Update on my plans for the New England Fiber Festival

They say nothing worth doing is easy and this is proving to be true. I got into the Tunisian Workshop I really wanted to take, but the Assabet Bus has been cancelled do to lack of interest. Thankfully, I was able to get a spot on the Woolpack bus. It is a more challenging, but it will work. It also means Assabet is less likely to offer trips like this in the future, which is also sad. I was hoping if there was local interest, I might have a chance to take advantage of more opportunities for these types of events using local transportation.

Fiber Festival of New England

I always seem to hear about great fiber events after they've passed or too late to make plans to register and arrange transportation, but this year I seemed to have gotten slightly ahead of the curve for Fiber Festival of New England located in Springfield at the Big E.

The event is being held November 1 and 2 9-5 on Saturday and 9-3 on Sunday. You can find out more about the event here.

For those of you interested in not having to drive to Springfield I found two local options. Assabet Technical High School's Adult Ed Program is offering a bus to the festival that includes the cost of admission. The course is called Fiber Festival of New England. The course number is CRO-F14. The cost is $45. You can find the details at Assabet's website here. You can register here.

The Woolpack in Acton is also offering a bus that includes the price of admission. That bus leaves at 8:00 and the price is $50. You can check out the details here.

Not sure if I am too late to register for a Tunisian workshop. That is next on my list to check out. However, I am glad to see I finally got my arrangements in order for one of these events.

Little Red Riding Hood Baby Doll

I love fairy tales and making themed outfits is always fun. I made this outfit for the Melissa & Doug Jenna - 12" Doll as part of my Christmas donation project.

Something else I enjoy is collecting old crochet patterns and while they can take some work to adapt, they are also can create some fun outfits for dolls. The dress for this outfit came from an old Mary Maxim pattern 189V, which is available for purchase here. I am thrilled Mary Maxim is releasing more of their old patterns for download. I've picked up several doll and other patterns and have had fun working on them.

The cape comes from a black and white 1981 publication from House of White Birches, Baby Doll Fashions to Crochet by Margaret Funk. I found this on one of my many vintage pattern hunts and I have had a great deal of fun exploring the patterns. One thing I will note is the sizes are a bit challenging. For instance they might tell you it is for a 13" doll, but what kind of 13" doll? There are no additional measurements. That being said I've been able to adjust most of the patterns to fit by changing yarn and hook sizes. The 18" patterns have fit pretty well for the padded 15" baby doll when I used worsted instead of sport yarn and increased the hook size.

Barbie and American Girl Doll Free Patterns are listed on my blog at these locations:

Barbie Crochet and Sewing Page

Barbie Knitting Page

Ken Page

Kelly/Skipper Page

American Girl Doll Crochet and Sewing

American Girl Doll Knitting

Doll Blankets and Pillow Patterns

Baby Doll Patterns:

Baby Doll and Cabbage Patch

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

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