Spring is Full of New Beginnings and a Trip Back in Time.

Well the sun is shining and it looks like Spring is finally on it's way.  Woo hoo!  Despite all of the blog entries that I've written and not posted or shared, Spring is a great time for re-birth and restarting things such as the blog.

So what have I been up to...

Knitting.  Teaching. Weaving,  And not as much spinning as I'd like.

I've also been working on designing.  Designing knits for dolls of all things.  It's like I've gone back in time, reverting to my grade 7 self and creating clothes for dolls again.

Back then, it was mostly for the Barbies that I'd stopped playing with.  I'd already given them all punk rock hair cuts and was adapting whatever I could into high fashion clothing for Barbie and (yes, that's right) my sister's old Donnie Osmond doll (he was so much cooler than Ken).  I converted mini gloves into short-suits, socks into skirts and, my fave, an umbrella sleeve into a gorgeous halter gown.

So, here I am, X number of years later and an avid knitter making doll clothes once again, but this time on a much larger scale - for 18" dolls.  Now, keep in mind, this isn't something I'm doing for my own kids; these dolls really creep out my boys.  But, when a friend's daughter started obsessing over American Girl and Maplelea dolls just before Christmas, a seed was planted.  With my short attention span, I've stayed away from garments - just ask my husband and his 10+ year sweater that's still in the works.  Knitting at the scale of an 18" doll is much more workable for me.

I started with this simple red version of Susan Seffknit's Top-Down Cardigan  in worsted weight Red Heart for my friend's daughter. It knitted up so quickly and simply.  I'd had a taste and needed to try more.  I've since created vests, cardies, and skirts for these dolls, getting more and more adventurous with each item.  I'm just loving knitting up ruffly skirts with scarf yarn - a much better use than scarves if you ask me.  I've even invested in an Our Generation doll of my own (her name is Kaylee and she has FABULOUS hair) for modeling and sizing of the projects.

I have so many ideas swirling through my head for future projects.  The next step, of course is translating my chicken scratches in my little notebook into real live patterns.  I've toyed with writing patterns before (although most are locked away in my mind), but I've never been this excited about the process.  It's a step in a new direction, back into my past.  Perhaps I did know what I wanted to be when I grew up back in Grade 7, but I just didn't know it yet.

Lace and ruffles short sleeved cardy made with hand dyed wool.  My favourite so far!