Lots to Love 10 Inch Baby Doll Swimsuit

The Lots to Love 10 inch Baby Doll was next on my swimsuit list.>

This is a Baby Steps pattern that includes directions for the Lots to Love 10 inch Doll. You can purchase the pattern here.

The version I have has a cover picture of the Baby Steps doll not the Lots to Love doll. I always add this because I find myself thinking there must be another pattern in my binder for this project and there is not.

Notes:

At one of Knit Picks sales I found their Curio size 3 thread and added to my color options. The main color of the suit is size 3 Curio pistachio. The contrast color is Lizbeth size 3 Pastel Petals.

I really like the green for this project.

I used an f hook for everything but the shoes which required an e hook.

Lizbeth was used for all the trims.

A note for future projects I'd consider not doing the trim between the ties next year. I liked the solid green but had made it with the trim previously so decided to go forward. In the future I might drop that trim.

I did finish the legs this year.

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.