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’ ! 🤗💜

Let the Holiday Magic Begin

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This year I am SO ready to begin decorating for Christmas. On one hand I absolutely cannot believe it is that time of year, but on the other hand I am ready and excited for it. Are you feeling festive earlier this year? We already have quite a few houses in our neighborhood with their Christmas lights turned on. I think others may be feeling the same as me…???

Way back in August I purchased tickets for the Chicago Botanic Gardens Lightscape event. This event sold out so quickly last year, so I purchased the tickets on the day they went on sale. We picked a random date which happened to be this past Saturday. It was a beautiful evening–just cool enough and dry (rain had been predicted for Saturday earlier in the week). We got lucky because you just never know what the weather will be like on November 21st when it is still mid August. It was a festive start to the season… and so good to be out in society. This event is totally outdoors and everyone stayed far enough apart and wore masks. I felt very safe.

My favorite exhibit was the waterfall made with lights. It originally is the waterfall garden, but they dry it out for the winter. It’s hard to capture the essence on video, but trust me it was amazing!

Other news! I finished a holiday ensemble for Gina. Here are a few pictures.

Gina’s cardigan was knit with my Light Cardigan Little Darling pattern. I used the instructions for the long sleeved version and the longest body length. I added an eyelet lace design on the neckline and hemline. I think it worked better on the hemline; it kind of gets lost on the neckline. It’s probably because I had to add all of the missed increases right after the lace pattern. I also added a lace motif on each sleeve which I like.

Gina’s ear flap hat was the sample I made for my newest pattern. I ended up changing the pom pom from pink to red because it needed a little red to coordinate with the rest of the ensemble.

The Christmas stocking was knit with a free pattern from Little Cotton Rabbits. I made the leg 4 stitches narrower, but otherwise followed the pattern as written. It was quick but fiddly. I am not keen on executing a p2tog tbl. I think it only needed to be made a few times, but I found it very difficult and put me off of the whole pattern. I wonder if a regular p2tog would work…

I published a YouTube video from my past week’s work or so. While I worked on this ensemble I took video here and there. It’s not a tutorial–just a virtual visit with me while I create it. Please join me.

I wish all of you (who celebrate) a very Happy and safe Thanksgiving. Hugs to all of you, my friends. 🤗 ❤️

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.