I’ve created all kinds of dolls over the years. I’ve even attempted a life-size doll (which is still missing legs). I’ve made small dolls too, but never a tiny doll. Well, I pulled out a ball of cotton thread that was lurking in a yarn drawer and thought it was about time to try it. I’ve been seeing these really cute miniature dolls created by other crocheters that have inspired me. I pulled out a C hook and went for it. Continue reading
I mentioned in a previous post that I was crocheting a life size doll of myself at work. Alas, I had to place it on the back burner in lieu of other, more pressing projects. Well, it’s day has come! I will not pick up any other projects until that doll is done. So I in that spirit…
I resumed work on the head. My little minions (Kindergarteners) couldn’t help themselves from helping me work on the doll. I had completed the head and had embroidered the face, using their suggestions of course. It was ready for stuffing.
Before I stuffed, I had to get up for something and left my work on the table. I can see all of you shaking your heads thinking to yourselves that I was asking for it. I see no pity in your eyes. I did indeed ask for it. I came back to a student running around with his hand in the opening of the doll head, using it like a puppet. A long string of yarn was tailing him around the room as it unwound from the ball of yarn. I quickly had him bring it back. Luckily, I had my stitch marker in so it didn’t unravel.
Can someone help me run around the room? I’m bored.
Now that she was rescued, it was time for stuffing. They love helping me stuff so I let them Continue reading
I love crochet challenges. Crochet challenges have been lobbed at me from family, friends, the kids at work and me. A recent challenge came from my hubby. He is a graphic designer and has many samples of products he’s worked on laying around. One of his current projects included a cute toy called Eli the Firefly. His client is a dentist who created a book and a plush lighted toy that inspires kids to brush their teeth properly. Hubby asked if I thought I could recreate the toy in crochet. As if there was any doubt, of course I could! What kind of question was that? And if so, would I? He thought it would make a nice gift for his client. It was a fabulous idea and I accepted the challenge.
This is a sample of Eli that shows what he looks like. Continue reading
I have always been partial to mermaids. I love mermaids and I often wished I could be a mermaid. I love stories and books about mermaids and I’ve even written stories and poems about mermaids. Don’t run for cover! I wouldn’t subject you to my mermaid writings. This is a blog about crochet after all. I WILL subject you to my mermaid inspired crochet. 😉 I’ve made four mermaid dolls (two were cute but the other two were questionable).
I’m the cute one.
Recently, I’ve been brainstorming unique gift ideas for my son’s dentist. I started taking my daughter to her pediatric practice when she was six years old (she’s 27 now, yikes!) and then started taking my son to her when he was three (he’s now 16, double yikes!). His next appointment will probably be his last with her. Firstly, he’s ready to transition out of going to a pediatric dentist and secondly, she’s added two new dentists to her office and her availability has decreased dramatically. They didn’t say it but it sounds to me like she’s planning to retire from her practice.
I feel so fortunate to have found her. I always felt she had my children’s best interest at heart and not her pocket-book. I trusted her. Best of all, my children never feared going to the dentist when they saw her. Even when we moved out of the area, I drove the extra hour to her practice. My kids have been going to her for 21 years and I want to give her something special to let her know how much was appreciated her.
At first I thought I might make her a doll but then I came across these cute crocheted molars.
All Photos courtesy of Pinterest
This one is my favorite one. I love the toothbrush. This is a paid pattern (not my pattern) but it’s a great picture for inspiration.
One of my co-workers had finished two small crochet squares at work that she abandoned in our unfinished pieces box. She was learning to crochet and had picked it up pretty quickly. I asked her if she was interested in making one of our rag dolls and she gave it a try. I don’t think making toys is her cup of tea so she didn’t return to the project.
I had finished making all the promised dolls I needed to make and saw those two lonely squares just sitting there begging to become something (or someone :-). I asked them (I speak to my pieces all the time) what they wanted to become and they both said they heard a lot of the girls mention the Little Mermaid. Perfect! Those two little squares would become the Little Mermaid.
I picked them up and noticed that one was smaller than the other so I added a few more rows to it. I wasn’t sure what hook size my co-worker used and she couldn’t remember so I just grabbed a G hook. After I finished, I realized the G hook was probably the wrong hook but it didn’t really matter. It’s a toy and no one would notice. The square wasn’t as wide as the other one either but I keep telling the kids the squares don’t have to be perfect. I don’t want them obsessing about a perfect match and that being why they don’t finish their own doll. So I didn’t obsess about it either and went with what I had. When done with the doll, I could also use it as an example of how the doll could still look good even though the squares were slightly different in size.
I made the face, sewed my pieces together with a whip stitch, leaving an opening for stuffing, stuffed it, then sewed it closed. Next came the red hair. This project got so much attention from the kids, boys and girls alike. Before I said anything about what it was supposed to be, they kept asking me if it was the Little Mermaid. I was glad they were recognizing her. It meant I was on the right track.
My 4th grade student is close to finishing her first rag doll. I am so proud of her! Working with kids is always a joy and being able to teach them how to crochet is a bonus. I look around me while I’m working and get so happy when they ask me if they can crochet on their free time. I wonder how many life-long crocheters I’m turning out into the world (hopefully a bunch!). So many of them want to make dolls like I do and the rag dolls I’ve been making are a big hit. Their sole purpose was to inspire the kids to move on from chains and into single crochet so they could make their own dolls. So I’m very excited that my student is close to finishing her doll. Our program is built on finishing homework and then having fun so there are a lot of choices and things to do vying for their attention, with crochet being just one of them. But amongst all that, she’s getting close. I couldn’t wait to share her almost done doll!
She’s gorgeous!
Although this holiday season has been very busy, I somehow managed to get some crochet done. I worked on small projects I could finish quickly but that still brought me much joy.
I wanted to crochet some gifts for some friends but I needed to whip them up quickly, like due the next day kind of quick! As always when I am in a crunch, I scoured the internet for some speedy ideas. I found these cuties on Pinterest and knew I could make them fast and without a pattern.
Here is the one I made below:
The hat wasn’t exactly right but I liked it anyway. Continue reading
Many years ago, before I ever made any of my own dolls, I stumbled across this doll pattern. I fell in love with it immediately and copied it right away. Although I had been crocheting for years, I had just recently taught myself how to read patterns and I definitely wanted to make her. I never did attempt the full pattern but instead, it served as a constant source of inspiration. I believe I embarked on my journey of doll making because of that one picture that captured my imagination. I referenced it often. I would often go back to the pattern to figure out how to do things on my own dolls. My first dolls were made with those rounded arms and legs. I could never get the hair quite right like in the picture and it goaded me into seeking out tutorial on how to make the hair look nicer on my creations.
So for today’s Freebie Friday, I thought I would pay homage to what started my love affair with crocheted dolls. I’m surprised it’s still available after so many years but I’m so glad it is. 🙂
As a bonus, here is the first site that truly helped me figure out how to get the hair looking like I wanted it to look. When I found it, it was like opening a present on Christmas day. Up until that point, I couldn’t figure out how to get the right look for my dolls. They would always end up needing so much yarn that they become super top-heavy. And they STILL looked like they needed more yarn to cover up the bald spots. I have since tried out different techniques for hair but this one saved me much frustration at a time I needed help!
I am not affiliated with any websites nor do I make any money from these sites. They are simply patterns I like or would like to try myself.
I have been furiously working on the dolls my students have requested. Although my goal was to only crochet those projects at work since they’re for the students, I promised two students I would finish their projects over our Thanksgiving holiday (we get a week off from school for Thanksgiving. Yay!).
One of the reasons I don’t usually take personal requests from students is because as fast as I am at crochet, I can’t possibly keep up with the demand, even if I worked on their projects at home. But, working at my own pace, I can take suggestions and slowly fill the treasure box with them.
However, I found myself letting those suggestions turn into requests because I thought I would have enough time to finish projects when they reached the treasure box. Well…the best laid plans an all that. I now have about seven pending requests and they are all reaching their goals on our star chart so I find myself telling them they have to wait for their particular item. I thought I had a lot of time on one of the requests since he was far from his prize on our chart so I kept putting that one off but my student reached his goal on our star chart and he’d been asking me about it repeatedly. I felt bad that he was one of the firsts to ask me for something and I still hadn’t even started it. So I finished it over the break.
Then, I promptly started the second one I needed to work on. He didn’t get finished until the end of our first week back to school. It was a busy week at work so I didn’t get much time to crochet. My student asked me every single day if I was finished with his Villager (Minecraft character) and I was finally able to tell him yes.
Here are some of the finished projects.
Top left: Villager
Top right: Dan TDM
Bottom left and right: Popular MMO’s. I believe his name is Pete.
The bottom two look the same but I tried different faces and color work versus cross stitch. The one on the right looks a little worn because I photographed it after I gave it to the student so it’s a little loved around the edges. 🙂
I don’t know these characters so I do my research before I can start one. I go to the actual game on our classroom iPad as well as on the web to get the essence of what they look like. I rip back a lot when I’m making a new character as it never comes out exactly right the first time. I feel I’ve learned a lot as I make each subsequent one. The Villager and the Dan look better than the grey ones. Another student wants one of the grey ones so I think it will come out really well now.
On to the rest of the list! Hello Kitty here I come!
yochet 