Calico Critters Bay Creek Knits Crochet Mother Dress

The last order I placed for the Rag Dolls was disapointing because I didn't realize they had changed the quality of the dolls. The previous dolls had cute hair the current dolls have much cheaper hair in a less attractive color. I don't wish to waste them so I will make the clothes and donate them but once gone I won't order them again.

I looked online to find a replacement but I didn't find anything that was similiar in the price range for a replacement. I decided to revisit a project I had worked on for some family members. As a result of that project, I had collected patterns and looking online found some additional ones. This seemed like a great time to introduce a new member of the doll donation.

This year's donation will be the Milk Rabbit Family. The set here are my models. An unopened box will go to the donation. I found mine at an unexpected location, Barnes and Noble. I generally don't think to look for toys there but I have had luck finding the Calico Critters online there at a reasonable cost.

This is a free pattern found here.

Notes:

I used size 10 thread with a B hook as suggested by the pattern.

I did not use a foundation chain to start and it worked fine.

I have never been good with surface crochet so I did follow the directions after row 4 for moving the main color thread back into place to continue the project. However, before starting row 5 I did a row of ss into the starting row to avoid having to surface crochet later. I made row 5 by crocheting behind ss. It worked for me, although it was challenging finding the 25 stitches required to start the skirt. It took me a few trys but it was worth it to avoid the surface crochet.

My Life Dress with Ribbed Waist

After making the Ribbed Skirt I realized it had been a while since I checked the designers store to see if I had all the patterns I wanted for the donation. For some reason I had missed downloading the free pattern for this dress. You can find it here.

I needed a break from adapting Barbie patterns and this seemed like a great break as it is a very straight forward pattern.

Notes:

I used an I hook for this pattern.

This was a chance to use some of the yarn I found stashed behind my donations that I have vowed to use up this year. I believe this is Caron Simply Soft.

An additional note related to that I likely would think about using an H hook with a heavier yarn like Super Saver or Pounder. Herschnerrs likely would need the I hook. I can't ever remember being able to use the suggested G hook for the 18 inch doll and getting it to fit on any pattern. It's all about our own gauge.

Another personal note the count for Row 1 is correct. Don't count the spaces in the V stitches as this throws it off. I add notes for myself because I will sometimes be fine the next time I make a project or sometimes it becomes a chronic issue I need to remind myself to watch.

There is no pattern for the hairband but having made another one recently I kept chaining until I could make a bow I liked. I know it was slightly less than 200.

I finished the back with an H hook and used a snap to close the dress.

The shoes are my go to shoes for the 18 inch dolls and come from Sweet Silver Creation's Sailor Doll Pattern that can be purchased here. It was slightly more challenging with the lighter Caron yarn but I didn't have heavier yarn that would work with this color. I use an H hook for the shoes. The pattern calls for sport yarn which I use for the dress but the shoes don't fit for me unless I use worsted 4, clearly not on the lighter side of 4.

Ken Sweater and Slacks

Years ago long before the donation I had my Aunt teach me to crochet so I could make doll clothes for my now adult nieces' dolls. Back then I bought a Nicki Epstein Crochet for Barbie book but I never made anything from it. I couldn't find any of the yarns in the book and it was before I discovered Yarn Sub which has truly helped me since then to find althernatives when designers list a yarn nobody seems to sell by the time I've purchased the pattern.

I've challenged myself in the last few years to tackle patterns that I've purchased but never made. I was looking for a Valentine outfit for Barbie and remembered there was a sweater with hearts in this book and it might be worth looking at it.

I checked Yarn Sub but it even shrugged when I put the yarn name in and that's when I decided to experiment with what I know about Barbie clothes. It didn't sound like this was made with size 10 thread so I decided to try an experiment. I used size 3 what I believe was Knit Picks Curio thread but I couldn't find this shade of green when I looked. I chose not to add the chart as this style of pattern was different from the way I usually make shirts and I wanted to focus on construction without needing to deal with a chart as well. I chose green rather than pink because as it happened if it was too large green was a better choice for Ken.

I've chosen to try size 10 yarn for Barbie. Not having lots of patterns for Ken sweaters I'd try this again but I might try size 5 thread as this one is still bulky with size 3. I suspect it would be tight with size 10. I could also try a smaller hook size.

I used the suggested C hook for this project

The pants are simple construction I've been using across the doll brands. I measured elastic for Ken's wasit, sewed it together and then sc around it with no longer available Red Heart Sport Yarn. I then dc rows until I hit the crotch decreasing rows until I reached 30 stitches. Each leg then had 15 stitches and I continued the legs for I believe a total top to bottom of slacks of 17 rows. However I measured the first leg until it was a length I was happy with and then counted from the top down and completed the second leg to match. I finished the slack legs with ss around..