Dinosaur Afghan Block Number 2

I mentioned last week that I started the Dinosaur blanket pattern that was bought for me as a gift from e-pattern central here. I'm not sure how my project list got to be so long but I can't think of anything that I don't want to do and I keep finding more things that interest me so clearly I'm back to finish what gets done by deadline motto and move forward.

My plan for this gift is to finish the blanket, a dino lovey, and as many dino amis as I can finish before the project has to leave the house. Of course I also have Halloween and Thanksgiving ami's and toys to make, with Christmas right around the corner. Then in between I have to keep getting the doll clothes and this year I've added toy food to that donation list as well. Some how it always seems to get finished.

As for this project, I'm pleased to have finished the second square. As I mentioned in the previous post neither squares or charts are my favorite projects, but I really am happy with this project. I want this to be something special. Only 4 more blocks to go.

Baby Doll Nightgown for 16 inch doll

I can't emphasize the gift of a simple project for filling the doll donation bags. This one I worked up while waiting to do something else. It was a great project because it didn't require a great deal of concentration, but I still had another item to add to the donation in a short period of time.

This is the free American Girl Nightgown pattern found here. I had to play a little with hook size do tot he rather round body of the doll, but I was pleased with the outcome.

It was a great way to use up yarn on hand. This was made from left over Caron Pounder Yarn.

Once again I do want to thank the people who donate their patterns for the rest of us to use for free. Your donation makes my donations go further. With these two free patterns by the same designer I've already gotten 4 donation outfits completed this year.

Mary Maxim American Girl Summertime Dress

Mary Maxim's Summer Time Doll Kit for the 18 inch dolls was one of my birthday presents this year. While I love Mary Maxim's yarn and their doll kits, I do find their shipping to be a bit pricey. So, I catch their free shipping when I can and gift giving times are a great time to ask for a gift from them.

As I was making this outfit I realized how much I do like their yarn for light weight projects and after a search was pleased to find you can get it at JoAnn's online. Since they have more frequent yarn sales and shipping offers I do think there may be more Mary Maxim yarn in my doll project futures.

This first pattern worked up very quickly. I did upsize to an H hook. I had no issue with the dress, hat, or poncho. I was not happy with the sandals. I just couldn't get them to fit. So instead of worrying about the sandals I went back to my fall back shoe pattern from a Sun Dress Pattern I purchased here.

This kit comes with 2 outfits so I hope to finish the second one soon.

Dinosaur Afghan Block Number 1

While we were at the birthday party I made all those fun toys for I discovered there is another little one, a boy this time due in the fall to a different branch of the family. The baby's room is being decorated in dinosaurs. I have lots of dinosaur ami patterns having nephews who loved the creatures in their younger days, but what to do about a baby afghan?

Well I'm not normally crazy about sewing squares together and charts are also not a favorite of mine, but I found a dinosaur afghan pattern on e-pattern central here. If you have time have patience I suggest waiting for it to go on sale. It isn't included in all their sales, but about 3 weeks after I was gifted the pattern it was included in one of their sales at a drastically reduced price. I however, wasn't willing to wait as I know how long it can take me to order the yarn and add in the time to work on charts, I wanted maximum lead time.

Just a note for those of you who like to use the yarn listed, the yarn used for this pattern, Red Heart Kids is no longer available. I looked at Caron Simply Soft, but I couldn't get the colors to match the way I wanted too. You may feel differently. I settled on Bernat Super Value as my substitute yarn. I find yarn bobbins to be very useful on charted projects as I easily tangle my yarn. I know other people have solutions they prefer. My suggestion is do what works best for you.

I've been working on the blocks while trying to get doll donations done and block 2 is finished. I have to get the bobbins set up for block 3.

Baby Doll Dress for 16 Inch Doll

While I enjoy playing with new patterns and learning new stitches I always appreciate simple easy to make patterns that can fill my donation bags for the dolls. I love it even better when I can take a pattern for one doll and adapt it to another. This baby doll dress is adapted from the free 18 inch free Flamenco Dress pattern found here.

The main changes I made to accommodate the body of the doll were an H hook for the top of the doll and an I hook for the skirt. It just made for a better fit. Using the I hook I needed to reduce the number of rows for the skirt section of the pattern.

I went through several versions of the 15" doll before moving on to the 16" doll as each version became unavailable. I like having model dolls to try the clothes on to make sure they will fit the new donation dolls so I try to keep up with dolls I can find for the next donation year. My current favorite doll is JC Toys La Baby 16-inch Washable Soft Body Purple Play Doll that I found when the last of the 15 inch dolls were no longer available. The features on this doll are a bit nicer and I'm finding with a little work many of the 15" patterns do adapt to the 16" doll.

This is Walmart's Mainstay Acrylic Yarn. I had never seen it before and there was only one skein. It just seemed like a fun silly color for a baby doll dress and I enjoyed both the softness of the yarn and the color as it worked up.

American Girl Little Bluebell Nightgown

As I mentioned last week I discovered a free 18 inch doll designer and I'm finding the patterns work for both the 18 inch doll and the 16 inch baby doll. I love when I find patterns that will work for both. You can find the pattern here.

This pattern works up quickly and I used Bernat Super Value Yarn. In order to make gauge I needed an H hook.

American Girl Flamenco Dress

This is not a traditional Flamenco dress but I respect the titles people give their patterns. I missed out on the chance to buy a crochet Flamenco pattern when a designer closed her pattern shop a few years ago. This is a bright and easy free pattern found here. This pattern does not come with shoes I used the pattern from the Sun Dress I wrote about yesterday to finish this outfit. You can find the pattern here.


Pattern notes:

There was no yarn specified on this pattern, but I used Red Heart Super Saver Fruity Stripe for my doll dress and I liked the look. In order to make gauge I used an H hook.

This pattern works up really quickly if you need a doll dress. I tried it on the 16 inch baby doll and I think this pattern will work for the baby doll, too. I will change the colors to more baby friendly colors.

I want to thank the designer for offering up her patterns for free. I've completed two so far and have another one printed to make.

American Girl Sun Dress

Sweet Silver Creations has always been one of my favorite 18 inch doll designers. Over the years I've collected most of her 18 inch doll patterns. They've generally appear on my Christmas and birthday lists. I'm hoping some new ones will be coming out soon. This is my first attempt at making this one. You can find the pattern here.

I loved the dress and the shoes. I wasn't as happy with the hat.

Pattern notes:

I used worsted weight instead of sport weight yarn. The H hook worked with the worsted weight to make the outfit fit.

Crochet Tea Set

I started this tea set back in April and finally decided I needed to finish it off so it didn't become one of those unfinished projects at donation time. I was determined to add a tea set to the donation this year and I found this one worked out well for me. As I mentioned before this comes from one of my favorite out of print Amigurumi books Amigurumi Two!: Crocheted Toys for Me and You and Baby Too that I keep hoping will come back into print.

Once I had some time to focus, the set finished quickly. It is one of the easier patterns I've located.

Mouse and Her Cookie

As I mentioned in a previous post I've gotten behind in posting. I'd meant to post this right after the Pig and her Pancake, but then I got busy with summer things and Mouse never got posted. The Pig and the Mouse along with their books were also a huge hit at the birthday party. Although the cookie was a huge disappointment when it was bitten into only to discover it wasn't a "real" cookie.

Giving If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If You Give...) with the mouse and cookie makes a great gift set. This pattern has disappeared and been found several times. If it is something you want I suggest downloading and storing a copy as it seems to pop up and disappear as the owner changes blogs. You can find it here.

Pattern notes for myself:

I used size 10 thread to crochet the nose this time as I've run out of plastic pink noses. The place I used to order the noses from is no longer in business. It is time to locate a new source, but this worked for this project. I crochet an inner lining in pink for the ears and crochet it to the back of the ear rather than using felt.