Mine!

What a great surprise to discover last night that this little lady gets to live here as MINE!

Sherry surprised me with her.  I've named the doll Jennifer, after my great-great-grandmother Jennifer McClintock, from Ireland.

The red hair says it all.  I do like this doll, she has charmed her way into my heart as only a dozen or two have in my life.  She will abide in the old bookcase with a few of my other keepsakes.  Jennifer and I thank you, Sherry!!!

Baby 3, second round

More Babies

At my request, Sherry sent me four "new" babies last week to dress.
I've just completed two of them.  Since these are not valuable antiques (though antiques nonetheless!) I had the freedom to paint the shoes black on the small one.

This gal is about 5" and really wide...the dress is no lie!

It's done in baby wt. acrylic.  One pearl bead at the top of the dress closes it in the back.

 

The smaller doll on the right is about 3.5"....she might have been painted (after bisque firing) before; I redid her shoes as they were an odd red.  The dress is ecru, not yellow as it seems to be showing up here. Three pearl beads act as buttons on the back.

These dolls really "come to life" for me as I'm dressing them.  It's been a pleasure making clothes for Sherry's babes!

 

Back to the Future

I'm uploading some pictures for a friend who wants to see some of the doll knitting I have done over the years.  Stroll down memory lane with me......

Well, this sweater set I just finished today!  So much for memory lane, eh?

 

 

This 14" Kathe Kruse is sporting a lace sweater I designed and made for her.

I no longer have either the doll nor sweater.

 

This 22" Kathe Kruse is wearing a sweater I made for her.  I STILL HAVE THE SWEATER!

 

The Raikes Hitty is wearing a lace cape.....nope, don't have either of them anymore.

 

Same doll, simple cape....

 

Lovely Bleuette afghan from sock wt. wool.  It makes a lovely small dolly blanket, too.

 

This is Bleuette's market bag I designed.  The baguettes were handmade, as was the letter from her Maman to go to the bakery!

 

Brook's Bleuette sports my cape/beret set.....

 

Hitty wears a hooded cape to stave off the encroaching winter.....

 

Another lace/beret set for Bleuette. I don't have the cape but do still have the doll!

 

Different stitch was used for this cape set.....

 

This is variegated sock yarn.  Fun, eh?

Aprons aprons!!

This is an apron pattern posted on Hittygirls.  It is the Moebius apron.

It's done by hand and is oddly therapeutic to make....also very addicting!

Sherry made me a sample apron which Hitty Constance is wearing (back row, on right).

Close up of the first one I did. I've since altered the pattern a bit. Very fun to do!

Keepin' On....

This fine 4" lady seems pretty old. I got her for $1.50 at a garage sale yesterday.

I'm going to disassemble her and make a new body for her. I should name her Madame Pegleg because she is missing a leg. Poor lamb.

This headboard was a real find------$10!

I've been looking for one for years.  Unwilling (well, unable) to afford anything more pricey.  Good things come to those who wait!!  ha ha ha

Sherry's Babes, before being shipped out. What a happy bunch.



More dollying

I've been a busy beaver. 

This little lady is one of Sherry's babies.  She has a twin and THEY didn't cry from the bookcase! Humph.

This knitted dress has a tiny crocheted edging. Sherry might attempt some embroidery on the dress.  Heaven knows she is capable!

 

 

This Hitty was carved by Wanda H.  and painted by me. Basswood is very pale.  What to do???  Tough job to "stain" the body after it has been sealed with clear sealant.

Sherry gave me the idea to add a touch of paint to a sealant.  I added Delta Ceram Coat Toffee Brown.  I like the color very much.  I've renamed her Hitty Constance.  Now to paint her shoes! 

 

This clever little apron is a vintage hankie.  Sherry did it for me as a sample.

It came from a pattern on Hittygirls.  Tiny rickrack is sewn on the front side, then turned under and stitched again.  It is a moebius pattern so no buttons, snaps, ties, etc.

Hitty Gran is thrilled!  She is on German Shepherd guard duty----Majorette and Jackette are real rabble-rousers.....

Little known facts

In honor of the 4th of July picnics that Americans are having today, I have two little known facts I'd like to share.  Being the documentaries-nut that I am, these facts came from an agricultural show.

1--each kernel of corn has an accompanying strand of corn silk. That explains why you feel you can NEVER get all of those strands off the ear!

2--you will find this hard to believe, but the cooking time for corn-on-the-cob that gives the MAXIMUM nutritional value to eating corn is 2 MINUTES.
You read that right.....make sure your corn is room temperature.  Put it in a pot of boiling water, cover it, and boil for 2 minutes. THATS ALL.
Take it out and prepare to eat it.

I sort of remember cooking the corn for at least 15 mins., while growing up? That is, until my mom got a bit microwave-happy and began to cook it in the microwave. blah.

Betsy, Vintage Ginny, Ginny decked out!

Here are dress patterns I have completed for these dolls.  Betsy McCall is Brook's; she is 8" tall. Vintage and modern Ginny are also 8" tall. 

Ready for Embroidery

I think it's a go; ready now for embroidery!  Off to bed for me...

8" Betsy McCall

Brook's doll, long-awaiting a knitted dress....

Another crying baby

Boy, dolls can be so demanding.
Second baby decided to cry from the bookcase (tongue in cheek, ya know) and so she got a dress today, too.  All the pleas in the world wouldn't matter if my hands weren't cooperating today.....she is 2" tall so this one was pretty tiny going---but no booties!
Yea!

Crying for clothes

This poor little babe came to me nekkid-----along with three others. A friend and I send stuff to each other and I begged her to send me a few dolls who needed clothing.
While a serious collector, she has often taken pity on dolls like this one. Last night this one cried for clothes and this is the end result. Doll is approx. 2 1/2" tall.  Booties are shorter than 1/2" long. Don't plan on making any more of THOSE any time soon! ha ha
Size 10 steel crochet hook with size 20 crochet thread .

How to Remove Rust from a Bike

  All it takes is aluminum foil, water, and a fair amount of elbow grease.
Here is the link; this works well and is cheap cheap cheap!

Happy cleaning!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4dmZrXXN-k

Old friends

Here is one of my old Ginnys.  Not vintage, mind you-----that Ginny has a different look...here is the dress I designed.  Working now at writing out the pattern....

Four Dolls Dressed

Here are the four EFA dolls in their knitted dresses. I am trying to find a way to add the PDF file here for you to use!

Here are the gals...

Update, Sept. 1, 2015----these girls went to two homes, sold to two doll-collectors.

I might make more someday------but they'll look different; these really did grow on me in the nicest of ways.

Coming along....

 

Several years ago, I tried my hand at EFA (Edith Flack Ackley) dolls.  These are a small version of her dolls....9.5" from head to toe.

I was never happy with the hair I'd done.  So they went to live Elsewhere.

In the meantime I'd found how to make nice wigs of mohair yarn.  So, I was fortunate to be able to get them home from Elsewhere.  Now they are getting dresses.  The wigs are crocheted in mohair and sewn on. The shoes are painted on. The faces are embroidered.  The brunette has crocheted braids, which means no stray hairs can come undone.

There are two more to be dressed.  So exciting!

 

birds at dawn

The BBC did a great documentary on birds at dawn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owbzsDEl1pk

Other than a few commercials, upload it to just play as you go about your day cleaning or whatever.  Brings the outdoors in without the flies or allergens! ha ha ha

weather and other items of interest

A storm came up about 30 minutes ago.  I rarely go out in this type of weather---but it was so beautiful that I was drawn to.  It cleared off, left a dull gray sky, and now a gentle rain.  Severe weather warnings surrounded us but oddly enough, our town wasn't in the mix.

 

 

Below:  These are EFA (Edith Flack-Ackley) dolls----well, the style is.  I made them a few years back but could never decide what to do about their hair.  Crocheted mohair seems to be a good answer for me. The auburn one on the left has a "high bun" in the back.  The braided wig strands are actually crocheted so no little girl can accidently pull them out of the wig.

Did I mention I have issues with cloth doll wigs? ha ha ha

I designed a Ginny doll dress pattern that only needs slight modification to fit these EFAs.  I'll post pics of them again once they are dressed! 

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These squares were crocheted for Bridget's Cradles.  The one inch hearts are a ton of fun to make!