Sperm Whale

You might have been expecting another bee post and I am almost done with the last bee item but the legs are small and tight to make so I'm splitting making them between other projects with larger hooks and yarn.

I also borrowed 75 Seashells, Fish, Coral and Colorful Marine Life to Knit and Crochet and wanted to try out the patterns before seeing if I could find a second hand copy of this out of print book. I'm always doubtful about buying combined knit/crochet books. I am not a knitter and when I find these books I always seem to want the knitted projects and am not really engaged by the crocheted projects. In this case there were actually crochet patterns that weren't in my other ocean/sea themed books that made hunting down this book in the second hand market worth my time.

For those of you looking for ocean/sea themed patterns I can only speak to the crochet directions. There are no hook or yarn size suggestions given. The challenge this presents is knowing how big/small the item will be as the picture for the sperm whale was misleading. I had thought the whale would be larger based on the picture and went with a smaller hook size. It became apparant as I started on the head that even with the standard hook size for this yarn that this would be a smaller ami. I quickly switched to a g hook and this was the final result.

While the directions didn't suggest doing so I was able to crochet and create the flipper and tails directly on to the ami as I went only sewing the ends in as I finished them. Since I don't love sewing the pieces together this was a plus for me.

I've been pleased with the range of characters I've been able to create so far and I do have more patterns to work from so I think this could be a fun and yes even educational set for this summer birthday box.

Beehive Pincushion

Before I found Laura Sutcliffe's Beehive Play set I had been looking for bee themed patterns specifically trying to find a hive. When I showed the honey maker the pin cushion pattern she liked that one better than some of the other hive patterns I'd found. It just goes to show you don't need to make an item for its intended purpose for it to be useful. This is a free pattern from Maggie's crochet found here.

You do need to watch the holes on this pattern while stuffing as if you don't crochet this tight you will create gaps and the stuffing will show. I used the suggested g hook for this project. I think I'd try a smaller hook the next time around and perhaps add rows if I found it was too small too keep the stitches tight. It's crochet if you are going to use this as a pin cushion crochet naturally creates holes. However, you don't want the stuffing coming out. You could also consider lining it with something to avoid that as well.

You may recognize the bee on the top of the hive it is the same bee from the Beehive play set I posted about yesterday. I liked the bee better than the one from this pattern so I just made an extra while making the bees for that set and added one to the flower from this set.

Beehive Playset

When I went looking for ideas to make bee and honey themed items for this project I was thrilled to discover one of my favorite play set designers Laura Sutcliffe had a Beehive set. You can purchase it here. I've collected quite a few of her play set patterns and if you follow this blog you will have noticed she figures quite prominetly into holiday and birthday boxes. Her patterns are fun to make and always add a little extra fun play to a gift.

While this play set comes with a bee, for this project I already had my bee design. I finished the first one back in March using a free pattern from another favorite designer Aradiya Toys you can findt the free pattern here. The bee was a huge hit and there was a request for a second.

This set also comes with a flower blanket for the bee. I'm working on that now and will post it when I finish the last bee.

If I make this set again I might use Sugar and Creme cotton or use two strands together to give the hive a little more sturdieness since you can't stuff it and it isn't well suited to adding plastic canvas or another type of interior support to make it stand out on its own. Other than that I think it is adorable and honestly if a child was playing with it I don't think they'd care. Since this is designed to be displayed I'd consider stuffing it if I didn't think they'd want the bottom to open.

Notes:

I used the suggested g hook for this project with the exception of the bees. The bees were made with sport cotton and a c hook.

Beehive Hot Pad

I mentioned back in March that I was working on some bee themed projects for a honey maker. This is a free pot holder pattern from Lion Brand you can find here. I've been focused more on hot pads than pot holders because I think having something to put hot items on is more practical than using these to actually pick up pots.

I used Lily Sugar 'N Cream Country Yellow, Lily Sugar 'N Cream Yarn, White, and Lily Sugar 'N Cream Warm Brown to make this hot pad. I was happy to use this as a stash project. It is a continuing goal to use up what I have on hand where ever possible before buying more.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Dress, Hat, and Booties

The Easter Bunny bought me some additional patterns including a couple for the Lots to Love 14" Doll from Petitedolls. You can purchase this pattern here.

This was the perfect chance to use up some of the Herrschner's worsted weight yarn a kind member of the Ravelry Charity Knitting group sent me for my donation project. The pattern calls for DK yarn and I've found the Herrschner's worsted 4 is much closer to DK than most worsted 4 yarns so it is a great substitute.

I've been making different sized doll patterns from this designer and for the first time I didn't end up writing the US terms on top of the UK crochet terms while working on the pattern. I was quite proud of myself. Part of the reason was the pattern was simpler than some of the others I've worked on and thus I was less likely to make a dc when I really needed a US sc. I also think I'm getting better at reading the UK terms and mentally making the translations as I work.

With the Herrschner's yarn I was able to use the suggested G hook to get all three pieces to fit as written. I used a snap to close the back of the dress rather than a tie. The booties are a good fit for the doll if I need another shoe pattern for the doll.

Clown Fish

From the fall to Christmas last year several retailers were offering BOGO type deals on books that often included crochet books. I was able to pick up many titles on my wish list including several Kerry Lord titles. The Clown Fish comes from her How to Crochet Animals: Ocean book.

This pattern worked up quite quickly. I used Hobby Lobby Sport weight yarn and a D hook. Even with the change in size the fish is still one of the larger items in the set I'm making. If I did this set again I'd go with the cotton sport weight I've been using with the hot pads and likely have a better sized fish. However, I'm happy with this little guy for this project.

One thing to note and I've read it as a critism of the book is the other doesn't specifiy hook size for the project. She suggests you use a hook appropriate to the yarn you choose. The yarn she discusses is a UK yarn and thus you are going to be choosing your own yarn for this project anyways. If you have experience with amis you have a general idea what size hook you want to get the size ami you want with the pattern you are using. I did misjudge the picture and thought the fish would be smaller and hoped by using a lighter yarn and a smaller hook mine would be even smaller. Thus my suggestion for smaller yarn the next time out.

All the pieces have arrived to finish off the island play set so I'm hoping to have that completed this weekend. I have the inner and outer layers of the ocean play tower complete so I can start making the many decorative elements that have to be added to the outer towere before they can be put together. I feel like this project is coming along.

Manatee

When I was thinking about creating an ocean play set I never thought I'd find a manatee or a stingray pattern to include in the set. I was quite pleased to see the range of sea creatures I've been able to find crochet patterns for as I've proceeded with this project.

This is another pattern from Bathtime Buddies that I still have on loan from the library. I do have the PDF to work from once the library book goes back, but for the moment it is easier working from the book.

The manatee works up quickly. As I mentioned before I'm trying to keep my animals small for the play set. If I had to do this again I'd have used sport yarn, but grey is in short supply in my yarn sport section so I used a D hook with worsted weight 4 yarn.

Dolphin

I'm continuing to trade off working on my summer birthday projects and my doll donation items. I've got two playset items that are larger I'm working on and then the creatures and other items to use with the playsets to make for the birthday box. I'm working on a variety of different sized doll clothes for the Christmas donation.

The Little Chubby Dolphin pattern is a free pattern you can find here. I've been mixing and matching patterns from different books and pattern sites as I go. I finally got around to purchasing Bathtime Buddies as a Ravelry PDF download even though my library loan has not expired. There are cloth patterns for the tummies of some of the animals to add and instead of photocopying them to use to cut out the pieces (which I'd have had to do even if I'd owned the print book) I can print the patterns as I need them, cut and reprint again if I remake the animals and lose the precut patterns.

I did make some changes to the dolphin. As I've mentioned in previous posts I'm trying to keep the animals small so they will store well and fit the playsets. With that in mind I went from the suggested f hook to a D hook. I did make a white stomach rather than the multi-color tummy for the dolphin, but I wasn't thrilled with the look so I left it off. If I made another one I might try using a lighter weight yarn for the stomach as it just seems too bulky with 2 layers of worsted weight yarn.

I have 75 Seashells, Fish, Coral and Colorful Marine Life to Knit and Crochet on reserve at the library to pick up this weekend to see if there are any additional ideas to add to my ocean playset. I've not looked at this book before but I'm not a huge fan of the combined knit and crochet books as I don't knit. It always seems like the projects I most want to do are the knit ones. I've tried knitting and the best I can do are dishcloths. Crocheting is my fiber talent. That being said it is free to preview from the library so it is worth seeing if there are any fun things to add to the mix.

I found dishcloth material this weekend to use with the patterns in Bathtime buddies so I'm looking forward to experimenting with using cloth and yarn together. I've used felt as an add on but never to cover a hole in a crocheted piece before. It will be an interesting project. If it doesn't work I will have to crochet the holes closed or patch with a crochet patch.

Chelsea

The last time I worked on Barbies this small the doll was Kelly and she and her friend Tomi were 4 1/2" high. The current small doll in the line is Chelsea and she is 6". This meant finding a new model. I picked the Chelsea Can Be a Builder Doll since I was able to pick up several on sale under $5 each. I'm using one as a model to fit the clothes and the rest will be donated. It also meant finding patterns that would fit the larger doll.

I've used Sweet Silver Creations 18" doll patterns for years. I never noticed her Barbie patterns as I'd not had an interest in revisiting Barbie clothes in years. However, when I went searching to find a starting point for Chelsea her name came up in my search. Instead of buying a pattern set, I decided to settle on one single pattern to get a feel for how clothes would fit this doll. While you can start from scratch and design your own outfits, sometimes I like having a skeleton to work from to learn how to make items fit.

With that in mind I purchased the Strawberry Shortcake pattern. You can purchase it here. While I've made her character patterns for the 18" dolls I really wasn't as interested in making the Strawberry shortcake outfit. What I wanted were the bones of a dress that could be converted into other pieces and played with and adapted.

For this project I made the dress and the apron to get a feel for how clothes fit this doll. While larger than the original Kelly doll there still isn't a great deal of doll to dress so it is something to get used to, especially since I spend most of my time working with far larger dolls.

I used a size 5 1.65mm hook. The suggested size is 7 but there is no mm size listed so I'm not sure exactly what size hook was originally used. I found the outfit roomy with the 1.65 hook and size 10 thread. I added elastic to the waist of both the dress and the pantaloons. I went back and read old Barbie posts and one thing I noted was how often I added elastic to patterns and how helpful I found it. I decided to start working more with it and I found it helpful in this outfit.

I've been experimenting with new methods for doing things and I did try crocheting the first arm and sewing it on as suggested. I didn't like the look. Instead I crocheted around the open arm hole and reduced until I had the look I liked and continued to a 3/4 sleeve. It was worth the experiment but it just isn't a method I like using. I find it challenging to set the arm correctly into the arm hole and as a result it doesn't fit right.

The hat is made with beads so I skipped the accessory. I also skipped the shoes. My focus is on making some basic outfits. If I have time I'll work back towards accessories.

One challenge of this pattern is there are no stitch counts. It is one of the things I depend on when working on a pattern that helps me check to make sure I'm following directions I may not be sure I understand. If I get to the end and my stitch count and the designers match, there is a good chance I've followed the directions correctly. However, if my count doesn't match the directions there is a high probability I need to go back and fix my mistake.

Stingray

The Stingray was the first creature I made from Bathtime Buddies and I'm already trying to decide which ocean creature I'll be attacking next. I'm hoping to get the most out of my library loan before I need to get a PDF copy of the book from Ravelry here.

I used worsted weight acrylic yarn and a D hook to complete the Stingray.

I finished another portion of the island ocean bag and ordered some paracord to try to close the bag. I've never used paracord as a bag closure so we will see how it all works out.

Jilly Jellyfish

My Ocean themed summer birthday project continues with another pattern from Hooked on Amigurumi Jilly Jellyfish. My one disappointment with this pattern was unlike the last two sea creatures I've made from the book I did actually have to sew on the tentacles for the jellyfish. It wasn't hard but I've come to enjoy the way the designer incorporates crocheting all the pieces on to the items to avoid the need to sew.

My goal with these projects is to keep the amis small so they will fit into the ocean playset I'm crocheting to go with this birthday set. You can find that free pattern here. I used a D hook with a lighter worsted weight yarn to make this jellyfish. I added more tentacles than the pattern called for but I liked the look as I was working on the project.

I'm eying a project from Bathtime Buddies which I've got on loan from the library for my next ocean creature. I'm planning on picking up the e-book from Ravelry when my loan expires so I can dowload and print the patterns as I go along. I looked into buying a second hand copy of the book as the print copies are currently out of print but the prices are quite overpriced and unreasonable. So, the best option is the e-pattern option. If interested you can find the ebook on Ravelry here. If you crochet from a Kindle book Amazon does offer a cheaper option as a kindle book Bathtime Buddies. I like a printed copy I can make notes on as I work and I don't tend to like to work from a screen.

Teddy Bear Hot Pad

I mentioned in the Barbie Fashion Doll Thrills post that I'd picked up a bunch of old crochet magazine patterns that were on sale at a vintage pattern site. One of the upsides of buying the whole magazine is occasionally I'm surprised by a project I hadn't noticed when I selected the magazine. In this case it was a Teddy Bear Potholder or in my case Hot Pad as I find these work great to set things on, not so great to try to pick things up with when they are hot.

This is a Michelle Wilcox pattern found in Annie's Quick and Easy Pattern Club April-May 1991 magazine. I used cotton dishcloth yarn for my project and followed the suggested hook sizes. I prefer cotton when I'm going to use heat on my projects. The downside to this is dishcloth cotton has more limited color selections. I would have preferred a lighter color as shown in the magazine for the baby bear. However, finding any brown locally has been challenging over the years. SO I used what I had on hand.

I used sport cotton for the eyes and Baby Bear's paw pads. I tried his paw pads with the pink dish cloth yarn and it was too heavy.

This will make for a nice summer hot pad. I have a few I can use for Memorial Day and July 4th but it is nice to have some summer fun themed ones as well.

Stacie Dress

This is an adaptation of the Pastel Sundress pattern from the Annie's Crochet Fashion Doll Crochet Club Play Set Pattern FC20-03. This pattern is one of the Fashion Doll Crochet Club patterns that focuses primarily on on Barbie's sisters. There are 4 sister patterns and no Barbie patterns in the set.

The pattern for this dress has a huge ruffle skirt and I wanted to see if I could make something with a more traditional skirt. This is still a little larger than I had planned for but it was a good first attempt for where I want to head. I'm also thinking this pattern could be used to make a romper for the doll as well.

I am continuing to use up my AC Moore sports yarn collection. This yarn has the silky feel of Caron Simply soft at a sport weight. It was a little heavier than the previous yarn I used so I used Tulip Etimo 2/2mm Crochet Hook when I found my Bates Bamboo B hook was bending under the strain. My Tulip hooks are a little hardier in the smaller ranges. To complete the skirt I went back to a C hook.

Notes:

Another change I made was using a single strap for the shoulder. The double strap was too thick in the previous dress. I like this look better.

Willie the Whale

I'm continuing work on my summer birthday ocean project in between work on the doll donation project. Willie is another pattern from Hooked on Amigurumi and I'm coming to love the style of amigurumi that crochets the parts of the animals on as you go and eliminates almost all sewing.

I've started working on an ocean playset that folds into a storage bag to store all the animals. You can find the free pattern here. I find it easier to work on these types of projects in between smaller projects. Along with the ocean bag the pattern also includes animal patterns. I've chosen to use a range of patterns so I can pick the ones I like the best. However, if you are looking for a free set this one comes with everything.

Stacie Sundress

When I was making Barbie clothing for my now adult nieces Stacie wasn't available for purchase. Back then I had Barbie, Ken, Skipper, and Kelly. I picked up Stacie and Skipper's Space dolls for the donation. As I've stated before I do not in any way consider myself an expert on Barbie but it seems Stacie is about the size I remember Skipper being when I mader clothing perviously and Skipper seems taller. I haven't taken Skipper out of the box so I haven't had a chance to measure her yet. I'll know more later.

I've been collecting Annie's Fashion doll crochet club patterns since the days I made clothes for my nieces. I'd stopped collecting when they outgrew Barbie's but when I decided to return to Barbie's I returned to collecting the patterns I am missing. I used Play Set FC20-03 pattern to make this dress. I found this one recently in one of my vintage pattern hunts.

This dress is made using Premier's Garden Light weight #3, snapdragon with a C hook. The original pattern calls for an e hook with baby yarn. I tried a variety of yarns but I had to get down to a C hook before I could get the top of the dress not to be too large.

16 Inch Baby Doll Sweater and Skirt

I mentioned when I wrote the post about the Rag doll outfit this week that I had an abandoned skirt I hoped to convert into an outfit for the JC Toys - 16-inch Soft Body Baby Doll with the assistance of additional doll patterns. I did that this week using Darski's free B and B 16 inch doll set you can find here. I lengthened the skirt but the original pattern is from Annie's soft sculpture doll Debbie Ann's Sweater Set 87F43. This pattern is currently out of print but has been available previously on Annie's as a digital patterns so it could appear again.

I didn't do justice to the sweater and it came out more as a wrap cardigan I have another pattern for than the cute baby sweater Darski created but for the moment it will do to add another outfit to the donation pile. I love the shoes from this pattern. They work up quickly and the fit perfectly.

Barbie Fashion Doll Thrills

One of the vintage crochet pattern sites I frequent was having a sale on crochet magazines recently and I looked searched the offerings to see if any had fashion doll patterns. I was able to pick up some new offerings for my Barbie binders.

This pattern comes from Annie's Quick and Easy Pattern Club April/May 1991 Magazine. The original pattern used a variegated purple size 10 thread that I couldn't match. If I do find something similiar I'd pick it up for another donation doll as the shading was quite pretty. Since I resumed working with thread I've been picking up a variety of solid and variegated thread colors and weights to use for toy and doll projects. For this project I pulled Aunt Lydia's Size 10 Crochet Thread, Monet Multi from my stash. While it isn't purple I think it makes a nice substitute color pattern.

As I mentioned with the previous Barbie pattern steel hook sizes listed in older fashion doll patterns don't always match your current steel hooks so it is best to try the outfits on as you make them. Barbie sizes have also not stayed the same over the years so this too can be a factor as you work with older patterns. Trying on and adusting as you go can help work through these challenges. This pattern called for a size 7 steel hook. I used a Tulip Steel Crochet Hook-Size 4/1.25mm for all but one row of this project. For the first row of the bodice I used the Tulip Etimo Steel Crochet Hook-Size 0/1.75mm to increase the size of the waist as it was just a little tighter than I'd hoped. I'd previously started the project with this hook but the dress was too large. It can be a bit of a Goldilocks situation sometimes when working with these patterns to find just the right fit.

Notes:

I added two rows of sc finish to the back to create a better place to add snaps and to make the back close better on the dress. Not part of the directions but it made the dress fit better. Note for hat make sure you add the chain 1 after the shell. This is different from skirt pattern and easy to forget.

Claudia the Crab

With my Easter box gone it was time to research projects for my next box the summer birthday box. I had decided on an ocean/sea theme during the Christmas book sales and I already have the books purchased. Now I just need to decide on the creatures to crochet. I have a couple of "sets" but while I like play set, I'm not completely sold on all the animals that come with the sets. I also have some animals in mind for specific books.

I had seen a few crab patterns and it seemed like a reasonable starting point for the project. I started by looking at a free pattern that gave me the idea for using larger eyes for my crab. You can find that pattern here.

While looking through my ami patterns and books I came across an interesting pattern in Hooked on Amigurumi that intrigued me for a couple of reasons. First, this designer emphasizes joining pieces as you crochet which eliminates a good deal of sewing pieces once when you've finished crocheting them. I've mentioned a few times this is not my favorite part of making amis. This pattern also had more detailed instructions about putting the ami together. That being said I loved the idea of using the larger colored eyes so I borrowed that from the free pattern and added it to the Hooked on Amigurumi pattern.

The pattern from Hooked on Amigurumi is made with an E hook and worsted weight 4 yarn and says it should create about a 6" clam. I wanted slightly smaller animals for my play sets so I hoped I might have red in stock from my Schachenmayr Catania sport cotton stash but sadly I did not. I was able to use up some Knit Picks Shine Sport yarn that has been in my stash for some time. I even was able to use one of those tiny annoying little balls to make the legs and claws. I used a D hook to get the size ami I wanted.

Barbie at the Office

Back in 2009 I had a niece and a great niece that were into Barbies and American Girl dolls and I decided I wanted to learn to crochet to make clothes for those dolls. I soon came to realize Barbie posed the most challenges for me as the tiny steel hooks required to make the thread outfits were torture. When the girls outgrew their dolls I continued to make doll clothes to donate but I dropped Barbie in favor of baby dolls as they were larger and thus didn't require the steel hooks. I swore it would require another young family member for me to consider picking up the hooks to crochet for Barbie again. However, I've learned the lessons of never saying never.

After working on some thread projects I got the desire to work on Barbie clothes again. I have almost 2 full binders of patterns left over from my previous Barbie endevours so I don't lack options.

However, I had read that Barbie had changed sizes since I had bought my cheap model to fit the clothes I made prior to passing them on to my nieces. With that in mind I decided it was time to pick up a new family of Barbies. I had no idea how much they had changed. When I left there were still limited versions of Skipper and Kelly. When I went back to search for the family I realized Skipper was back and Kelly was gone. Stacie had disappeared when I was making clothing, now she is back. Chelsea seems to have replaced Kelly. I don't claim to be at all knowlegable about Barbie or her history. I just try to make sure I have models that will help me make clothes that will fit the dolls I donate.

With that in mind I picked up the Barbie Sweet Orchard Farm Ken and Barbie. I have different sets for the rest of the Barbie family and will discuss them as I get to making clothes for them. I mention Ken now because I found him and Barbie in the same "setting." In the past I'd purchase the bathing suit dolls and dress them but I was having trouble finding one that had a removable suit rather than a plastic suit attached to the doll. This seemed like an alternative I could manage.

I did have an older Barbie from the days of making clothes for my now adult nieces but as I mentioned I was concerned that the sizes might have changed over the years so I bought two of each doll, one to use as a model and one to donate.

I mentioned to a friend either my skills have gotten better or the newer Barbie is closer in size to the fashion doll used in the older Barbie patterns. When I'd made Barbie clothes previously from the older patterns I always had to make them a little larger to fit the older Barbie pictured here. After taking the two top pictures with the Orchard Barbie I pulled out the old Bathing Suit Barbie to compare and I wasn't wrong. The dress was tighter in the back. It did fit but if I was making this outfit for this doll I'd have made the dress larger.

Two major difference I noticed between the dolls are the older doll has signifcantly larger feet. The newer doll has a much sharper bend in her arm. I must say so far I am preferring the newer doll. I'll have to see how she stands up as I continue to work from older patterns.

The At the Office pattern is a free pattern found here. Notes: One challenge of these older patterns is many will list a steel crochet hook size without any mm to go with it. Sadly sizes are not standard across steel crochet hooks. To make this dress fit I used the Tulip Etimo Steel Crochet Hook-Size 0/1.75mm as the suggested hook made the dress huge. I used Red Heart Crochet Crochet Thread, 10, Orchid Pink and Red Heart Crochet Thread, 10, White to make the suit.

I'd crochet the top of the dress together next time rather than trying to sew the top of the shoulders together. I'd consider leaving the collar off the jacket and just sc around the outside of the jacket to create a smooth ending. I'm not crazy about the collar. This is a really quick and easy dress if you need one for Barbie. If you don't want to change colors it would work up fine as a single color dress.

15 Inch Rag Doll Sweater Set

I mentioned when I was working on the smaller rag doll that I had intended originally to purchase this larger doll and picked the smaller one up by accident. The problem now corrected I had to set about adjusting patterns to fit her so I could get her ready to donate.

Back in the 1980's Annie's created a series of soft sculptured dolls similar in looks to the Cabbage Patch dolls. Like the Cabbage Patch dolls they had baby dolls and older child dolls the most prominent in that line being Debbie Ann. The original Debbie Ann pattern came with a pattern for the doll and a dress. Later outfits were released to fit her. I believe there is also a male sibling doll and as I mentioned there are baby dolls in the line as well. Over the years I've picked up vintage copies of many of these outfits thinking they'd be useful for other doll projects. I don't see myself making the dolls but as I recently learned when I found myslef purchasing Barbies, never say never.

While the Debbie Ann patterns were only available in the second hand market for years, Annie's has released and retired and released the patterns on the Annie's site and their second site e-pattern central. I mention the release and retire because I went and checked and while I have a vintage copy I also bought a digital copy as a back up for this pattern should I lose the original. While I still own the digital copy on Annie's site Debbie Ann's Sweater Set 87F43, is no longer available on either site. That is not to say it won't come back, but if you are looking for it I've given you the pattern number that can help you with your search.

Notes:

As with many of my doll projects this pattern is not designed to fit this doll but with some adaptations it did fit. I started with the suggested worsted weight yarn and moved to a D hook for the skirt. This will result in a later post about the JC Toys - 16-inch Baby Doll | as it proved to be too big for the Rag doll but I think with some work will turn into a nice outfit for the baby doll and it means my work wasn't wasted.

Realizing I had two challenges the weight of the yarn and the softness of the waist line, it wouldn't hold up the skirt I made some changes for my next skirt. I kept the D hook but switched to Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn Sport Weight. I also used a Hair Elastic for the waist band. If you haven't used pony tail holders as waist bands in your crochet they can be effective tools and they are easy enough to crochet over. I find they don't bend and twist the way regular elastic sometimes can when I use it in doll clothing. The challenge is that it has to fit the section of the doll as unlike elastic you can't cut to fit as easily.

One of the things you can't tell from my pictures or the picture on the pattern cover is that the panties for this outfit are crocheted on to the skirt. This is a neat little technique and I won't divulge the secret, but it is a simple add on that I can see using in other proejcts as it eliminates the added bulk of underwear at the waist of an outfit but still gives that added modesty that keeps all parts covered when the doll might other wise be exposed.

I've always loved back post and front post stitches so this sweater was a joy. I loved the texture it created and with a D hook and Red Heart Sport cotton, now unavailable, I found the sweater fit the Rag doll quite well. I crocheted the arms as I went and required fewer rows as the doll has shorter thinner arms than Debbie Ann. I did 7 pattern rows before finishing with a dc row followed by a sc row. This just seemed easier to fit to the doll than crocheting the arm and adding as it would be harder to determine fit when the arm was not attached.

Hats are going to be a challenge with this doll due to her rather prominent pig tails. I did play a little bit with this hat and liked how it looked in a modified format.

The pattern does include a cute shoe pattern. However, as the Rag Doll comes with attached shoes I did not require or attempt the shoes.

The Rag Doll was purchased from Factory Direct for those of you who may want to find one.

Happy Easter

I started off with a Father Rabbit Finger Puppet.

Next was Mother Rabbit

Took a break from the puppets to make Peter Rabbit

and his mother Mrs. Cottontail

Back to finger puppets:

Sister Rabbit

Baby Rabbit

Brother Rabbit

Rabbit Family

Something for the house:

Easter Hot Pad

Another Lots to Love Holiday Doll