Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Thread Dress

At the end of January I purchased a variety of different sized doll patterns from Char Patterns. I've made a few but as the summer rolls on and I'm focusing on getting the different dolls dressed I find myself looking at these patterns with an eye to increasing my donations.

You can purchase this pattern set here. There are multiple outfits in the pattern and I hope to work through them over the summer.

This was designed for a slightly different doll but with baby dolls that is something I have had years of experience working with so I was prepared to make adjustments.

I substituted 2 strands of Aunt Lydia's Size 10 Crochet Thread Ocean for Royale Geminie Double Strand Crochet Thread as I had no chance of finding this thread and Aunt Lydia's in this color was much easier to get. Using two strains together was not an issue.

I did go up to a G hook until I reached the split for the arms. After making the split for the arms I used an F Hook for the remainder of the dress. I had Aunt Lydia's Size 3 Crochet Thread White in my stash so no substitution was necessary. The pattern called for 2 strains of Aunt Lydia's size 10 Wood Violet but I had Size 3 Plum in my stash so I went with that as I found the color workable.

Pattern Notes:

In addition to changing hook sizes for the dress I also had to do a work around for the panties since the Lots to Love 14 Inch doll is larger than the pattern doll. I chained the distance around the waist of the baby doll and then followed the directions ignoring the stitch count for the panties. I used an f hook for this project and the panties came out the way I'd hoped.

I had a count issue with the hat and when I make this again I think I'd add a row to work up to the jump in stitch count as it is a little awkward as written.

I love the Mary Jane's and I will look to use these with other pattern where I lack shoes as they are adorable and they work up fairly easy.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Sweet Little Girl Romper

This is another one of Amy Carrico's doll patterns. She has a tendancy to rotate patterns she sells. This one is not currently available. As I've done previously should she list it again, I will add it to this post for anyone who might be interested in purchasing the pattern.

I titled this one Little Girl because she has another pattern with a similiar name that has a sweater and has the title Sweet Baby Boy Romper. When I made it the pattern was no longer available but later became available after I posted a blog about making the outfit in pink and yellow. When I saw it come online again I added the link to the post.

There are some designers that just seem to write the way I crochet. Amy's patterns for the most part seem to fall into that category. While I generally don't love crocheting pants with the legs first and joining, I can make it work for her footed pants when I've failed with other opened pants patterns.

I used Bernat Baby Sport yarn for this outfit with an E hook. The only adjustment I made was using an F hook for the headband as it was slightly challenging to get on and off with the e hook.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Dress, Hat, and Shoe Set

This has been a bit of a crazy year for getting either my gift or charity crocheting done but I'm still pushing forward when I can. I keep looking at my preposted finished donation page to get an overall perspective of what I've made and what has yet to be done. I noticed the Lots to Love 14" Doll was lacking clothing so it seemed like a good time to pull some patterns and focus on getting the doll dressed.

This pattern can be purchased from Petite Creative Designs here.

I used Bernat Big Baby Yarn and Herschnerrs Baby Yarn for the outfit. I'm finding myself using more of Herschners yarns for my smaller doll projects as even their worsted weight yarns are slightly lighter than what I tend to think of as worsted weight and often work for projects where a traditional worsted weight yarn would be too heavy. They often have colors I find challenging to find in the various weights I need as well. The yarns are generally inexpensive, the challenge is waiting for shipping deals as the shipping even prior to COVID has always been expensive.

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.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Sweet Baby Romper

Updated to add pattern link for purchase. I keep checking back on her site and in the late summer 2021 I found there had been a bunch of patterns added to Amy Carrico's online Etsy store for purchase and thought I'd share the link for anyone interested in purchasing. The Sweet Baby Boy Romper Pattern is available here for purchase.

The JC Toys, Lots to Love Babies 14 inches Baby Doll is a new addition to the doll project this year. After working with the 8 and 10 inch dolls last year it seemed a logical next step in how to increase the donation and keep the project new and interesting for me. I don't mind repeating projects each year for the dolls but I do like trying new things as well.

As I've added more sizes of baby dolls this year I've made an effort to sort through the baby doll patterns and put them in binders by size with an eye to patterns that can work for multiple sizes. In doing so I came across a pattern I'd been gifted in 2014, Sweet Baby Boy Romper Set, by a Crochetville Fairy Godmother. The pattern was then available on Ravelry. Sadly, the designer seems to have greatly reduced her online presense and sells a much more limited selection of patterns on Etsy here. This pattern is not one of those offered. I am hopeful of getting her hoodie pattern as I do like her focus on reducing the amount of added sewing that needs to be done. I only wish I'd had the chance to make this one earlier and then picked up more of her other 8 and 14 inch patterns when they were available.

This was a great pattern to use the Red Heart Comfort Sport yarn I stocked up on when it was on clearance at Mary Maxim a while back and then didn't use. It matched the pattern guage and hook size exactly. I went with pink and yellow as I didn't have white and I liked the dark pink. I was sad to see this yarn discontinued as the range of colors at this weight in acrylic was amazing and I've not found anything like it in other brands.