Tag Archives: doll dresses

Mother’s Day Bouquets for You from Us

Hello, my friends. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day in the U.S. It is a day for pampering our moms and those who care for us. Even if you don’t celebrate this day take a moment to receive some flower bouquets from my sweet girls. They’ll pamper you just because…

Patience (from Tonner/Wilde Imagination) has picked a little bouquet of bright pink and ivory blossoms. She’s tied them all together with an even brighter pink ribbon. Patience is wearing an ensemble from 2017 called “Happiness in Pink”. Her hot pink mohair cardigan is knit with my Classic Cardigan for Patience. (The pattern can be found here and purchased on Ravelry.)

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Patsy has picked a bouquet of pure white long stemmed blossoms for you. She’s tied the stems together with streamers of warm pink ribbon. How sweet she is! Patsy is wearing an ensemble from 2017 titled “Blossom for my Love-ly”. Her mohair cardigan has also been knit with my Patsy knitting pattern. More information about the Light Cardigan for Patsy can be found here and purchased on Ravelry.

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My Little Darling, Lucy, (#3 sculpt painted by Helen Skinner) has picked a pink rose with ivory blossoms and tied them all together with a lilac ribbon for you. Lucy is wearing a summery sweater dress from 2016. The ensemble is titled “My Favorite Roses” , more photos and info. can be found by clicking the title. Unfortunately, I don’t have a pattern for this one. The sweater dress pattern I have for these girls uses a slightly heavier weight yarn.

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Next, is my Little Darling, Gina who is the #1sculpt and painted by Geri Uribe. Gina has found spring daisies and arranged them in a cute sprinkling can for you. Gina tied a warm pink bow around the blossoms. “Daisy Chain” is from 2016; more photos and information can be found here. Her mohair cardigan is knit with my Light Cardigan pattern using the short sleeves and long version instructions. This pattern has 3 sleeve lengths and 3 body length versions (all can be mixed and matched for 9 total possibilities). The pattern can be purchased on Ravelry.

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Gracie (Kaye Wiggs MSD sized BJD) has really gone all out! She’s put together a basket of mauve roses, pink blossoms, and a little teddy bear holding a “made with love” charm. Tied on the handle is a pink bow. Gracie’s ensemble is from 2017 and titled “A Springtime Garden Stroll”. Her cardigan was knit with my pattern for her. More information on the pattern can be found here and purchased on Ravelry.

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Lucy is my Little Darling (#1 sculpt) painted by Nelly Valentino. She has picked a full bouquet of ivory and peachy pink blossoms for you. Tied around the stems is a bow with beaded ends. Her ensemble is from 2017 and titled “Princess in Peach”. Her cardigan pattern hasn’t been published as shown. I think I may have used the Lace Cardigan pattern using only the lace panel for the sleeves and made it one repeat shorter, but I cannot remember for sure. Also, the Aunt Lydia’s #10 bamboo thread (discontinued by Red Heart) knits up as wide as fingering, but with a different row gauge, so you get a shorter sweater. I’m not sure if I re-spaced the buttonholes for a shorter sweater.

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Here is Penny (Linda Macario BJD). Penny has picked a tiny bouquet of ivory blossoms, tied them together with pink satin ribbon, and added a pink heart because she loves you. Penny wears a sweater dress ensemble from 2016. It is titled “Pastels in the Garden”. This is another style I haven’t published, but I love sweater dresses on Penny. BTW, I do have one pattern for Penny, Polly, and Patty. It is a Classic Cardigan and can be found using the link and purchased on Ravelry.

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Last, by not least, is Millie (11″ Kaye Wiggs BJD). Millie has picked a lush bouquet of light pink and ivory blossoms. She’s tied the stems together with a bit of beautiful lace and pink ribbon just for you. Millie wears an ensemble from 2016 titled “Cutie in the Garden”. For more photos and information about her ensemble click the link.

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I hope you all are enjoying the weekend. For those moms who celebrate Mother’s Day–Happy Mother’s Day to you! ❤

I Need Some Springtime!

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How about you? The groundhog said 6 more weeks of winter, not 7 and still counting! Although I’m aware that here in northern Illinois we’ve been lucky, no snow, but boy has it been windy and cold.

To ease winter’s wrath, how about some photos of my girls wearing springtime attire? You can dream about springtime and flower gardens.

a lovely blossom 523 color me sunny 445 happiness is pink 341 beauty and blossoms 305 feelin' fancy 182 princess and the pearl 050 a springtime garden stroll 846 peachy keen for spring 981 a whisper of spring 898 springtime joy 742 spring means hoppiness 640 springy-and-delicate-531 pastel-and-pretty-354

I hope the photos of my girls helped make you feel a little bit more “springy”. I know they helped me. Very soon spring weather will be a reality. Hang in there!

Please say hello (if you’d like), and let me know how springtime is progressing where you live. I’d love to know.

Enjoy the weekend, my dear friends. ❤

This Past Week

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Another week gone by in a blur… I was going to say how crazy it is that January is already half over. I missed my chance—as of tomorrow January is two-thirds over. Spring is around the corner!

This past week was a calm but busy one. As the weather warmed up I was able to get outside for a walk. It’s always uplifting to get some sunshine and breathe in that crisp air. I believe I sleep better on those days that I am able to get outside.

Even my pup loves sunshine, and of course, soft beds. I think he is missing his “sissy”.

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I completed my first doll ensemble this week, and it is on its way to a special little girl.

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I have a couple of newer fabrics that have this shade of green in them, so I decided to knit a “Light Cardigan” for the Little Darlings in the longest length with elbow length sleeves. It is now blocked and waiting patiently for me.

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Yesterday I dyed a skein of merino worsted weight yarn for a cowl I’d like to make. I made these two color palettes on PicMonkey, but the end result doesn’t really look anything like the palettes I made. Hmm, an unnecessary step?

I started with 5 basic colors: yellow, warm red, cool red, warm blue, cool blue. I mixed up a concentrated bit of each, then used those to mix four colors to be used on the yarn.

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This is the first time I “cooked” my yarn in a pot and used citric acid instead of vinegar as a mordant.

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The dye “stuck” to the yarn immediately. I thought it would get diluted and bleed into the other colors. That didn’t happen. I guess because of all the citric acid. I find many different “suggestions” for the amount to be used.

This is how the yarn looked after I finished applying the dye. I used the smaller cups and slowly put it on the yarn.

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When I lifted my skein out of the pot I discovered the underside had lots of white. I actually like it better this way, so yay! You can see how clear the dye bath is; all of the dye is on the yarn. When I washed the skein I had no bleeding whatsoever.

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The end result was a surprise. I was going for a much more muted and pastel version of these colors—not so violet-y looking Oh well… I have a LOT to learn about dyeing yarn. Nevertheless, it was fun and perhaps addicting. I am anxious to start knitting with this skein. I hope it doesn’t knit up looking like a mess.

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This yarn is Preciosa from Knit Picks—a 100% merino single ply. I’ve discovered that merino wool is not scratchy on my skin—even on my neck. I’ve believed for many, many years that I could not wear any animal fiber whatsoever. I see many cowls, socks, scarves, and shawls in my future. And perhaps, when I am really confident, a sweater.

Also, from this week. Wendy, who makes porcelain dolls and repaints others, has kindly shared photos of her work with me and you, too. Wendy has resized some of my knitting patterns to fit her specific dolls. She is one multi-talented lady. She also does other crafts. If you’d like to follow her Facebook page it is called Wendy’s Doll Collection. Here are her photos. The first and last are from Dianna Effner molds. The middle doll is a German antique reproductions which she repainted and dressed.

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