Calico Critters Bay Creek Knits Mom Dress

I like working on these projects between other projects as they are quick to finish and add another item to a donation bag.

This is a free pattern found here.

Notes this is made with size 10 thread.

I used two different hooks this year as I found it slightly tight around the arms last year. The Tulip hooks give me a little more room to play with the Golilocks syndrome of being too big or too small. I started with my 2.5mm hook and then went back to my 2.2 after the armholes had been established. I had started with the 2.2 and it was too tight under the arms. However, I've found skirts can overwhelm the small toy so I went back to the 2.2 when working on the skirt.

These are my adapted previous notes on avoiding the surface crochet.

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 front row othe stitch the starting row to avoid having to surface crochet later. I made row 5 by crocheting in the back loops behind ss.

I did not snap a picture of the back of the gown so this is last year's shot as a reminder.

Having used the same colors twice I'm thinking shades of green or blue next year might be nice.

Our Generation Boy Soccer

It seemed a great time to pull out some of Adoring Doll's sport patterns and adapt the girl outfits for the boy doll. With World Cup fever in the air I decided to start with soccer.

You can purchase the pattern here.

My husband is a huge sport fan so I asked him for some help with my color choices. He suggested going with solid blue for the shirt and solid white for the shorts. I wasn't complaining as I really don't enjoy adding the stripes for the shorts as I've done previously for the basketball shorts.

Notes:

I used Red Heart Royal Blue, Red, Black and White for the Uniform. The soccer decal was made using Cotton Fair black and white cotton yarn as I wanted it to be a little stiffer and more like a patch.

Shirt:

I used an I hook for the shirt and my size 2mm hook for the soccer ball decal.

Other than not making color changes and adding trim I followed the directions for the shirt as written without any changes.

I knew I wanted a red stripe and two white stripes for the sleeve so I marked the pattern counting back from the edge of the sleeve the last two rows as white and the third from the end as red. Then I started with the blue.

The pattern gives you directions for adding a number or a soccer ball to the front of the shirt. I'd done the number for the basket ball uniform and really liked the idea of the soccer ball. I chose the ball as I really liked the look of it.

Shorts:

I didn't mark a hook for the shorts so I am not sure if it was the suggested f or g.

Note to myself that row 7 should read 1sc in first 10 stitches.

Headband and Shoes:

I used the suggested hooks for both projects.

The headband worked as written no changes.

The only changes I made for the shoes were adjusting the colors. I had to play with the shoe laces to get them to work. I always find this to be challenging.

Barbie Poncho and Pants

I started picking up Michelle Ratman's patterns for Barbie and the 18 inch dolls a few years ago.

You can purchase the poncho pattern here.

The pants are made using Ken's pants from the Ski outfit pattern found in the out of print House of White Birches Crochet Wardrobe for 11.5 inch Fashion Dolls.

For my own notes this is page 33 and ends on 47. For some reason I was left trying to figure out which pants I had used two years ago. This narrows the hunt down.

Notes:

Poncho:

I've opted to use acrylic for over cotton for her patterns.

I had Unforgettable Gossamer left over from Mermaid projects and I decided to try it out on a poncho for Barbie. I am planning on using the left over Unforgettable Candied I have from making the Lil Cutesies mermaid for a poncho for Skipper.

I used and e hook for the poncho.

My one mistake was not counting each side of the chain 3 points and I ended up pulling out rows which can be a bit challenging with this yarn when I realized the poncho was not even. Once I counted from each side every row it worked out well.

My goal is to continue to use this yarn for the mermaid outfits so there should be enough to continue with ponchos as well. I do like the way the colors work together.

Pants:

The pants require crocheting around an elastic the distance of Barbie's waist for the first row. I recently bought wider elastic as the 1/8 was splitting apart with my hand sewing. While it takes slightly longer to make sure the yarn covers the elastic completely, the wider elastic works better.

This was made with Knit Picks Palette yarn and this year I used a 3.0mm Tulip Etimo rather than my Bates Bamboo C hook as I'm trying to give them a little bit of a break after having broke one of my B hooks and not being able to replace it.

I needed 20 rows to make the legs long enough for Barbie and I finished the legs with a row of ss to help keep the feet from catching in the yarn.