Aztec Wishes Donation 2020

I just want to send out a THANK YOU to all my friends at Crochetville for their amazing generosity that makes this such a great donation drive every year. It is always so much fun to be the person that gets to deliver the stuff but honestly all of you do so much to make it happen.

It was a bit of a different situation this year with COVID. The tech school that normally takes our donations and works with the agency that distributes the toys had to cancel the drive due to COVID restrictions.

Schools have been switching from hybrid models to vitual models in this area. Therefore, drive was just not going to be practical this year. I sensed this was going to be the case in the fall and contaced the teacher that runs the program in October. She was able to put me in contact with the woman that runs the agency and last Friday we were able to drop off 9 boxes of dolls, doll clothing, and accessories as well as a bag of dolls that wouldn't fit in any of the boxes I had in my house.

The need is perhaps greater this year than in any of the over decade of years I've been donating to this drive. I was happy we will be able to make Christmas morning a bit brighter with some well dressed dolls.

Once my own Christmas boxes set off on their journey, it will be time to start up the Aztec donations for next year when hopefully we will return to the high school.

18 Inch Doll Girl About Town

This is another doll pattern I found in Crochet World's Best Animals, Toys, and Dolls and decided to add to the doll donation. You can purchase this digital magazine at e-pattern central here. As I mentioned in my previous post they have some amazing sales if you are patient.

I try to make a habit of listing where the patterns come from because when I go to a site I love knowing where the pattern came from so I can look for it if I choose. Free or paid, print, out of print, e-pattern or print it is nice to know where I can start the search for something I'm interested in making. When possible I try to pass this courtesy on by listing what information I have for someone else who may want to find the pattern.

Now on to my notes for the future.

This was a wonderful stash busting project. Many years ago as in the girls are now respectively in college and high school I crocheted Barbie clothes using sport yarn and I bought Red Heart Sport yarn because I could make some of the patterns with it. Eventually the girls outgrew Barbie and I had not real love for working with the tiny Barbie sized patterns which is why I don't donate the fashion sized dolls. However, the end of Barbie did not mean the end of her yarn stash. As I moved to larger dolls I had almost forgotten about this stash of yarn until I recently came across more doll patterns that needed sport weight yarn and realized that it was time to target this stash.

To get this pattern to fit with the old Red Heart Sport yarn I needed to move from the suggested g hook for the top to a G hook. I moved down to an f for the skirt but if I make this again I'd move back to the e hook. This dress works up quite easily and I would make it again and try different types of skirts to go with it. I think it is adaptable.

For the cardigan I also had to go to a g hook for the main body. However I had to return to the e hook to make the arms fit. I could see making the cardigan to add to other patterns. It works up easily enough.

18 Inch Doll Back to School

As I mentioned in a previous post I'd been looking through Crochet World's Best Animals, Toys, and Dolls for doll patterns to use for the toy donation. The first one that struck me as one to try was this Back to School pattern. It was a great chance to use up more of the Green Herrschner's worsted weight yarn I wrote about previously using in the baby doll projects. I still haven't finished it off yet. This outfit seemed to hardly make an impact. However, I'm glad I had it to use for this project. It feels good to be using up yarn that has been too long sitting in the stash pile.

The pattern called for an f hook and that worked fine with the top and the AC Moore sport yarn that I am still working through. The skirt proved to be too large and I ended up going down to a D hook. Even then I added a draw string to make it a bit tighter. The pattern calls for elastic but I'm trying to avoid using elastic at the moment.

The vest and hat worked up according to pattern instructions but I had to play with the shoes. The AC sport weight was too small for the bottom until I moved up to an H hook to fit the bottom of the doll foot. However, the tops were too large with the green Herrschner's yarn until I went down to a D hook. Even then they were still a little roomy. I think they'd have been a better fit if I'd stuck with the AC Moore yearn for the whole shoe. However, I liked the idea of trying shoes with contrasting colors so I went ahead.

The backpack worked up according to directions but I used snaps on the back of the sweater and to close the backpack.


This digital magazine is available for purchase at e-pattern central here. As I mentioned in my previous post they have some amazing sales if you are patient.

Our Generation Teddy Bear Top and Skirt

I'm always looking for patterns either made for the size of dolls I donate or patterns that can be adapted to fit the dolls. This pattern is a free crochet pattern to make a skirt and top designed to fit a Build a Bear. You can find the pattern here. If you are interested in Build a Bear patterns she has quite a few free patterns for the bears but most of them are knit.

One thing to love about this pattern is that it requires no sewing other than weaving in your ends. Even the straps you see on the top are created through traditional arm hole methods, they are not sewn to the top as often happens when you make tops with straps. This alone makes it a new favorite for me.

I found the skirt pattern was a bit heavy and large for either doll when I made it with worsted weight yarn. So, I substituted Red Heart Sport yarn for the skirt. Making the skirt with a g hook and the sport weight yarn I then just needed to add a few more rows to get the length I needed.

My AC Moore sport yarn is still holding out but I'm trying to make a dent in it. The top is from that supply. I started out with the suggested g hook but the top was too large even for the Our Generation doll. I moved to an f hook and the fit was good. It needs to be a little loose as this top needs to slide on and off the doll and the arms need to slide into the arm holes. I will consider dropping the hook size to make this for the My Life doll.

18 Inch Doll Seashell Summer Dress, Hat, and Purse

This was another attempt to finish off my Spud and Chloe box of sock yarn. I am happy to say the dress used almost an entire skein. I thought I'd have enough to finish off the hat, but I had to use some left over pink yarn I didn't manage to finish up in a previous outing. Thus the reason for the pink purse.

These are all free crochet patterns you can find at ABC Knitting. The dress is available here. If you give them your email address they will give you the ability to download the PDF for free. I suggest this as it is much easier to work from their PDF version than from the version posted on the website. I always end up missing some detail.

Pattern notes:

I used an f hook to get the dress to fit.

As I mentioned when I suggested getting the PDF I have a copy that predates this service and I missed the line after row 6 that says you will be dividing for the sleeve. Thankfully, I knew I was right about at that point and was able to figure out that should be happening. With the number of stitches decreasing it was also a good hint that I'd be skipping stitches to form the arm hole. However, having the complete descriptions and pictures would have made my life easier.

After decreasing the number of stitches in row 7 to make the arm holes you begin increasing in row 8 to create the flair in the skirt. I mention this because I misread the V stitch in between and had a very straight too tight dress that had to be pulled back to row 7 and redone. My hope is by making these notes when I make this dress again I'll remember having done this before.

You can find the free pattern for the hat here and the purse here.

Our Generation Dovetailed

This is another one of my favorite free Darski patterns found here.

I love the historical look of the pattern and that it works up quickly without being too challenging. I've been making this outfit in pink and grey for years, but I'm thinking about possibly making this for the My Life doll in different colors to try something new this year. We will see what happens.

I originally intended this outfit for the My Life doll. I'm trying to keep a balance for the donation but I didn't use elastic for the waist band and as a result the waist was a little too big for the My Life and fit the Our Generation Doll a bit better. The top was also made with the suggested H hook and fit well for both dolls.

18 Inch Doll Cinderella

I did mention I'd eventually get back to making costumes for the donation dolls didn't I? I own several Cinderella patterns for the 18 inch dolls. Some are more challenging than others. I chose this one because it is quick to make up and I had the supplies on hand. While I've been focusing on using up orphan yarns I have a supply of staple yarns that the majority of my donations come from and since I haven't been out shopping much I haven't resupplied those as much as I would normally do and therefore there wasn't a guarantee that when I went to find light blue yarn I'd have any available.

For those of you interested in this pattern you can purchase it from Adoring Doll Clothes here. While her prices are quite reasonable she regularly has sales or deals for multiple pattern buys if that is of interest. I know I take advantage to keep up on her newer designs.

Pattern Notes:

To add the overdress I changed row 9. I crocheted in the back loops for this round to leave the front loops available to begin the overskirt. This is a change from the directions and one I'd like to remember when I make it again.

I had to add rows to the headband to make it long enough. When I make this next time I need to measure this prior to finishing off to make sure it fits.

To get the shoes to fit I needed an I hook. This is pretty standard for me.

Snaps closed the dress and the choker at the neck. This differs from the pattern directions.

The dress was short so I added rows to make it floor length.

18 Inch Doll Cable Link Sweater and Skirt

I am pleased that I'm making progress on my efforts to create separates and non-costumed outfits this year. While I love making the doll themed outfits and already have a few lined up on my to do list there is more to outfiting a doll than themed costumes. Having the basics is important too. However, I sometimes neglect making those in favor of the themed costumes for the dolls. This year I am trying to do better.

This is actually my second try at the skirt from the free pattern Dovetailed found here. I'll be posting about the finished project I made for the Our Generation doll next week. I thought I had enough yarn to make a second outfit for the My Life Doll using the blue yarn but I clearly underestimated how much yarn I had on hand. I had enough for a skirt but not enough to complete the outfit. Just a note for myself, the skirt fits the My Life Doll better with a g hook if you don't use elastic.

Now I needed a top so I turned to my out of print Sweater Trio pattern published by Fibre Craft in 1999 FCM494 for those who might want to search for it. I've made this pattern for several years but it has always felt a bit bulky to me.

I've tried making it with an e hook and that helped a little but it still had that feel of wearing an bigger sister's wardrobe. This year I decided to go back to that purple baby yarn you may have seen across several projects now that I've been trying to use up. I swear it multiplies at night. I used the required f hook instead of going down to the e as I had before, but with the lighter 3 yarn it fit better.

While you can't see it in this picture the sweater pattern includes a headband pattern that also uses the cable loops which for some reason I find to be fun to put together. It is not something I get to do frequently in crochet, but it is a fun little exercise when making this project.

Our Generation Sock Yarn Skirt and Top

A few years back while attending a fiber festival I won a box of Spud and Chloe sock yarn as a vendor prize. While I have constantly used the yarn needle and round cardboard holder they gave out (I may have substituted needles since then) I had a small issue with the sock yarn. I don't make socks. The yarn is beautiful and the women I was with with thrilled for me but I was concerned this yarn would become a permanent resident of my ever growing stash.

Sure enough as I have been digging through my stash to target yarn that has to go during the doll projects this year I came across the box of Spud and Chloe sock yarn and decided it was time to make use of it for the doll donation. I remembered ABC knitting had some crochet doll outfits that might work and set out to see what I could target.

I started with the skirt which called for fingering yarn. You can find the free pattern for the skirt here. This pattern calls for a D hook with the sock yarn I used a C hook to make it fit and next time I might go down to a B. While it has a draw string it was loose at the waist for the My Life doll. It fit better on the Our Generation Doll with the C hook.

I used another free crochet pattern from ABC Knitting for the top. I reversed the jacket from the Elizabeth pattern found here. Instead of a cardigan, I made it a shirt that closes in the back. I used snaps instead of buttons to close it.

I have a small ball of the dark pink and a good size ball of the dark pink left so I'm sure you will see those in future projects.

Our Generation Neon Dress, Hat and Purse

A while back I needed to make more kitchen scrubbies and to entertain myself I picked up brightly colored striped and variegated yarn to make them. The scrubbies finished I of course had left over yarn that has been sitting in my stash wondering when it would be put to use. Every year I promise myself I will tackle the orphan yarns in my stash during the doll project and I make some progress each year. This year with the COVID crisis I've been making more of an effort as my choices are limited to using up my stash or ordering online. So, I've been pushing myself to find ways to use up that yarn that catches my eye when I go into my yarn storage and wonder when will I ever find a use for.....

While pulling the yarn to make the dress for the My Life doll this neon yarn called to me and it just seemed like a good fit for the Our Generation doll.

To make this pattern work for the Our Generation doll I needed to increase the hook size to an I hook. I also added rows to make the skirt longer. The hat was an experiment. The purse was simply a square made with front post and back post stitches. I joined yarn on the starting row and made the back with dc's. I crocheted around the edges joining them with the purse strap chains to get to the other side. Not elegant but it worked.

For those of you who are interested you can find the free pattern for the dress here.

Our Generation Elizabeth Skirt and Summer Jacket

While I repeat many patterns each year for the donation I like the challenge of trying new patterns each year. This is a free pattern set found at ABC Knitting here. Don't let the name confuse you this site has free crochet and knitting patterns. I am not much of a knitter so you can guarantee when I make doll clothes they are crochet.

As you may have come to expect if you read this blog I played with this pattern just a little bit. The pattern called for size 3 thread. I'm not a huge fan of working with crochet thread so I wanted to see if I could make it with baby yarn. It was a bit bulky for the My Life Doll but it fit the Our Generation Doll. I did make the skirt and the jacket longer as they were both short on the Springfield Doll I was using to size the outfit. However, when it was finished it looked a little boxy. I tried in on the Our Generation Doll and I liked the fit better, thus another Our Generation outfit completed for the donation.

Notes for myself: I used Red Heart Comfort Sport and Bernat Baby for this project with a C hook.

Pink Seed Stitch Doll Blanket

Doll blankets used to be my traveling projects but with COVID I'm not traveling much these days and taking a project with me isn't a healthy choice. However, I have been visiting with family and doing some other stuff via teleconferencing and thus the doll blankets are being worked on during those times. I also find they are a nice relaxing project between some of the other projects as most of these require minimal counting and monitoring to keep the project in check.

I'm continuing to work on reducing my stash. I had picked up some Red Heart Super Saver Ombre Jazzy when it was on sale during my travels as I really do have a thing for striped and variegated yarn. This has larger stripes than I'm used to working on but I suspected it would work for blankets.

This is a simple crochet seed stitch project. I like it because it is quite relaxing and easy on my hands. The border is a chain stitch border. I make it large enough to fit the 18" dolls but it goes in a bag of doll blankets that can be used for any donated dolls or stuffed animals that come into the doll donation.

I haven't picked out the blankets that will be donated with the 18" dolls yet. Other than the Lil Cutesies doll all the baby dolls have their blankets in their donation storage bags. I have a bag per doll to keep the stuff separated to make sure each doll is getting enough items. At some point I'll decide which blankets will go with the two 18" dolls for this year. I'm just not ready to pick yet.

18 Inch Doll Dress with Hat

It is time to return to one of my simple but classic 18 inch doll patterns. I love working on this pattern because it calls for the bright Fruity Stripe Red Heart yarn and right now I could use a little color and brightness in my life. I also like it because it works up quickly and was a great project to make in between the Moses basket and trying to finish up the picnic set for the Lil Cutesie doll.

I also chose this pattern as it was a great way to work through some of the yarn I have on hand. I almost had enough left on one skein to finish the project but when I added the hat I had to dig into a second skein I had on hand to finish it off. This is what happens when you work with partial skeins. It's always hard to tell exactly how much yarn you have to work with on a project.

You can find the free pattern for the dress here. In previous years I've made the top smaller using a g hook. However, this year I used an H hook through out and the top fit fine. I'm currently working on using up some neon stripe yarn to make this dress for the Our Generation Doll. I'll post the notes about making it for the slightly larger doll when I finish it. There is no pattern for a hat. I played with the yarn left over from the first skein and added some from the second skein to complete the hat. I wanted something to finish off the outfit.

To close the back of this dress I chose a snap over a button. It was a quick and easy solution to my problem. I may have to think about ordering snaps soon if stores don't open soon. I did order ami eyes online recently as my 6mm supply is almost out.

Lil Cutesies Teddy Bear Picnic

It was actually this pattern which can be purchased at Mary Maxim here that made me decide to donate a JC Toys Lil Cutesies Doll Baby Doll as part of this donation. I just loved the pattern, the theme and the look of the doll. It is a slightly larger and different shaped doll than the 8 inch Lots to Love doll so I decided to buy the doll the pattern was made for and see if I could get the set made for the donation.

Interestingly enough it took me a while to get the doll. I had no idea these things would sell out so quickly. I did manage to get two, one as a model to fit the clothes and one to donate. The one I bought is still sold out though the other two models seem to be available for purchase. I have some 9 inch doll patterns I'm thinking of trying on this doll or perhaps playing with some of the 8 inch patterns I have for the Lots of Love dolls to make sure she leaves with a wardrobe at least as nice as the other dolls.

Just a note about the pattern. For a long time Mary Maxim used to sell kits like this one and then you had to find the patterns in secondary markets if you didn't buy the kits. A few years back they decided they should get into the market and started selling some of their kit patterns after the kits sold out as digital patterns. If you decide to buy look for their sales. The patterns frequently go on sale for $1.99 or less.

As for my pattern notes the blanket, the bears, and the trim for the doll's outfit are all from the AC Moore Nicole sport which sadly is no longer available. I'm slowly working my way through my supply. I love the color of this yarn and decided to make the bears with it rather than changing colors as the pattern called for and I liked the outcome. I also used 6mm safety eyes for the eyes and the noses. The first bear I made using an e hook and it was huge so other than the head I redesigned the pattern to make him a reasonable height vs the doll. Clearly the yarn used in the pattern must be a lighter weight. For the second bear I used the same yarn but a c hook and for the most part followed the directions. I made the feet slightly smaller. I loved this basket pattern and could see using it for other projects. The design is adorable.

Doll Clothes Donations

I am very fortunate to have the Crochetville community help me out with my doll donation every year. I couldn't make it without them. I received a package this week with some beautiful doll dresses that I am sure will be making some little ones quite happy this year. A big thank you goes out to a very special AZ friend from Crochetville for all your help. It is so appreciated. I suspect this year more even more than most.CC

Lots to Love 10 Inch Moses Basket

I made one of these for the 8 inch doll so it only seemed fair that the 10 inch doll get a bed too.

For those of you interested in the pattern for the Moses Basket you can find the print copy of the Sweet Baby Doll Layette for sale here and the Digital copy at Etsy here. The blanket was part of a free pattern set you can find here. I like trying different patterns for the blankets. It keeps it interesting.

To make the larger Moses basket it requires working with 2 strands of yarn at the same time. Not nearly as painful as making the larger baskets for the 16 inch dolls but it still wears on the hands. I used up the last of a skein of Caron Simply Soft I had tried to finish off on the Romper for the blanket. I like seeing the orphan skeins put to good use.

Our Generation Skirt and Short Sleeved Sweater

I bring you 2 more free patterns for the 18 inch dolls. The skirt can be found here and while I decided on a short sleeve version the sweater is actually a long sleeved sweater found here.

I rarely have to make items smaller for the Our Generation Doll but I ended up going from a g to an f hook for the skirt as it fit better with an f hook. I used the prescribed hook for the sweater but it was bulky and I'm thinking I might try a lighter yarn if I use this again for the My Life doll.

Lots to Love 10 Inch Doll Nightgown

I've been balancing my time between the baby dolls and the 18" dolls trying to make sure I have enough outfits and accessories for the donation. This nightgown is part of a free pattern set found here.

This doll has proved to be an interesting yarn challenge. I'm finding the traditional baby weight yarns are often too small for the patterns I'm using and worsted weight is just a bit too heavy on this doll. It just looks big even when it fits. I've been experimenting with Caron Simply Soft which is technically a 4 weight but I've always found it to feel lighter and Herrschner's Worsted which again I find to be a lighter than sugggested 4 weight. So far I've liked the outcomes. I also like the fact that I'm using up yarn I have been hoping to finish off.

This is a pretty straight forward pattern. I did add some trim for fun. I hope to add the blanket from this set and then make the Moses basket similar to the one I made for the 8 inch doll to add to the donation.

Our Generation Ribbed Effect Skirt and Tank Top

I've been searching through my pattern collection to find separates to match up for the annual doll donation and as happens every year I am surprised by something I've forgotten in those pattern binders. This year I came across a Doll Picnic pattern I'd purchased from Maggie's crochet several years ago that you can buy here.

At some point I'm going to revisit this pattern and make the whole picnic set. I think it would be a fun item to donate. However, my mission this round was tops and bottoms. In this case I wanted the tank top.

This top was a little different from others I've made in that it used seed stitch to give the top some texture. I like the look of the top and as I said I'd like to revisit the whole pattern again at some point and make the set.

I thought I'd need a larger hook to fit the Our Generation doll and started this pattern out with an I hook but it was too large. When I make this for the My Life doll it will likely require a G hook. Marking the front was important for me because the first time through I made the reduction for the arms on the wrong side which made joining them unlikely. These are all notes to help me in the future.

The skirt is the same free pattern I used for the My Life doll found here. As this skirt uses an elastic waist band cut to the size of the doll no additional adjustments to the skirt pattern were required. The stitches adjusted around the elastic and the designer leaves you to determine the length of the skirt.

Our Generation Pleated Skirt and Sweater

I actually made this pleated skirt from Maggie Crochet's Crochet Pattern Abby, Allie & Annie PA972-R first. However when I went to make the free sweater pattern from Your the Tops found here I realized it wasn't going to fit the Our Generation Doll so I made another pleated skirt to fit the My Life Doll as I wrote about last week.

The pleated skirt works up with the required hook but you do need to add a few extra rows to make the waist fit the doll. In order for the sweater to fit I needed an I hook for the main body of the sweater and used a G hook for the arms.

One of my early focuses for the 18 inch dolls this year are tops and bottoms that can be mixed and matched. I will have to experiment and see how to adapt them to the Our Generation Doll. For my records I'm going to try to keep documenting my progress here so I can come back and remember what I did for next year.