Miss Aine

A birthday present for an 8 year old girl who loves pandas. The pattern is by Hilary Lang of Wee Womderfuls fame, and was well written and easy to follow. I gave her a little panda teddy as well (pattern by Jean Greenhowe).

Emily was invited to a birthday party at Build-A-Bear Workshop so, like the last party there, I made teddy bear clothes for the birthday girl. Luckily Tiger stores had mini suitcases in stock so I got one to put the clothes in - it just finishes off the gift nicely. This ski sweater was a pattern I had never used before. I found it on Ravelry and it's by Linda May. It was quick and easy to knit and could be customised to any outfit. I will definitely be knitting this one again. A hat and scarf. I love the neon pink Pom-poms. It gives a real modern feel to these. Miri-coloured top with neon heart - why not!!! I hope the birthday girl likes them!

I'm working on a cabled onesie for some bunnies this morning. It's a good thing I liked maths in school!

All from the blog 'it's always autumn', it's from the Free Teddy Bear dress blogpost. (Can't link on my iPad but it comes up easy if you google it) The pattern was very quick and easy to follow and the dress is reversible which is always a bonus!

I just added this lot to my Etsy shop. www.missaine.etsy.com All complete and ready to ship. I've also been working on these dolls to replenish the Artists Gift Gallery in on Dawson Street in Dublin City.

Emily requested a new dress for her baby doll this morning. I didn't quite make a dress, but I hope she'll be happy with baby's new outfit!

I've been working on some custom doll dresses over the last few days. I think they are just adorable. The prints are just beautiful. I'd love to make some in little girl sizes. And maybe a shift dress or two in my size!!

So I spent most of today making cake for Emily's birthday party tomorrow. I just need to assemble and decorate it in the morning. I've only done a tiny bit of sewing over the last few days. One task was to see faces on all these doll bodies. Now I have to make them some clothes. But first a coffee break!

So I'm still a bit quiet with the blog, and I'm still in a bit of a creative funk, but I've been quietly knitting away. Up in the corner is a variation to my 'Anna-Beth' pattern. I will put the pattern up - eventually!

What a difference a change in scale can make. Both these doll faces are essentially the same design, but the one on the right has larger features.  It creates quite a different look. I'm not totally sure which I prefer.

Last week I was struck down with flu, and it got me pretty good. So all the creative momentum I'd built since Christmas had to be paused. Which was very hard for me. Now I'm over the worst , and just have a bad cough and runny nose. Oh the joys of the head-cold. This week has been mostly about tidying up the house and getting back to normal.  I made some cute buns for the after-school snack. Pink icing, cherries and sprinkles- what's not to love about them! And I've slowly been getting back to creating. My new large rag dolls have finally had their arms and legs attached. Now I'm working on knitted hair and a more embroidered face.

So most of today was spent stuffing doll body parts.  I'm redesigning the large cloth rag dolls I make to sell. Instead of calico for the skin I've switched to a linen-look cotton in a taupe colour.  I think it gives a nice bit of extra colour to the skin. My next job is to try work out an embroidered face that I'm happy with, rather than the cut out felt one I've used up til now. Or maybe a combination of embroidery and felt? Then I want to make some knitted hair. Something that would give them a unique look as not everyone mixes sewing and knitting when making toys. It might not work. Now I better take a break and make the kids some dinner!

Its been so long since I added a new pattern to Ravelry, that I had kinda' forgotten how.  It took quite a while, but its up now!! The BFF's on Ravelry

It's photo shoot time this morning. These lovely ladies will be heading off to the Artists Gift Gallery in Dublin City on Saturday so I had to get a few photos before they went. And hopefully I'll get time to type out the pattern this weekend. 

It's a Coraline and Wybie update. Now I just have to make Coraline's coat and put some Velcro on Wybie's coat.

I thought I'd done a few posts over the last week, but obviously not. Whoops! I had someone contact me through Facebook about making a Coraline doll. Obviously I said yes !!!! I've used my large rag doll pattern for the basic body and just changed the legs so that it would be easier to dress the doll as it was requested that she have removable clothes. This is a picture of Coraline with her not-quite-finished star sweater. And here is Coraline again with her best friend Wybie. I just need to find the right black buttons for the eyes so that I can do their faces, and then their hair. And lastly, Coraline's yellow rain coat. Busy, busy, busy!

On a bit of a go-slow this week as I have a really bad cold. It's just one big snot-fest. Yuk! I have managed to finish this little dress and doll combo. And added it to my etsy shop www.missaine.etsy.com It's €45 for the two items, which is pretty good value, if I do say so myself ;)

My arm is hurting this evening. Too much knitting I think!  So while I take a break, and watch the World Cup, I thought I'd share a pic of the newest design I'm working on.