A Play Date with Iacono Dolls

Gosh the days go by quickly.  Its past mid-month now and it already feels like fall here.  Its the dryness, the cool nights and mornings, the dropping levels of the lake.  Another sign of summer's end is a garden producing too many tomatoes, corn on the cob every night, great acorn squash, and cantaloupe that falls off the vine.  Yet still, we have hot weather ahead and that's okay, too.  At my age, you enjoy every single day for what it has to offer.  Or try!

Brighton has kept both my husband and I on our toes, and very busy.  I'd forgotten what it was like to raise a puppy.  They need lots of love, constant attention, and dedicated, patient training.  So when my friend sent me a box of two Maggie Iacono dolls with a note inviting me to play dolls with her, I was speechless.  One doll was for me, and the other needed the beauty parlor and a few pieces of clothing to enhance a play doll wardrobe.  Where would I find time to do this?  And, who in their right mind refuses a beautiful Maggie Iacono doll as a gift?  Not I.  I think some of my best work has been done with these dolls.  They are simply enchanting.

She wasn't asking much, but Brighton was asking more.  Add to that my husband's plea that I begin reducing the amount of dolls I have - downsizing - and I was a bit overwhelmed.  But, here's the thing with downsizing; you do it slowly and have no expectations.  My collection of over 30 years is vast, but I'll chip away at it, and someday (since I have no intention of not collecting more!), the size of my collection will be reasonable (and that's up to interpretation!).

I wish I had taken a "before" photo of her doll, prior to the make over, but I did not.  I really didn't think I'd blog on this, but its all a part of the creative process, and with this one, how to get back on track. 

This lovely 16" Iacono had a wig that needed help, and the request was to have it in braids.  The doll also suffered the loss of eye color and the lips were in need of attention.  One eyebrow was almost gone.  It wasn't until halfway through the sewing that I attended to this, but I enjoyed this part.  The transformation.  And, after, I wrote to her and said, "Trade ya!"  I'm not really into "braids", but she came out so adorable with them.

So one of the pieces was a t-shirt.  Simple, right?  What's so hard about a t-shirt?  Lots.  The pattern on jersey, how to finish the neckline, hem and sleeves...  Its just not something I do every day, and I don't think I've ever made a t-shirt.  We decided on brown to pick up the brown machined embroidery on the light pink Iacono jumper.  My friend doesn't like joints to show, so I made it a three-quarter sleeve t-shirt so those lovely wrists and hands could show nicely.  I did the edging, finish work, in light pink embroidery thread to complement how Maggie worked the jumper.

A pair of tights, in white, were made earlier, and its nice to have this pattern now for future tights. 

Next was the white blouse.  I like Peter Pan collars on play dolls.  Of course, collars seem to be my nemesis, still, even though I've made tons of them.  I've always found the best way to add a collar is to line the whole bodice.  I study clothing made by doll artists  like Tonner and Ruby Red Galleria, and most just do a serged edge.  The problem is that it doesn't lay nicely when turned under - at least when I do it.  So I lined this little blouse with very light batiste.  I always have a few yards of quality Swiss Pima Batiste on hand.

The fourth piece was a Red Riding Hood cape.  However, it was not for this play doll, but for the Iacono, The Tale of Red Riding Hood.  I love this doll.  I would love to own her some day, just for the marionette set.  Yes, I could make one, but it would be nice to see how Maggie made hers first.  Or I could wing it, like I do everything else.  Some day.

But, the request was an elegant cape, a long one, one lined in silk, and it should have arm slits, for what I assume would be wearing it and have the doll's arms come through to hold the puppets.  So I studied the photo of the doll in question, and decided to do what I felt best for her.  The basis of thought was, if you were going to play "Red Riding Hood puppets", wouldn't you want to dress up and play Red Hiding Hood, too?  Of course.

So I found my last piece of nice red wool and barely got a cape cut out of it.  I think this is the wool I made Mary Lennox's coat from.  I had plain red silk, white silk, lots of silk, but I had a nice sized piece of the red and black plaid silk, and I liked it.  It felt more in theme with the display.  So this is what I used.  Bear in mind that I do have the pattern now, and can make another if this all falls flat, but you give it a shot and see how it goes.

There was also the matter of how to close the cape at the neck.  I did not have any black hook and eyes, so I used a silver hook and a red thread loop.  I also added ties of the wool fabric.  I did not have red silk ribbon in the color of my wool, and I did notice that Maggie had done similar ties on one of her capes.  I guess the other thing was how to make the hood.  She didn't like the seam running the length of the hood to the front, so I made one with a seam only up the back.  Hoods are not quite as troubling as collars, but can be.  I still think pattern makers create giant hoods for dolls with big hair.  If I think about the hooded garments I've owned, all the hoods came down to my nose in front, because my head is so small.  I guess its all a matter of taste.  Anyway, I made the hood with a seam up the back only.

And, then there were the arm slits.  I have made similar for Lettie Lane (way early on), but it was actually a coat pocket, not patch pocket.  I had to look up online on how to do this.  Most people use a pre-made pattern for all this, so it takes the guess work out, but naturally I had to do a lot of fiddling and measuring to get it correct, then line it.  You can't just measure two inches from the front and there you go.  These need to be drawn at an angle, and if my study was correct, begin at elbow height.  I could be all washed up here, but this is what I surmised.

And, that is what I've been busy with since you last heard from me, and of course, tending to the puppy and trying to make a dent in my doll collection.  (Oh well...just bought a new Poppy Parker...)  One thing that did occur while I was making these pieces, ever so slowly, was that I found I wanted to do MORE.  And, that's a good thing.  Maybe pattern making and sewing is like riding a bike.  Its a little shaky when you first start pedaling, and then you're off !  All this while, I've been thinking of what to do with my own new play doll.  I have some ideas.

Enjoy the last remaining days of summer.  This is a great time of year.  I need to pull the baked acorn squash from the oven and attend to Mr. Barky-Bity.  He's all mouth (full of sticks, stones, grass, turkey feathers, you name it), right now at 13 weeks old.

Love,

Melissa 



Gift Doll

Brighton at 8 weeks old

Brighton and Mom on the Patio Lounge

Admiral Dodo and the Sardineliner

Writers block.  That weird old thing that hits me every time I sit down to tap out a journaling of my latest project on this blog.  So I just start writing and see what comes up.  Sometimes, I clear it all off with a click of highlight and a definitive push on the delete tab.  Then I stare at the screen and try again.  I guess what I'd really like to say, how I'd really like to begin today's post, is to say that the sun is coming out again.  Being who I am, it isn't natural to hold back when my fingertips are on the keyboard...anymore than I can hold back from creating what I really want to create.  So I'll simply add to this, I'm still sad over losing Dover.  There.  I said it.  Now I'll move on.  And, everything I do, from digging in my heels (or elbows), as when teaching myself how to knit, to coming back to the forms of creativity I actually can do, and love best, are all a result of how I'm feeling. 

Some of you who are "friends" with me on FB, know that last Saturday we brought home a new puppy.  On July 6th, he was just seven weeks old. He's a yellow Labrador, just like Dover was, and we've named him Brighton.  Brighton is from the same breeder, and is something like Dover's "great grand nephew".  He has worn me out in the six days since his arrival, but he's cute as a button.  And prior to his arrival, I fled back to needle felting, something I truly enjoy doing.  

Ever since I created the Angel Dominguez Alice, I've wanted to make a few more characters from his illustrations.  When I look back on creating this doll, it seems like I was more concerned, or focused, on creating the soutache for this dress (and doing a good job of it!), rather than creating the accessory critters, although they do "make" the doll.  To me.  I'm sure there were more than a few raised eyebrows at Alice's Hippo-Bee.  As in, "What's that got to do with Alice?"  Its the unusual I enjoy doing most.  I want to be surprised!  I need stimulation other than what I see every single day.  I want to go where no man has gone before!  And since outer space...at least being in a capsule...would give me claustrophobia (outer space would send me into a permanent panic attack), I pull out my wool and needles and explore fun things like Angel Dominguez's anthropomorphic, and utterly surreal, characters of Wonderland.

When I was originally selecting characters to needle felt for this doll, I instantly spotted this strange flying fish that looked like an airplane, illustrated at the top of the cover of this volume (and, the Hippo-Bees, of course).  Fabulous!  How unusual!  So I looked throughout the book for more of them to see where they fit into the grand scheme of things, and never saw another.  Mistified, I X'd that idea.  I also fell in love with Angel's Dodo bird.  Admiral Dodo, I call him.  How on earth did Angel come up with so many unique characters for this edition?!  I greatly admire this artist's imagination.  I wish I could have a tea with him and discuss how he imagined each one of these unexpected creatures.  Perhaps he likes "different", too.  And, if you're going to set yourself apart from the crowd, you must be innovative.

So when I pulled out the book and dragged my boxes of wools out from the back room, rolled my needle-felting-stacked-drawer-cart over to my work surface, and contemplated the mess I was about to make, I started with the flying fish that looked like an airliner.  He was certainly a tube.  With wings.  And, all the requisite fins.  He's a fish.  But, you see him as an airplane.  These fish were flying.  How was I going to incorporate one into my Alice display?  If its a fish flying over her head, why not make it a hat?  A headpiece.  So that's what I did.

This little guy was not easy to make.  He's about 3 1/4" from tip of snout to butt, longer with the fins.  Its not so difficult to needle felt a tube, but there are gills for him to breath (in the air, I suppose), a grumpy turned down mouth, big fishy eyes, and a combination of seven delicate wings and fins.  Add to that the details of the red strip and the windows.  Good grief.  Why do I insist on making tiny things with so much detail?  The dark of the windows is just a tiny dot of black wool.  We all know that airplane window are rather roundish things you look out, but I needed to create the illusion.  I did think about how many passengers could sit in this plane.  I thought about the fish, himself.  Hmmm...  That's when I came up with the thought that Angel Dominguez must have sat on an over crowed flight once and felt like he was sitting in a sardine can.  Get it?  I did.  I think.  And, I'd love to ask him.  I mean as far as a story that was written in the middle of the 19th c. goes, how could there be an airplane, must less a Sardineliner?  Fly the friendly skies of Wonderland!  Well...that's just where an artist has fun. 

In looking for a way to create a head piece that would be attractive, and suspend the Sardineliner from above, I considered wire for suspension, and a cap to support the wire.  My work surface has all kinds of bric-a-brac on it.  Little tubs of this and that, and a pin cushion with about 15 needles and all kinds of stuff dangling off of them.  One thing stuck in there, was a pearl topped hat pin.  For people.  I've never been able to do anything with it except pin up the long hair of some doll wigs while dressing them, so I used it.  I made a head band of a pleasing sky blue color, clipped off the pearl, and stuck the strong hat pin through the top of the Sardineliner and poked the pointy end into the head band.  Its not a permanent sort of head piece, but you can position the Sardineliner any way you choose.    

 

And, I really loved this Dodo bird.  Good gracious!  Isn't he marvelous?  Its that old love affair with the sea I have.  That summer dream of spending time on the coast.  Sailors in magnificent wooden ships of old.  Here he is, resplendent as an admiral with proper pipe and scabbard at his side.  The tales he could tell of the salty sea!  I adore him, so I made him.

When I first made this Alice, I was skeptical of attempting him and failing.  There was so much going on there, with him, and in the illustration.  Not to mention the other side we cannot see.  And, all that we cannot see and need to imagine with his uniform and accessories.  I suppose after creating Tenniel's Lion and the Unicorn, I'll never fear trying something "difficult" again.  At least with needle felting.  Yes, I do doubt myself ALL the time, and that is why Mary Lennox's dress got pushed out again.  Bet you were wondering what happened there.

But, back to Admiral Dodo.  Angel must have loved him, too, because he's prominent in several of the illustrations throughout the book.  Admiral Dodo is 7 1/2" from claw to the feathers on his hat.  Such a jolly old fellow.  He was made with a base of wire armature.  Basically, this is necessary for fingers, toes, arms that bend at the elbow, and that great beak of his including a reference for the top of his head.  I used craft pipe cleaner for his wire armature.  Its strong.  The fingers and claws are made from a fine needle felting cloth covered wire.

When needle felting a figure that requires "fingers and toes", its best to get those wrapped first.  Why?  Because they are like skin.  Like the flesh beneath the clothing, and loose wool wrapped up the "ankles and wrists" will be covered with wool for the clothing or finished smoothly with wool for flesh for the appendages.  So in other words, these got done first.  He rather looked like a chicken for awhile before layer upon layer of wool batting was felted in, and the beak was formed. 

I had to do some research.  And, as you know, this is my favorite part.  I took out the copy of the book on Alice Liddell, The Other Alice, and found the drawings of a real Dodo bird.  This particular chapter in the book is a sad one as the poor stupid bird causes his own extinction.  It is sad.  I'd read it before, and didn't need to "go there", but his true form, without clothing and a human features, helped a great deal in creating his shape.  I also had to research "British admiral's uniforms".  Seriously!  There is no right or wrong or specific tailoring to any time frame that I could discern.  In each portrait painting or sketch, the design, or couture, was completely different.  Seems these uniforms were as freely designed as women's fashions of any given time.  But, I did find this one sketch that came close, of a couple from 1790, much earlier than the publication of the original Alice.  Did it help?  Not really.  But, the research did give me a frame of reference and the confidence to interpret what I saw in the illustration by Dominguez. 

In dressing critters, you do have to make a pattern for at least the front and back of the garment.  And, you do have the dress the critter from under things to over things.  So the vest was made first.  This may have been the most difficult part of the costume as I had to look at several illustrations to discover what was going on.  There's a vest with one button unbuttoned because he's too fat.  There's a ruffled collar that tucks into the top of the vest. and the vest is also open at the top to accommodate this ruffled collar, OR the vest has s a turned down pointed collar of its own.  This I could not make out, so the coat covers up what I could not detect.  So much of a costume like this just has to be made up.  Like I said, there was no definitive costume in my research to be found to work from.

The cuffs of his uniform were interesting to do.  I used a piece of Swiss edge lace as a pattern to cut out the shape.  You first have to felt a "fabric" from which to cut.  I know lots of felters would blanche at the thought of putting scissors to wool felting, but it is necessary at times, as long as the wool is tightly woven with the felting needle.  Little buttons were added throughout. 

I had a great time making his powdered wig.  I didn't have to give it a whole lot of thought or trial either, which was nice.  The rolls were made on "rats" of wool, then the smooth wool rolled up over them, then felted together.  Who knows?  Maybe these wigs were done similarly.  There's a wee braid for the "club" at the back, and a silk ribbon tied at the neck, with a thin black cord tied into a bow at the tip of the braid.  His tail, on the other hand, took a few tries.

Admiral Dodo's hat finishes his commanding presence.  I have no idea what kind of hat this is, but it was a style worn by officers. It is not a tricorn.  I thought is was at first, but careful examination proved me wrong, and I did find others like it in portrait paintings.  The feather trim was tedious, but I do enjoy "tedious".  How to go about achieving these effects is coming more naturally all the time with each needle felted figure I make, although it does take planning.

The sword, or scabbard, took me three days to make.  Its on wire armature as well.  The pipe, also with a wire base, took 45 minutes to do.  I was getting ready to call it "done", obviously, and the Sardineliner wasn't even a thought any longer.  Especially with the demands of a puppy in the house.  I started taking photos this morning, and realized something was amiss.  There were no buttons on the vest!  Back to my work surface with needle and thread, I went.  I do not like seed beads.  They make for ugly buttons, but buttons do not come that small, and if they do, or did, you'd never get a threaded needle though the holes.  Making wool dots for buttons was not an option since I used real buttons on the coat.  But, "buttons" were sewn to the vest, and photography commenced.  Fast catch! 

I hope your start of summer is full of as much gaiety as the Caucus Race in Angel's illustration below!  What fun they must be having!  In the illustration above, you'll see the members of the race enjoying the comfits Alice passes out as prizes.  Truly, this book is a stunning work of art.  And, by the way, the term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century and may have come from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia around which sardines were once abundant.  Just not airborne ones!

Love,

Melissa  

Little Darlings' Seaside Sun Dresses

Every summer I pine for the seaside, the ocean, warm sandy beaches, the sound of nature as it rolls up to shore.  And, every summer, since I can last recall, I've been land locked in Auburn.  Why is it so difficult for someone in California to go to the beach?  Well, first of all, most beaches aren't dog friendly, and we have a "no dog left behind" policy in my home.  Its a full day's drive as well, just to get there.  Then you have to think about the cost of a hotel in California after you find one that might take dogs with a huge pet deposit.  Marin County is generally dog friendly, but when you're with someone who would rather ride his bicycle than hang out on a beach, logistics get tough.  So once again, I live my beach fantasies and memories through creating for my dolls.  Remember Alice By the Sea?  That was England, of course, but perhaps this endeavor was  targeted for somewhere like Nantucket Island.

For three solid months now, I've been knitting every day.  And, trust me, I'm ready to take a break from it.  But as I mentioned before, my goal, what I really want to do with knitting, is my own thing.  Make up my own patterns.  Take existing ones and make them unique, OOAK.  After working with some of these Etsy patterns, I've discovered that some are quite similar, just using different gauges of yarn, hence, less or more stitches.  For an experienced knitter, making something up, like I do with sewing and designing of my own patterns, is a cinch.  Well, not quite, for me and my sewing because each piece is unique - but, in general, I've found that expert knitters can knit anything they put their mind to without the aid of a pattern.  I know this because I just asked my friend, Olga, to knit my girls bathing suits, and she had one made, exactly as I wanted, in a day or two.  These knitters simply know what they're doing.  I don't.  But, I'm trying. 

After failing at knitting well, those two light green and yellow summer dresses, I decided that what might be better, is using that pattern for the bodice, and attaching the skirt from another.  A skirt with just stockinette stitches.  And, also using the Lion's Brand Baby Soft yarn I'd become familiar with using.  I knew I'd have to lessen the stitches across, maybe, as well as the rows, or something like that, and the only way to figure this out was to try.  I also wanted floppy brimmed sun hats to match the dresses.  In the tri-photo illustration, you'll see the bodice I used (minus the bulky cable stitches at the waist), the skirt portion from another pattern, and the hat, which I'd omit that awful star-stitch from. 

First of all, the bodice is made exactly the same way on both patterns, there are just more stitches required on the bottom photo's pattern because you use a thinner yarn.  I just didn't feel I was quite ready to work with so many stitches and such thin yarn on an even smaller knitting needle.  And, I wanted to see if I could do it.

With Irene's pattern (the dress at the bottom), she simply tells you to K1, M1, to the end between the button bands while increasing for the skirt.  Well that didn't quite work out with the "3" yarn I was using.  How do I know this?  Because the sea foam green dress, which I'd made first, was done by reducing the number of "make ones" in the skirt.  However, I didn't write down how many "make ones" I had done, so when I went to make the ocean blue dress, I made them all way across and this was way too many.  You need to do this on the first three rows of the skirt to get the fullness, volume.  SO!  While the sea foam dress came out exactly the way I wanted, the ocean blue dress had to be made twice.  Yes, indeed.  I also had lost track of my rows on the blue dress, so it was not only too big, it was too long.  I didn't fuss.  I didn't weep or beat the wall, I simply made it again and really studied the rows on first dress. 

One of the tricks I tried, was pinning the button holes together and matching up the stitched rows to see what I'd done the first time.  What I learned was, even if you're just experimenting, write it all down.  It may just come out good the first try.  And, then there's the old "Where's Waldo" of the patterns.  This one surfaced on Irene's pattern with no row 44.  Seriously!  I guess she got carried away typing out even and odd numbers for her purl and knit rows.

When it came time to the hats, I'd already tried to make one without the star-stitch while experimenting, or "making wash cloths" with the yellow and green dresses that didn't come out well.  Those were supposed to get these hats.  So basically, only two rows of finished cable stitches were needed at the hat band row.  I like hats.  They don't have a lot of stitches per row.  Honestly, I thought of sharing my rewritten pattern for anyone who wished to make this dress the way I did, but I fudged here and there, and its just not publishable material.  In looking at them again, I might have done better by omitting a couple of the bodice rows to shorten it.  Next time.  If there is a next time. 

To embellish these dresses, I used a few of Cindy's masterpiece porcelain painted buttons.  I still can't get over the extraordinary work she does.  I'd purchased two tiny lighthouses, some sea shells, and sea critters - a crab, happy sea turtle, a star fish, and a lovely seagull.  I spent two hours arranging and rearranging these tiny buttons on the front of the dresses, but was never satisfied.  There was no "pop" to the arrangements.  So I turned the dresses around, which was shown as an option, and finished the dresses with abalone shell buttons.  They looked really great on the dolls as a front side, button down dress, but I was determined to use the buttons.  So I flipped the dresses back over and tried again for an hour or so.  The best arrangement was not to have a lighthouse on each dress, but to make one dress "lighthouse" themed, and the other "sea critter" themed. 

Oh, and I guess you've noticed those tiny knitted mermaids!  The dresses became a sea canvas to display them.  They're the "pop" in these outfits displayed.  The were custom made by an artist from Etsy.  I really enjoyed working with her.  I love mermaids.  So now Polina and Athena can play with their mermaid dolls on the island sands in their sea froth dresses. 

The question is, What do I think of the outfits?  Am I satisfied?  No.  Just to be honest, No.  Did I knit well?  Yes.  I should be knitting well by now.  Did I achieve what I set out to do?  Yes.  So why am I not thrilled?  Because they simply don't "pop".  They are not the whimsical, colorful joys of knit I've been used to buying from the experts that do this for Little Darlings.  Am I too hard on myself after only three months?  Yes.  You bet.  I'm having difficulty bringing my vision to life through this difficult to learn skill.  I want my work to be as thrilling to me as the amigurumi the dolls hold.  I'll keep at it.  I do find it intriguing and challenging, and you can do it outdoors when the temperature isn't 100 degrees outside. 

I've been watching this amazing Youtube video of this woman creating French knots and bullion roses in yarn, on these incredibly detailed socks she made.  I really want to try this.  Maybe if I can get the skill down in something heavier than embroidery floss, I can eventually do it with embroidery floss!  I've also been watching Youtube videos of embroidering on knitting.  The ones I've seen follow the stockinette stitch, so you're making V's on V's in a pattern to create a motif.  Learning the roses sounds a bit more up my alley.  Right now.  But, the V motifs would look cool on winter sweaters. 

In the meantime, and there is always a "meantime", I'm going to make something new for Mary Lennox.  I still haven't made all her paper doll outfits, and I need a break from knitting.  I'll keep with it just to stay fresh, but I could become a very dull person if I don't diversify a bit.  Besides, its getting way too hot to enjoy doing anything on the patio past 10 or 11am.

Below are a number of photos to enjoy.  I hope as the actual days of spring come to a close, and summer hits the calendar later this month, you'll find yourself enjoying some lazy days as well as "on the road" ones taking you to happy vacation spots.  Maybe something seaside!

Love,

Melissa         

 

 

 

 

 

 

A well purled back side - private side.

 

Little Darling Loves Raggedy Ann

This has been the strangest year.  So many upsets, yes.  But, the weather's been pretty out of kilter, too.  Last week saw a winter storm passing through, which dumped a foot of snow in the Sierras.  In some ways the rain, which is still with us, has kept things green longer. And, I shouldn't complain since its been a great excuse to stay indoors and work on stuff.  But, wait, not really.  The two weeks prior had been mild and sunny and guess where I was?  Feet up, legs stretched out on the patio lounge, with my knitting in my lap.  This is one of the very best things about knitting - if you don't have to do it in front of Youtubes - you can do it anywhere.

I know this "knitting thing" is quite a departure from my normal posts, but I did take up needle felting and stuck with that for a time too, until I got comfortable with it.  And, I am getting more comfortable with knitting, sort of.  At least my shoulders aren't hunched up anymore, and I'm not fussing at myself when I miss a stitch or finish something and don't like the way it turned out.  I'd probably be pretty slow at learning calligraphy, too, but there's a lot that the brain has to process for procedures to become second nature.  That's the thing with the brain.  It learns something and allows us to carry on with whatever we're doing and not give it a second thought.  Like learning to ride a bike.  Or rolling your r's properly when speaking a new language.  Like knowing that robin is a robin simply by glancing at it.  And, trust me.  I know the difference between purl stitch and knit stitch and when something doesn't look correct right away now!  And, I can unknit pretty successfully, too.  Unless its trying to unknit a K2tog (knit two together).  Haven't figured that one out yet and there's no Youtube for it. WHY???  And, pssssst!  I'm getting faster at this.

While awaiting the arrival of my second Little Darling, I decided to make them coordinating outfits for summer.  This was going to be IT.  I was ready.  I'd gotten through the practice outfits and my confidence was high.  What I had in mind was using Irene's "Summer Dress" pattern and using the Lion's Brand Baby Soft yarn she recommends.  The "real deal".  Irene is one of the Etsy pattern makers for Little Darling, and her patterns are well written.  Sort of.  But, I'll get to that later.   I went for soft springtime colors in light yellow and green.  I was also going to be creative and make a hat from one of her other patterns to go with the dresses.  AND, I was going to skip that awful star-stitch and knit in a hat band where the brim meets the crown.  You have to start somewhere when you're as adventurous as I am. 

I'm learning!  I'm teaching myself how to do this.  I have to exercise greater patience with myself than I normally do.  So I've been a busy "patient" bee.  This is all I've been doing.  Knitting every single day.  So what happened here?  Why did I have to abandon the summer dresses? 

First of all they are way too short (for my tastes).  I fussed over adding crochet lace to the underside of the hems, but there were enough problems with these two outfits that I had to chalk them up as practice.  The first one I made was the dress with the yellow bodice.  The skirt turned out great on it, but the bodice had problems being too loosely knit.  I figured I'd have to make it over again, but I was going to move onto the green bodice dress first and see how it went.  The green bodice turned out great and I have no idea what happened to the yellow skirt.  Frustrating, yes, but there you go.  Its all good practice.  Not quite ready to call it a "good learning experience", I tried the hat.  Obviously using a cable stitch instead of the star-stitch didn't work.  But, I learned.  Next time, I will begin the stockinette stitch sooner.  The problem with knitting is that you have to make the whole doggone thing to figure out what to do and what not to do.  That's why you have to be fast and sure.

So I set that mess aside and began one of the other projects I had in mind.  First of all, I've been purchasing these incredible, beautifully made porcelain buttons from Cindy Webb on Etsy.  Using porcelain slip, she sculpts little buttons, then hand paints them with the many kiln firings required.  She's amazing.  I love her work so much that I could simply collect it for the fun of it.  And, I'd purchased a set of Raggedy Ann face buttons.  Its been a very long time since I've thought about Raggedy Ann, and Gruelle's beloved stories.  Had to use these buttons!  So I went back to the first pattern I knitted, the tunic, and mixed it up with a hat from another of Irene's patterns.  The bucket hat was actually featured with the summer dress pattern I'd abandoned.  And, of course, I was using the Lion's Brand yarn.

One of the areas I've had difficulty, and I don't know why, is when doing increases for the skirt at the hem of the bodice.  I hope this annoyance goes away in time, but I've come up with a strategy for possible mistakes and having to redo that portion.  To keep the stitches, or loops on the needle, fresh and easy to recover, I thread a piece of yarn on a large eye needle, through the bottom of the stitch against the knitting needle.  Its like a place marker.  If the skirt portion is looking sad or not coming out well, I simply pull out all the stitches to the place marker yarn, and put the needle back on the stitches.  Also, if by chance a stitch is not seated right (twisted), I take it off the needle, insert the awl and turn the awl to the right which twists the yarn and place it back on the needle.      

 

The colors of tangerine and aqua were selected after Johnny Gruelle's brightly colored illustrations.  I have actually taken to photographing what I've done in stages for my own records.  I need to know what worked and what didn't.  Also if the pieces get tossed, and many do, I want a record of having done them.

 

The tunics were going well.  They should.  After you go through the pattern a few times, you could know it by heart almost.  I've been sticking with Irene's patterns because I understand what she's asking us to do.  I was looking forward to making the little bucket hat as it was something new to try, and I like making hats.  I just like making hats, no matter what I'm making them from.  And, the hard part was over.  Both tunics were made and I could see the light at end of the tunnel.

So I'm knitting along happily and wondering when the pattern is going to call for the contrast color for the stripe.  No instructions.  Seriously folks?  She photographs the hat with a yellow stripe on it and doesn't include the instructions to do this!  So I wrote to her letting her know about this, and that was five days ago, and I still haven't heard from her.  Here's my thoughts on the matter.  Pattern makers like to find out how clever you are and if you're actually using their patterns and paying attention.  Its the Where's Waldo of their patterns.  (This is why I don't like using other people's patterns.  I cannot stress enough how this annoys me.)  So I just added a contrast stripe where I was just to see how it would turn out knowing full well I'd have to make the hat all over again.  The mock up.  I know a lot of pattern makers have an expert test their patterns, but this is not the best way for assurance.  An expert might simply "understand" what is required, follow through, and not think the omission is a big deal.  Give the pattern to an A type novice.  Like me.  I'll find every error imaginable.  It isn't a criticism.  You want your patterns to be the best and the easiest to follow.  That makes big sales!

So I started a new bucket hat in the aqua.  Now I was really going for the creativity.  I wanted the hat band look.  I had a mock up and I know how to count rows, and I know what the stitches look like, so I gambled on where the hat band should go, used my place marker threading just in case it didn't go correctly and proceeded.  It worked out.  Yay!  And, I went on to reknit the tangerine hat.  See?  Now I'm having fun with this.  The purpose is to make up my own versions.  Not have copies of the originals.

I purchased this stretch lycra in Raggedy Ann red and white stripes and made some capri length leggings.  Stockings would have overwhelmed the look and I was stretching the colors a bit just doing this.  But, I had a vision.  The Raggedy Ann face button would have red hair around it, so that would tie in the red of the striped capris. 

For the buttons in the back, I chose purple.  I'd been trying to figure out what kinds of shoes the girls would wear with the outfit, and I wanted a completely updated, contemporary look.  Purple tennis shoes worked.  They worked with the colors of the outfit, and they look funky and fun.  So purple buttons to match the tennis shoes.  They needed socks.  Striped socks would be too much.  I considered trying to make the little cuffs that the Russian ladies make that substitute for socks, but I've a feeling they create them in the round, and I don't know how to do that yet.  I shuffled through all my knit fabric and ended up in my own lingerie drawer to cut up a pair of gray tights.  Gray mutes the colors.  It provides a nice and soft break in the bright colors and keeps them (the socks), from standing out, attracting the eye.

The only thing left to do was sew on the button and embroider red yarn around the face for Raggedy Ann's hair.  Earlier I picked up a yarn that was part of an amigurumi project.  The word amigurumi is formed from two Japanese words.  "Ami" describes knit or crochet, and "Nuigurumi" means stuffed doll.  (I was watching a Youtube on beginning a crochet amigurumi and really want to try this - later.)  Using my awl and the red yarn, I made loops and stitches around the face.  I cut out the first mess I'd made then did it again.  Bangs were not doable as they would not hang down in front of a porcelain round, and I wasn't gluing them down, that would have been a disaster, so I made smaller loops around the forehead.

I'm happy with the way this set turned out.  My new doll had arrived and we were good to go!  Like Cindy's buttons, I've been purchasing amigurumi from various Asian and European artists.  One of them made me a set of Yellow Lab puppies for my dolls and she did a fabulous job.  Baby Dover puppies.  I'm not ready for one, but there's no reason my girls should be denied their own. 

I want to thank Geri Uribe for my beautiful new doll Kira, and for Polina, who I've had since last October.  I'm very pleased with these two little models and will continue to make twin sets for them.  I began a needle felted Camel with the Wrinkled Knees yesterday for one of them to hold, and the other might get the Lonely Horse from the same story.  This gives me a break, seats me back in my studio (among my dolls), which I cleaned up as well, and just might inspire me back to the sewing machine.  At least I have two knitted outfits now that I can display and be happy with. "Mission accomplished, Phelps."

Love,

Melissa