It's a Start...

Operation 'Empty Box' is progressing! My new rule is that for every new item I knit... 3 items need to be finished from the box. That seems to be working so far...

What I have discovered, however, is that I seem to have knitted up at least ten or so dresses of the same pattern in various yarns. I'm not sure what I was thinking... how many versions of the same dress does one dolly need??

At least Willow has decided she likes these two and has snapped them up for herself. That's gotta be worth something... right?

A New Breed of Knitted Doll...

Willow is the first of the knitted dolls that I will be making from now on. All of my dolls will now be knitted in 100% pure Peruvian pima cotton and stuffed with clean Australian merino wool. Their hair options now include sewn mohair to give a full head of hair that looks real and their eyes and mouth are 100% merino wool felt sewn with cotton thread and embroidery floss.

The knitted dolls clothes are being made from 100% natural materials of the highest quality and I will be sewing some clothes too, mostly using cotton fabrics.

I have quite a few dolls to introduce to you soon. I can't wait to show you all.

In the meantime... here's Willow enjoying the garden.

Operation 'Empty Box'...

I have given myself a new mission... sew up and finish all of my doll clothes projects. I have no idea how long it will take but I am determined!

Here are all the things in the box of unfinished clothes that fit my latest dolls...

... and here are the things in the box of unfinished clothes that fit my Fiona McDonald pattern dolls...

Wish me luck!

Willow...

I have been working on the first of a new range of high quality knitted dolls.

This is Willow, knitted from 100% pure pima cotton, with a full head of mohair hair hand stitched to her head so that it can be brushed, styled and played with. Her face is embroidered using cotton floss and 100% merino wool felt. She is very firmly filled with hypo-allergenic polyester stuffing.

Willow's dress is knitted from super soft hand dyed 100% Australian wool. Her scarf is Noro Kirara. She has two butterfly charms on her waist tie. Her shoes are knitted from wool with two flower buttons.

All patterns are my own.

I hope you like her...

Penny's Lace Dress...

Penny really REALLY wanted to model this new dress for you all...

It makes her feel pretty!

Until next time...

'Lyric Comes to Stay'...

Lyric came to visit her sister Polly over Easter... and hasn't left!

I think she is liking the clothes I am making her too much to leave...

 

 

More to come soon!

Pattern Preview...

A warm winter coat I just finished.

I really love designing knitted doll clothes...



Lyric Phones Home...

Lyric has sent Polly some photos of her camping out in her tent.

Now Polly is even more excited for her sister's visit!

Polly and Penny...

Polly was my prototype for this knitted doll pattern. Her eyes are a little different and her neck is a wee bit shorter but I love her quiet cuteness.

Jack Sparrow took Polly under his wing when she first arrived at Stoneleigh House... it was all so new and Polly is a little timid and a lot shy. She likes to hide behind her glasses and really likes to just sit in the corner and read her books. She doesn't like it much when I make her the centre of attention!

Although Polly is best described as quiet and shy... she is best friends with Penny... who arrived not long after Polly. She was so happy to not be the only Stoneleigh Doll in the house!

 

 

Penny is a sweet girl who loves pretty dresses and the colour pink. She is very girly and dreams of being a princess... She is a contradiction though... she also loves building things and using tools... and has decided that, if she can't be a princess, she wants to be a builder or a carpenter...

 

 

 

Penny's hair is a fine mohair weft hand stitched to her head in a wig pattern (very time consuming process to do this without a wig cap!). The result was a beautiful wispy full head of hair that can be styled a little. It was very much an experiment on my part and both Polly and Penny have bonded over the fact that they were both experiments...

 



Polly loves the new skirt suit I made for her... it makes her feel very official!

Penny also loves the beautiful dress that Polly and Matilda gave her for Christmas... she's very happy with the matching shoes I made her too.

As a side note...

Polly is starting to get a little bit excited as her sister, Lyric, is coming to visit for Easter. Lyric is a bit of a gypsy and loves to travel the world. Polly hasn't seen her since she came to live at Stoneleigh House so it's understandable that she is getting a bit impatient...

Here she is waiting for me to show her Lyric's latest travel pics...

 

 

 

 

Until next time!

Matilda

A number of my knitted dolls become permanent residents here at Stoneleigh House. I tell myself that I need models for patterns and photos, but in reality these are the dolls I design for myself simply because I want them...

This is Matilda. She is a little bit special due to being named after a much loved red boxer doggie (with huge brown eyes) who passed away just before I made her.

 

 

Matilda loves life and is always happy and smiling. She loves to dance around the house and would love it if I made her some really colourful clothes and shoes. (I will I promise).

So far she has managed to get me to make her three dresses and a pair of shoes.

The shoes and the multi- coloured dress were her Christmas presents.

She likes to keep me company on the work desk while I am working on other things.

 

 

 

 

The red dress wasn't supposed to be hers but it suited her so well that eventually I let her have it.

 

 



Matilda feels a little bit left out as Polly and Penny are best friends and sometimes she feels like the third wheel... something tells me that will soon change though!

Until next time...