle cap. I used four shades of floss to shade the roses. Ecru colonial knot buds add a bit of bright and the perfect shade of green foliage ties the blossoms together.

a-nostalgic-christmas-319

Alice’s sweater is knit with Peruvian Highland wool and her 1950s style cuddle cap is knit with a wool/angora blend. Her scarf is knit with a lighter shade of mauve, also in Peruvian Highland wool.

a-nostalgic-christmas-246