Category Archives: Effner Dolls

A Whisper of Spring

Happy Mother’s Day to moms in the U.K.!

As you all probably already know spring arrived this past Monday! We’ve had some sunny days, but other than a very warm afternoon on Friday our temps have been quite brisk. Ah, the warm temperatures will be here soon. Although this weekend, for us, it will be about very cold, spring showers.

As we head into this last week of March, I will have three more ensembles to show you. The first is being modeled by one of my Little Darlings, Lucy. This ensemble is in my last print in this particular colorway for this collection. The other two can be found here and here. I have enjoyed this color palette so much. It is really hard to find cool, rosy pink color palettes; most floral fabrics go towards the peachy side. I love those too, but this was a nice change.

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Lucy’s crocheted cap is made with a finer weight of cotton than I normally use. I wanted it be light and delicate, like a piece of lace. I kept the embellishment light and delicate too. I think it looks very cute on her.

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Lucy’s light as a feather cardigan (pattern available here) is hand knit with lace weight mohair/silk yarn in lilac. Two coordinating hand embroidered motifs decorate the front of the sweater.

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The cardigan sweater can be buttoned or left unbuttoned.

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In Lucy’s crocheted basket are blossoms and a pink egg. The three flowers and egg are removable. Her other accessories include a bracelet and very pale lilac rayon Lycra® tights.

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“A Whisper of Spring” will be available tonight (Sunday, March 26, 2017) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

A New Knitting Pattern for the Little Darlings

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Happy Saturday to you all! The snowfall from this past week is almost all melted around here, and spring is feeling just a bit more of a reality than it did a week ago. Yay! I know a lot of you already have lots of blossoms and blooms happening in the garden. That sounds wonderful!

My latest cardigan from the “Rosies and Lavender” ensemble has been published. It uses fingering weight yarn and can be worn as a cardigan or reversed to look like a pullover. I reworked the neckline to dip in a little bit, so it does not cut across the neck. The lace panels are on the back, sleeves, and along the front edges. The sewn bind off keeps the hemlines stretchy so that the lace can remain open and beautiful.

LD lace cardigan pattern p1 only

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The lace stitch panels are only 9 stitches wide with lace rows worked on two right side rows every 6 rows. You are not constantly knitting lace stitches. I also have the lace stitches written in a vertical format that I find easy to follow. They are also graphed. To alleviate mistakes, I added instructions for using ring markers to mark off your lace panels so that you can count your stitches immediately after knitting those stitches. The rows that each of the two different lace rows are worked on are also noted on the charts and graph. I try to make knitting these lace panels as foolproof as possible as I tended to forget yarn overs or decreases. This method works for me every time.

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

I wish you all a fantastic weekend (even if you still have snow on the ground)! Thanks for stopping by, friends!

“Rosies and Lavender”

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It’s super hard to get into spring-y feelings this morning. It snowed all night and a fine snow is still falling. However, we don’t have much snow on the ground, six inches or so. Six inches of snow is better than 24, so I’ll take it without complaining.

I have my smiling Little Darling, Lucy, here to help bring back some feelings of spring. She is wearing the most (one of them, anyway) beautiful floral prints in a unique color palette. Instead of green for the greenery, it is in medium grey. The background isn’t white, ivory, or ecru. It is the color of whipping cream! The roses are in cool rosy tones with muted violet blossoms. The blossoms, stems, and leaves make up bouquets scattered randomly on this Japanese cotton fabric.

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Isn’t this a beautiful print?

Lucy’s dress has English cotton Cluny lace snugged underneath a skirt tuck. The waistline sash is in rosy colored satin ribbon.

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Muted lavender works perfectly for the sweater. The elbow length wool cardigan has delicate lace panels down the center back, sleeves, and along the front edges. I’ve embroidered floral motifs in an asymmetrical composition amongst the lace panels.

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Lucy wears a crocheted cap made out of white bamboo thread. It is decorated with a crocheted mohair/silk rose, satin bow, and glass leaf bead. What a pretty girl!

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