My Life Flamenco Dress, Hat, and Shoes

This is a one of those free patterns I return to year after year. You can find it here. It adapts not only across all the 18 inch dolls but I also use it for the Rag doll and the JC 16 Inch baby dolls. It works up quickly and it adds to my stash without a huge effort.

Notes:

I used an I hook for the dress this year.

I've been challenging myself to try patterns that have been gathering dust in my binder so the hat was in a daily crochet calendar that they sadly no longer publish. Michelle Crean submitted the Vanilla Ice Sunhat. She suggests a lighter yarn and a smaller hook. I was trying to continue with the yarn I had used for the dress. I'd follow her directions next time as the brim is too heavy for the hat.

I seem to have misplaced my favorite shoe pattern Sweet Silver Creations Sailor pattern which I'm going to have to locate soon. However, I did dig out Sweet Silver Creation's Sundress pattern, available for purchase here, which I believe is the same or almost the same as the sailor shoes. I'm continuing to search through my unfiled patterns as I'd hoped to make the sailor outfit again and I do like the shoes. She no longer offers the sailor outfit so I can't replace it either. Therefore I have even more incentive to find my copy of the pattern.

Glitter Girl Seed Stitch Blanket

The doll blankets are usually my travel projects. I usually don't worry about the larger dolls getting blankets as I'm very fortunate to have donors who make doll blankets every year for the donation far more beautiful and creative than anything I make. However, I do try to make sure the smaller dolls that require different sized blankets get one. The Glitter Girl requires a smaller blanket. This blanket is an adaptation of Michelle Crean's larger seed stitch blanket I've been making as my travel project for the larger dolls. You can find the pattern here.

Notes: I used a starting chain of 40 for the smaller doll and worsted weight 4 baby yarn.

Seed Stitch Doll Afghan 2

This was the first of Michelle Crean's Seed stitch doll afghan's I started for this year's donation but having run out of yarn a few rows short of starting the border I started a second blanket for an all day travel project that I ended up finishing off before I got back to this one.

This is the danger of not writing down that I need just over a full skein of Ice Cream Yarn to finish a larger doll blanket. One skein, especially one not full will not finish the project. I suspect this was the skein I used to finish off the last blanket I made. The next doll blanket on my hooks is a project for the Glitter Girl Doll. You can purchase the pattern set here.

Notes:

Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn Tutti Frutti

K Hook

70 Chains

Seed Stitch Doll Afghan

Doll blankets used to be my go to travel projects when I had to sit and wait for appointments, etc. However, when COVID hit most of my meetings were remote and thankfully I have a great group from Crochetville who kept up the supply of doll blankets. I started bringing the baby doll sacks and the sleeping bags with me as I waited and when those ran out I realized it was time to begin doll blankets again.

This pattern comes from Michelle Crean's Annabelle's Afghan patterns that can be purchased here. This is the seed stitch one in the set.

Oddly this is the second blanket I started for the donation. I had some other Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn in my stash but sadly almost enough is not enough and I need part of a second skein to finish off the first one. When I got the yarn in I decided to start a second blanket as I was going on an all day outing and wanted a project I could used during down time. Finishing off blanket one wasn't a great fit for that outing so I decided to start a new blanket. Finishing blanket 2 just seemed like a good idea as I was over half way through the blanket.

Notes:

Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn Bunny Tracks

K Hook

Start with 70 Chains for larger dolls

Lots to Love 8 Inch Doll Candie Corn Halloween Costume

I'm continuing my tradition of making costumes for the Lots to Love 8 Inch dolls to decorate for the holidays. I made a Pumpkin Kitty last year and this year I decided to adapt a pattern from an old Crochet Calendar for the 5 inch baby dolls from Michelle Crean called Candie Corn Doll.

I always separate out the patterns into my category binders so I don't know what year of the Daily Crochet calendar this was from but it was the October 24th and 25th entry for year. I've checked Michelle Crean's website and this is not one of the patterns she lists for sale. If I do find it I will add the link for those who might be interested in the pattern.

To make this fit the 8 inch Lots to Love doll instead of the 5 inch doll I used a g hook and I Love this Yarn Sport Weight Yarn in Orange and White along with a discontinued yellow from Red Heart Sport.

Note to myself the booties fit really well and could easily be adapted for another pattern that comes without shoes.

Cozy Post Stitch Doll Afghan

I'm not sure which Crochet Calendar this one came from, but this is another of Michelle Crean's doll patterns and you can purchase the set at Annie's here or her website here. I give you both because Annie's sometimes has sales or coupons, but then they put stuff on clearance and the links die. However, I suspect Michelle will be selling her own patterns for considerably longer. That gives you time to find it if you want it. I find it frustrating to find a write up about a pattern I love only to discover I can't find it so I do what I can to help.

This was a fun pattern to work on. I used up some Caron Simply Soft that I'd bought for a baby blanket project and then changed gears and didn't need so much yarn. It felt good to shop from my stash to finish up another project. I also liked going with the watermelon colors. I don't know why, but this color scheme seems to sneak into my doll donations every other year or so in some fashion or other. A few years ago it was the baby dolls as I attempted to use up some yarn that had been given to me.

So again for the pattern notes. The Caron Simply Soft worked fine for this pattern. It required an I hook to make the size I wanted. Lastly again just a note to help me remember what worked, mark first chain 2 and last hdc with marker for better stitch count. I had a hard time picking these out and thus was confused about getting an accurate stitch count. Once I started putting a saftey pin in these stitches I stopped having issues with my count as I knew where these stitches were located and life become easier.

I'm working on the Valentine Lovey at the moment along with the Gray Lady 18" doll outfit. The ami heart has proven to be the most challenging item for the lovey. I can't remember making one before that wasn't two sides sewn together. I did a quick search on the blog here and as I remembered I'd made some Valentine heart toys for my nephews a few years back, but that pattern had you make 2 sides and sew them together, not the traditional ami style that I was struggling with yesterday. I did however finish one, but it is likely going to be better for a larger toy I wanted to make and send. I'm almost done with the smaller heart that will go with the Bunny Valentine Lovey. I'm slowly getting there and I still have time. My drop dead mail date is the last day of January although I'd like to go sooner if possible. I still need to order the Board Books to send with it.

Edward's Crochet Doll Emporium: Flip the Mix-and-Match Patterns to Make and Dress Your Favourite People