Dog Christmas Lovey

I made a bear lovey the last time I did a Christmas lovey so I wanted to do something a little different this time. With the dog ears the Santa theme I used with the bear just didn't feel right so I decided I'd go with a free dog lovey pattern you can find here for the ami portion and make a granny square lovey portion in holiday colors.

This was a great chance to use up yarn I had left over from previous doll and afghan projects. It's always nice to finish off the left overs of projects of the past.

I've started the first doll project of the year. I'm working on a doll carrier for the Lots to Love 10 Inch Doll. I try to start the year including some of the projects I failed to complete the year before. Last year I focused on Barbie because I didn't get much done for her. Every year one doll group does better than the other. It is just the way it works.

I've been chasing sales and found the Melissa and Doug Feeding Sets on sale for the doll donation. While I'm going to make the doll carriers for the small dolls I've decided to purchase the carriers and the diaper bags for the larger bags. I found the Melissa and Doug Diaper Bag for the Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll. It feels good to be able to get some of this stuff put away for the 2023 donation.

Santa Bear Lovey

I've been trying to send holiday themed packages to relatives with a new little girl since Halloween. The lovey blankies have been especially fun. I had no problem with Halloween or Thanksgiving as I had patterns on hand. I never dreamed Christmas would be my challenge. I found a Christmoose I really loved, but I don't use my credit card on sites I'm not familiar with and that was the only way to obtain the pattern so that wasn't an option. I looked at some Santa patterns but none were quite what I wanted. In the past I've made so many ami's with Santa hats I thought why not check out lovey patterns to see if one could become a Christmas theme with some alterations.

I found this free bear lovey pattern here. The hat was a blend of an American Girl Doll free pattern found here and and old Barbie pattern. I honestly can't give you directions. Every time I make one, I end up playing with the style to try to get it to fit the project I'm making.

Just a note for myself and anyone else that might read this and think to try it. The ears help with the hat. The Santa hats can be heavy. I first tried the hat without the ears and it didn't go well. My thinking was why make the ears if you can't see them. They also stick out a little when the hat is on the head. This actually is why you do make the ears. The ears help balance and keep the hat on the head. Since the blankie is already head heavy the additional weight of the hat needs something to help secure it. The ears provide assistance with that task.

Once again a thank you to these and all the designers who offer free patterns. This helped stretch my Christmas dollars. It also didn't hurt that this project was completed with items completely from my stash helping to reduce my ever exploding yarn supply and providing me with a Christmas gift from supplies I had on hand.