Photo Journal: Addisyn's Birthday Doll

So, Michael and his painting and all has got me all inspired and motivated, and I needed a gift for my cousin's little girl Addisyn's 1st Birthday.  So, perfect timing, right?

Apparently, it's even better for me than I thought to spend time with fellow artists!

DAY 1:

A good start on the first wing.

DAY 2, 3:

Realized the original wing layout was not going to work and frogged quite a bit of work and redid it for a much better result.

DAY 4:

Feet and legs are done, including cuffs on pants which will match shirt!

DAY 5:

Body is finished, including sleeve and hem ruffles on shirt.  Heart design on shirt is simple colorwork rather than embroidery.

DAY 6:

All crochet work is done, most ends are finished, wings attached.  Note shoulder straps.  She is not a pixie or a fairy, but a little girl wearing butterfly wings.

DAY 7:

Finished doll.  Light hair and blue eyes like the recipient!  

All in all, it was great to be making a doll again, so thank you to Michael for the motivation and Jeremy and Sue for the occasion!

And, BONUS!  She was a huge hit!

Photo Journal: Snowbird

As soon as I figure out where I misplaced my notes too, I'll be typing up the pattern for you all!

Day 1: Not a great shot, but the body is basically done. Two strands of worsted held together, white Red Heart and Vanna's Choice Linen. Need to pick up Poly-Fil and some more of the taupe-y colored yarn tomorrow.



Day 2: Body is stuffed and finished. A good start on the head.



Day 3. Head is finished and sewn on/stuffed. Added wings and tail. Still a lot to do, but he's taken shape pretty well. Finally convinced my sister that it's not an albino pig.



Day 4. Nearly finished now. Beak and feet have been added. Hat is done. Need to decide on eyes and whether he gets any hair under that hat. Distinctly NOT A PIG!



Finally got some eyes on the chubby little bugger. You wouldn't believe how I agonized over how to do them, especially considering that they're half hidden by the hat. I wanted crocheted eyes so badly, but I couldn't get it to work out. I ended up with 28mm wigglies.

Photo Journal: Basic Teddy Bear

So a friend posted on Facebook about a week and a half ago about a young woman who had died in childbirth, leaving behind a newborn son and a 3 year old daughter. Even though, I didn't know her, I decided that I wanted to make something for the kids. So I've been working on a couple of small projects for them for about a week now. I finished the last item last night.

Perhaps it was a bit opportunistic of me, but I also took pictures of the teddy bear along the way, so I could share a little bit of the design process.

Day 1: two of the legs are done and a start on a third. Mostly when I make bears, I stick with making the legs are arms the same. I'm working the bear in Loops and Threads - Country Loom, Shale. It works up pretty similar to Lion Brand's Homespun, but a bit chunkier.



Day 2: All the legs/arms are finished. Legs are joined together and body is started. Tail is complete (it's worked right in over the course of 2 rounds).

Tail: add ch 7, just before the join of desired row (start a row lower than you'd like the tail to end up. on next row, sc in ea ch, and join on next row, skip tail sts and join to first sc of row.

It does leave a very small hole in the bear's bottom, but if it bothers you, you can always sew it closed.

Day 3: Most of a bear. Body is stuffed, head is started. I'm trying to get this one done as soon as possible for someone, so I've been working like a madwoman. (Also, I was up way to late watching old episodes of a favorite TV show.)

Day 4: Bear is finished. Ears are the only part that required sewing on. Face is embroidered in plain old Red Heart Super Saver in whatever the Dark Brown I had laying around is. Ready to be mailed out!