Free Pattern: Petite Dolls

Here are the results from an evening of fiddling around with yarn. This is one pattern I am very excited to share with you! But before we jump into it let me say that my giveaway is still going on until the 4th of May. So if you have not entered it and want to, please do so!

Okay. Introducing............Petite Dolls!!!

Isn't she adorable? I chose specifically not to put faces on them. I'll stop gabbing now and we can get to the pattern.....

1 Petite Doll
Materials: -2 dpn size US 5
-worsted weight yarn, color A & B. A few yards each. ( I used scraps of Patons Classic Wool.)
- Natural Cotton Batting

With color A cast on 20 stitches, leaving a 7 inch tail. Work in stockinette stitch until piece measures 2 1/2 inches.

Attatch color B and end off color A. Weave in tails on wrong side of work.
Work in stockinette stitch until color B measures 1 1/4 inches.
Cut yarn, leaving a 16" tail. Do NOT bind off.



Cut a 12 inch piece of color B yarn. Using a running stitch, stitch across first row of color B skipping every other stitch.

Leave tails hanging on either side of work.

Using a yarn needle, run the 16 inch tail through all 20 live stitches, slipping them off the needle.

Pull on yarn tail to cinch tightly, forming top of head.

Seam up back of the head, pausing at the color change. Stuff head firmly with natural cotton stuffing.

Take tails from each end of the running stitch and pull tightly to cinch the neck. Tie ends in a knot and clip short so they will be hidden in the doll's body.

Finish seaming up the back and end off. Stuff body with natural cotton stuffing.

Legs: Make 2

Cast on 3 stitches and make a 1 1/4 inch I-cord. Bind off.

The leg was so tiny that I didn't know where to put all my tails. In the end I knotted the cast on tail at the "toes" and then ran it up through the leg. I knotted the two tails at the top of the leg and cut them short. Later they will be hidden in the body.

Arms: Make 2

Same as for legs only work until piece measure 2 1/2 before binding off.

Deal with tails in same manner as legs only after knotting tails at the top of leg tuck one back down in the arm and clip. I leave the bind off tail long to use later for stitching the arms on to the body.

Using 7 inch tail from cast on, start stitching the bottom of the doll closed. I stitched from the middle and worked toward the left making sure to pierce through the legs.

I then came back towards the middle, whipstitching the edge and then stitching through the legs again.

Work to the right, and then back to the middle. End off and bury the tail deep inside the doll.

Stitch arms to body using tails.

You can use the same tail to stitch both arms to the body. When you are finished with one arm run the yarn through the neck and use it to stitch the other arm on. Remember to hide all tails in the body.

And your Petite Person is finished!

I hope you have enjoyed this pattern as much as I have!

Feel free to share it with a friend as well. I let a few adults see these Petite Dolls before putting them up on the blog as a free pattern. They absolutely loved them! The Petite Dolls have also been "child-approved" The first few I made have already had many adventures and are much loved.

If something did not make sense in this tutorial please let me know and I will try my best to be more clear.

I would love to know what you thought of my pattern!

Let me know what if you blog about my dolls, or post on ravelry, I would love to see everyones creations!

My First Giveaway!!!!

Yay! The post I have been waiting for!

To celebrate having blogged for one year (on April 26th) I am having my first giveaway! It took me awhile to decide what to give away, and in the end I had a little bit of help on that! I thought this was a fitting color as it is spring right now. And who doesn't love green? This is a shawlette that I recently knit up. It is made out of 100% worsted weight wool. To be eligible to win this shawl please leave no more than one comment, as well as contact info, at the end of this post.

I included a lot of photos so you have a good idea of what it looks like. Approximate measurements are 45 1/2 by 20 1/2 inches.

Not only can it be worn as a shawl, but it can be worn as a headscarf too.

Another option is as kerchief around the neck.

And last but not least, a view of the shawl laid out flat.

The deadline to enter my giveaway is 12 Noon, May 4th, 2010. Check back to see if you are a winner!

p.s. Many thanks to my lovely model! Couldn't have done it w/out you! :)

Note: This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered!

Spring Splendors 2

Catching Up

Hello everyone! No, I did not fall off the face of the earth. It has just been a hectic few weeks. My elder brother was married this past Friday! Mother and I sewed all the dresses for the gals in our family ( I think I might have mentioned that in an earlier post ). So we have been up to our necks in yards and yards of satin.....

The wedding was beautiful! It went smoothly and was so lovely. I cried a bit. I'm excited to have another sister now!

Here are some pictures of my latest bit of spinning. I have not worked on spinning a whole lot since we have been so busy. This batt here is a combination of merino/angora/angelica, and I do not know what else! My aunt bought it last summer at a Fiber Festival.

I know there are a few too many pictures of just my spindle here, but I couldn't decide which ones to cull. I liked them all. I did leave one out....

There are little bits of blue, turquoise, & purple, thread in here as well. I am trying to spin it up as thin as possible since I do not have a whole lot of the batt. We'll see what kind of yardage I come up with. Since I am drafting so fine, I find that I am having to spin it very fast otherwise my thread keeps breaking.

This morning while out and about we stopped at the gas station ten minutes or so from our house. The property out back of the station is owned by the farm next door. And it was chock full of sheep! I have no idea what kind they are. We are hoping to stop by sometime and see if maybe we can watch them shear their sheep.

About a month and a half back the sheep all had their lambs. But apparently this little fellow was just born recently. Isn't he sweet?

Here he is wiped out on his side, taking a little rest. He was rather wobbly on his legs.

I snapped this shot because I liked seeing the mommas leading their lambs off to the barn.

On the home front everything is growing like crazy. We have had some rain, and also warmer-than-usual weather.

The apple mint is spreading all over the place. It used to be contained in an old metal washtub at the end of the flowerbed. Well, some years back it jumped out and is now making itself at home where ever it pleases. If you ever decide to plant apple mint please remember that it is a very invasive plant. Since there is so much I will probably clip a bunch soon and dry it for tea. Apple mint is also a very hardy plant. When we were given our first plant it was just leaves and roots, a sad looking little slip of a plant. Not even any dirt clinging to the roots. We put it in a pail of water outside and forgot about it for quite some time. But it hung on and even flourished, despite the neglect.

Here is some yarn that is waiting to be made into another shawlette. Cascade 220.

The aforesaid shawlette pattern, but in a different colorway. Cascade 220 Quatro.

Oh, I am excited to share these pictures with you! This is the yarn that I dyed while it was still in the roving state before spinning it up on my drop spindle! Isn't it lovely?

It is about a worsted weight. 316.25 yards! My personal record on a drop spindle right now.

I don't remember if I shared this yarn yet or not. I know I did put up pictures of it when it was still on the spindle. This is 295yards. Merino/silk. It was a dream to spin up, so smooth and it shone beautifully in the light.

We'll see what I end up making with all these yarns. I am mainly spinning because I love doing it, not because I need the yarn. I don't think I could ever keep up with my demand for yarn! Not unless I were to get a spinning wheel.

Well, progress for the Fiber Festival is coming along beautifully. Things were kind of put on hold over the last few weeks but now I am back at it. I have some felting to do today, as well as knitting. I did knit up a little project yesterday that I am very excited about. But it falls under the category of "secret knitting" so I can't show you what it is yet. Sorry about that. Stay posted. :) I also forgot to take pictures of the completed bags hat I was knitting for the wedding. I only ended up making two, but I think they turned out adorable.

That is it for now! Have a great day!

Spring Splendors

Daffodils on the table.

Daffodils in their natural setting.


Newly planted fields.

Baby Killdeer.

I think they were hungry.