Summer Dress Fun

I took Sophie outside today to snap some pics by the irises, now that it finally stopped raining, and she got to model her new dress.

The pattern can be found here, it's a design by Joan Chiara for a vintage Skipper (minus the sleeves I decided not to make those).

It was originally a skating outfit but I think it works well as a summer dress.

I knit it in a nice wool so it's dye-able to just about any color I've got in my cupboard, but I think I like the natural cream so I may just leave it as it is.

Rainbow Hats and a Doll for a Doll

Been having a bit of fun with the loom knitting again. The infant sized hat loom is always a cinch for making cute little hats for Blythe...

This was done on the smallest sized Knifty Knitter loom with a double strand of a pastel rainbow Bouclé yarn. And that's my Jack Russel Archie in the background :)

Oh, and if anyone's a fan of American Girl...

Brynn informed me that I was having a Happy Meal for lunch so that she could have her own American Girl doll. I've explained to her that there's no earthly way for me to make her doll a matching hat, the gauge on making so tiny a hat with so large a yarn is nye on impossible.

Vintage Blythe!

Just had to post this, it's the Australian advert for Blythe from the 70s Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMjQAD2LNwE

There and Back Again... A Blythe Doll's Holiday? Robin Hobb Birthday Gift Game Clues

Today Brynn and Moonyeen had a hand in helping me hide a very special present.... well you know how girls are, any excuse for an outing, and hey, prezzies are involved.

The trinket they chose to include in the package, as you can see, is sparkly... apparently sparkly is a good thing :)

And now for the visual clues...

My New Girl, Brynn!

Here she is, and isn't she lovely?

It was only thanks to my friend Brian who lives in Texas that I was able to get her at all. Her former owners wouldn't ship to Alaska.

 I considered naming her Brian in his honor but it just didn't seem to fit her. Sometime later I came across the name Brynn. It had everything I was looking for, just the right sound, and a Celtic/British quality.

 I soon discovered that Brynn and Brian have the same origin. I love it when things come together like that. Don't you?

Here's my cat Minx getting to know the new girl.

So here's she is. I had to give her hair a good wash as the seran was so greasy feeling. But she cleaned up so well. I finally got me little red haired girl. : )

As the World Gets a Little Bit Colder...

I know that here in Alaska the winter solstice has come to pass and we are finally gaining light again (thank goodness) but unfortunately we have the coldest months to come. So in the interest of everyone keeping their girls warm, I decided to share this...

Fingerless Glove and Scarf Set

Knit on size 1 needles in lace weight yarn (I used angora here)

Gauge - 38 stitches over 4 inches

Scarf

Cast on 8 stitches. Knit the first 2 rows.

3rd row, (wrong side) knit the first two and last two stitches of the row, but purl all the middle stitches

4rd row, (right side) knit all stitches

Repeat the 3rd and 4th rows until you reach a length that nicely drapes the chest of the doll (you can of course make the scarf much longer if you like). End with a right side row.

Final row (wrong side) knit all stitches

Bind off in knit.

Fingerless Gloves

Cast on 10 stitches. Knit the first 2 rows.

3rd row, purl

4th row, knit

5th row, purl

6th row, knit 4, bind off 2 stitches, knit to the end.

7th row, purl 4, cast on 2 stitches, purl to the end.

8th row, knit

9th row, purl

10th row, knit

11th row, (wrong side) knit

Bind off in knit

Fold the long way and seam together

Then slip on your doll's hand with the thumb through the thumb hole.

If you want to sell finished products made from my patterns you may, but please give me credit as the designer in all listings. The pattern itself is copyrighted and no part of it may be reproduced (by any means) for sale. © Monica Bovee

Have fun and stay warm : )

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Festivus!

I asked my girls what holiday they'd like to celebrate this year and they chose Festivus... I don't know. That one involves an unadorned aluminum pole instead of  Christmas tree right? Hmmmm... I suppose a large knitting needle might do for that. But then what are they supposed to do with it. Dance around it? Pose for pictures by it? Hmmm... I'm unsure about this one. Anyway, this was the holiday they chose when I entered the winter holiday swap. And this is what my wonderful swap partner Cara sent me...

 

Two gorgeous little outfits. And get this, the little hat has Festivus embroidered on it! Adorable!

And this is Lady Leopy wearing a fabulous holiday hair bow. Cara also sent us a sweet little puppy ornament (you see the girls are a quite open minded.... they picked out their holiday, but they're not above taking part in mine too).

 There were lots of fun candies too, but the best bit was this...

"Booyah! I know what we're doing tonight!"

A bowling game! It has to be the just the most perfect little Festivus gift ever. Well kudos to Cara for this most clever of gifts.

And Wren is able to hold the ball without dropping it, It's a Festivus Miracle! (actually that took a bit of doing, let me tell you)

Well, it seems to have turned out to be a sweet holiday for them. I'm still not sure why they chose it. I'm a little worried that it might be that 'Festivus doesn't end until you pin the head of household' thing. LOL! Isn't that just the sort of thing that all those people who are frightened of Blythe dolls fear? He he he...

And now for what I sent to Cara...

Her holiday was Christmas, so I started with the obvious.

The ornaments I wire wrapped myself, the string of lights actually light up, and the tinsel garland is silver fun fur.... I think it works quite well. And then for the tree topper I made this...

Sorry the pic is a bit fuzzy, my camera doesn't do tiny things well. It's Angelica Eve of course. I printed her out on Shrinky Dink material, cut her out, shrunk her down, and then affixed her to a thimble and sealed her. I think she makes the perfect little angel for the tree top.

And I sent along these...

I painted and customized these a bit (they used to be white and bright pink!) You see Cara had just done up a lovely house for her girls and I thought she could use some furnishings. Hope she likes them.

And lastly there's these...

A gingerbread dress, some Twilight book miniatures (she's fond of Twilight), a tray of cookies, a nutcracker (it's not Christmas with out one of those right?), some cupcakes, and of course you'll recognize the fruitcake I posed how to make earlier. And lastly, the gingerbread house. Just perfect for a large size gingerhouse for a Blythe table, but it can also be hung like an ornament. And... it's real gingerbread! completely edible! Royal icing and everything. So when you get bored of looking at it, you can devour it. : )