Category Archives: Hats

Sophie is My “Lavender Lovely”

Hello to you! I hope you are having a very nice weekend. It’s nice and hot here in northern Illinois–very summery feeling.

This month is flying by, and I don’t have much dolly-related making to show for it. Granted I have been taking a lot of time to enjoy spring and all the beautiful flowers. And, we have had a birthday and a college graduation to celebrate this month. May has been busy. There hasn’t been much time to settle down and create in my studio.

Last month I started a new ensemble for Sophie and it is now complete. Sophie is a Mary Engelbreit doll by Robert Tonner. She is the best friend to Ann Estelle. Do you remember those adorable paper dolls Mary added to her Home Companion magazine? These dolls are those paper dolls come to life. The dolls were first sold in the early 2000s and were very popular among doll collectors. At one time I had Gracie and Georgia too. Sophie is my only remaining M. E. doll. By the way, she shares the same body as the newer Patsy doll by Robert Tonner.

Sophie’s cropped cardigan is knit with lace weight merino that I hand dyed to a pink violet. I used six different shades of violet and pink for the roses. I mixed them up in different combinations, tiny rose jewels. I used Patsy’s cardigan pattern to knit this sweater for Sophie.

Oh, this fabric! I think it’s one of my favorites. It’s a Kaufman lawn, Sevenberry Petite Garden is a line of small scale florals from Japan. I originally purchased it from fabric.com. They don’t have this exact print anymore, but they have some other lovely prints to choose from.

I crocheted Sophie’s summer hat using three strands: #10 cotton, #10 bamboo, and #20 cotton. To decorate the hat I used lace that matches the dress and muted turquoise velvet ribbon. I hand tacked both separately and pulled snugly on the trims so that they hugged the hat neatly. I LOVE mother-of-pearl and happily used one of my mother-of-pearl buttons for this hat!

I think Sophie is thrilled with her new ensemble. She’s been waiting patiently for one of her own that she can keep.

I published a new YouTube video showing bits of this ensemble in progress.

Wishing you all a great ‘last week in May’ ! 🤗💜

A New Knitting Pattern

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Hi there! I hope this week is going good for you. It’s going fine over here. I think we are on day #8, and the last day, of really warm November weather. It has been nice, but it is starting to feel a little bit weird. I hate to say this, but I am looking forward to more seasonal temperatures. Remind me I said this when I am complaining about the cold. 🙄

Sunday night I finished up *gasp* a knitting pattern! It’s been so long–I’ve been way too lazy, sorry if you’ve been waiting for more. I have ideas, but it is SO much work putting the designs onto paper, or virtual paper I should say. It’s hard getting into pattern writing mode, but when the pattern is done I am very happy it’s out there for you.

Over the years I have been asked to put my ear flap hat into pattern form. It’s specifically designed for the Little Darlings who wear a 7″-8″ wig, but this should fit other dolls with the same sized head.

The Ear Flap Hat pattern is different from my last ones in that it includes a video link to illustrate steps where visuals could help make the steps clearer. I am a visual learner–I know many of us are; I am hoping this video is quite helpful. There are clickable time stamps in the video’s description so that you can click and go to the exact place in the video that you need to go to–no jumping around randomly.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ear-flap-hat-effner-little-darling-dolls

Now that this pattern sample is made I must get the rest of this outfit created. What are you working on this week?

Alice and I are sending you a virtual hug. 🤗 Stay safe. 💛

What a Glorious Weather Week It Has Been!

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Have you too had glorious weather this week? Oh my, my, it’s been unbelievable here in northern Illinois. It’s like early September all over again. It could stay like this forever… What a stretch of the best November weather ever!

After finishing up my last Little Darling’s ensemble and publishing an embroidery video I finally buckled down and got to work on a new knitting pattern. I have been asked to write a pattern for my ear flap hat (for the Little Darlings) for awhile now. I am happy to say that after a good proofreading and then converting the pages to a pdf it will be ready.

Alice is here to show you a couple of pics of her stripy ear flap hat. Even though the rest of the ensemble hasn’t been made yet I wanted to get this pattern out to you asap. I’m sure the weather will start turning towards hat weather soon and it’s good to be prepared. 😉

This pattern includes a YouTube video link as a supplement to the pattern. Lately whenever I want to know how to do something I go to YouTube and search there first. There’s nothing like watching the instructions rather than solely reading them and trying to figure out what they mean. I hope my video alleviates any questions about how to do things.

You can see the coloring page in the photo above that I include in the pattern. You will be able to plan out your stripy pattern on this graph. Print out as many times as you want and color away…

Look for this pattern on Ravelry this coming week.

How has your week been? Has any knitting, sewing, or crocheting been happening over at your place? I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to.

Thanks for stopping by! ❤