Lots to Love 14" Doll Nightgown

I'm continuing to work my way through Darski's free Sweetly pattern found here for the Lots to Love 10 inch dolls. While the first one fit without any adjustments for the doll I've been finding the other patterns are fitting the Lots to Love 14" Baby Doll when I make them as written.

This hasn't been an issue for me since I'll be donating both dolls and it is easy enough to adapt hook and yarn to get the patterns to work for the smaller dolls. It actually has worked out because while I often think of working these patterns down in size I'm not sure I would have naturally made the jump from the 10 inch to the 14 inch doll on my own. I'd likely have moved to other larger doll patterns and made them smaller.

The nightgown is made with a g hook and Bernat Baby Sport Big Ball Ombre Yarn, Funny Prints.

Notes:

I shortened the nightgown by two rows prior to adding the two finishing rows. I also finished the neck as I was adding the closing ties by crocheting the required ties, sc across the neck and then making the second tie. This might have been what was intended but not written.

The picture on the pattern shows arms for the nightgown but not directions. I chose not to add. I rather liked the sleeveless look. I've started this nightgown for the smaller doll and will likely add the sleeves as it will give me a chance to tighten the armholes as they are bigger on the smaller dolls.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Sweater, Pants and Hat

A funny thing happened as I was working on my second Lots to Love 10 inch doll pattern from Darski's free Sweetly pattern found here I ended up with a sweater for the Lots to Love 14" Baby Doll instead. As I've mentioned before there is an advantage to having multiple sized dolls. When an outfit doesn't fit one, there is usually another doll who can wear the item.

The sweater was made with a G hook and Bernat Baby Big Ball Sport Yarn, Baby Yellow, Baby Pink, and Ombres, Baby Baby.

Now that I had a sweater I needed to finish the outfit so I went back to Amy Carrico's Sweet Baby Boy Romper Pattern that can be purchased here for the hat and pants pattern using the same yarns listed above.

I mentioned in the previous post I wrote about Sweetly that I changed the pants pattern to make the pants top down. This pattern is one of the few exceptions I make for working from the legs to the top as it is a feeted pants pattern and it is rather challenging to add the feet to the pants once finished.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Spring Set

I was very pleased to find out Amy Carrico had released more of her 8 and 14 inch doll patterns to her Etsy store. She had a large selection of baby doll clothes and then disappeared for a bit. When she came back she'd had a limited supply of patterns and I bought what I could. This time I splurged buying most of the patterns she's currently offering that I don't have for the 8 and 14 inch dolls. I have a few more to pick up but I'm thrilled with my options for new projects.

This pattern is her Berenguer Baby Spring Set and you can purchase it here.

The outfit is made with Lion Brand Yarn Babysoft Yarn, Little Girl Pink and Bernat Big Ball Baby Sport Yarn, Tiny Tulips. I like the donation clothes to be easy to take on and off so I made the first 2 rows of both the dress and the sweater and the dress with a G hook switching to an E hook once the arm holes were complete.

I added a chain 3 trim to the sweater arms for decorative purposes.

I'm looking into adapting this for the Rag Doll.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Bear Lovey

With Covid, my subscription to the UK magazine Simply Crochet has been somewhat eratic in its arrival. I've missed a few issues but I was thrilled when issue 112 arrived a few weeks ago. One of the things I love about Simply Crochet is there are always little extras. This edition had a double ended wooden hook and a dinosaur supplement which I hope to explore at some point. Dinosaurs seem to be a popular gift and new patterns are always welcome.

What caught my eye as I was looking through the magazine was an ami pattern for a mouse called Sweet Squeak. While the mouse was cute I had no need of a mouse pattern at this time. What drew me to the pattern was the mouse was carrying a bear lovey. I'd never seen something like that before.

I'm always looking for new accessories to add to the doll donation. It makes the dolls more fun for the kids and selfishly keeps me more engaged as I get to try new projects. This was unique and not something that had crossed my mind to make for the baby dolls. I'd made lots of loveys for children why shouldn't their baby dolls have one as well?

This was a quick project and allowed me to use up yarn on hand. The bear was made from Omega Sinfonia sport cotton. The blanket section was acrylic sport yarn I had on hand. I used a B hook for the bear and a C hook for the blanket. I added rows to the blanket to get the length I wanted before adding the final trim row. I'm not sure what the dimensions were supposed to be, I went based on how big I wanted it to be for the doll.

The pattern includes instructions for adding a loop to the back of the bear's head so the mouse can hold the lovey. I adjusted this slightly for the dolls. To make this work for the JC Toys - 16-inch Baby Doll the chain will need to be longer as the loop was to short as written to fit over the arm. It did fit the JC Toys - Lots to Love Babies 14" Doll but for future projects I'd make it a little longer as it would be easier to slide on and off the doll's arm.

If you are not a subscriber to Simply Crochet but would like to find the pattern you can a digital copy of the magazine here.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Carrier

The doll baskets are usually projects I tackle right after the last doll donation leaves the house. This year I put them off and I realized I needed to begin tackling them as they are not quick projects and while not a hard pattern to follow crocheting with 3 strands of worsted weight yarn at once does make them a physically challenging project for me.

I started this one last winter and put it aside as other projects beckoned. I left it in a project bag with the required yarn and directions as I knew I'd be back to finish it for the donation. After finishing the pumpkin, this seemed like a great Olympic watching project. Last week after the Olympics were over I continued to watch the streams of events as it was easy enough to avoid results for most of the events and I rarely take the time to see many of these events at any other time.

The free pattern for this project is available here. I normally adapt it for the JC Toys - La Baby Doll by crocheting the first 10 rows with an I hook and switching to the K hook to finish the project. I've just found this is a better size for these dolls. For the JC Toys - Lots to Love Babies 14" Doll I used an I hook for the entire project.

Normally 3 skeins of Red Heart will finish the project. I started with 3 skeins of Premier Basix but ran out just short of the top of the basket. I had one skein of Premier in my stash and ended up working from both ends of a Caron One Pounder to finish the project. I'm determined to make these baskets stash projects rather than buying more yarn. I have a huge stash that just needs to be downsized. So the rest of the carriers might be a bit more colorful this year.

The beautiful blanket comes from one of the amazing contributors to the doll donation from Crochetville. I received a beautiful box of doll blankets and 18" doll clothing from MO and I can't thank her and all those who help each year enough.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Dress, Hat, and Booties

The Easter Bunny bought me some additional patterns including a couple for the Lots to Love 14" Doll from Petitedolls. You can purchase this pattern here.

This was the perfect chance to use up some of the Herrschner's worsted weight yarn a kind member of the Ravelry Charity Knitting group sent me for my donation project. The pattern calls for DK yarn and I've found the Herrschner's worsted 4 is much closer to DK than most worsted 4 yarns so it is a great substitute.

I've been making different sized doll patterns from this designer and for the first time I didn't end up writing the US terms on top of the UK crochet terms while working on the pattern. I was quite proud of myself. Part of the reason was the pattern was simpler than some of the others I've worked on and thus I was less likely to make a dc when I really needed a US sc. I also think I'm getting better at reading the UK terms and mentally making the translations as I work.

With the Herrschner's yarn I was able to use the suggested G hook to get all three pieces to fit as written. I used a snap to close the back of the dress rather than a tie. The booties are a good fit for the doll if I need another shoe pattern for the doll.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Baby Doll Bib

I mentioned in the previous Rag Doll Post that I'd been searching the Annie's Doll DVD Rom for new patterns and come across the Needlecrafts Shop's Sweet Cuddles 971016 leaflet that I adapted to make the sweater for that doll outfit.

While I was there I noticed a pattern for a baby bib that might be my solution for a smaller baby bib that would fit the Lots to Love Babies 14" Doll instead of adapting the pattern I'd used with the JC Toys 16-inch Soft Baby Dolls .

Notes:

Baby yarn created a very small bib so I moved up to worsted weight 4 yarn. I also added a few rows to the body of the bib to make it long enough. I added the trim and then used the trim yarn to make the ties.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Hoodie and Pants

After I made the last outfit for the Lots to Love Babies 14" Dolland I couldn't find the pattern online I did more digging and found the designer had a limited presence on Etsy. I proceeded to buy the patterns that would work for the donation dolls. She has a few bed dolls that while pretty aren't right for this donation project. I left her a message asking if she will be offering any of her other doll patterns as I would love to buy them. The two I've made so far have me hooked on her style. You can purchase the Hoodie Short set pattern here.

I used Bernat Baby Big Ball Sport Yarn in Baby Blue and the variegated Baby Baby for this outfit. The suggested e hook worked for the entire outfit.

Notes:

I did add some extra rows to the top of the pants. This doll comes wearing a diaper and with that on the pants are too short at the top but fit fine for the rest of the doll. I would consider using a smaller hook for the hood next time as I did find it was a little larger than I'd expected. I accidently shifted from hdc to sc while making the first leg so I continued this pattern into the second leg and they were even. I'd already finished off the ends with trim so frogging seemed a waste when the pants fit.

After I took the first found of pictures something struck me as being off about the finished outfit and sure enough in my rush to finish I'd forgotten to make the booties. That would have been a shame because these really are a perfect shoe for this doll. They work up quickly and they fit really well. Doll shoes are always a challenge and when you find a pair that fits the doll it is a great blessing. I left this pattern in my working binder as I may be back to use the shoes again for patterns that either don't include shoes or have shoes that don't fit well.

I have to decide what outfit to experiment with to fit the rag doll as that is the only donation doll I haven't any specific patterns set up to make. It will be an interesting experiment for this year's donation. I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Baby Doll Wipes Round 2

I did a little more research since my last post and the Etsy store I purchased this pattern set for the diaper bag set and several of my play food patterns Crochet N' Play designs has posted on Etsy that she is taking a break. I do hope she will be back as I am a huge fan of her work. I not only use this pattern but I have several of her food sets as well. They are well written and fun to make.

This is the second set of 3 I need for the baby dolls this year. This set will be going to the Lots to Love 14 inch Baby Doll and do to my sister's hard work already has a diaper bag to go into for storage.