All of my crafting lately has been for Blythe – I’ve been using the Doll Coordinate Recipe books that I have as they’re a great resource for patterns. I’ve been on a bit of a sewing kick lately, but I’m sure that’ll switch to knitting soon as I’ve been queuing up a bunch of sock patterns that I want to try and I’ve been crocheting as well and writing down steps as I do them – so patterns will be up in the near future!

The first two are from DCR #5, the third is from DCR #1. I did make some adjustments to all three of them.

First dress: I added ribbon ties at the bodies to go around the neck. For the second dress, I added a lining because I really didn’t want to clip and turn the arm holes without a lining. I probably could have done it without, but I didn’t want to. For dress number 3, the pattern is actually for a top (think camisole), but I added a longer ‘skirt’ to it to make it into a dress.

Modeled by Sophie.

Modeled by Primrose.

Modeled by Eden Mouse.

Besides those failed/frogged socks, I haven’t had a lot of time to craft. The term is ending soon (finals this week!) so obviously I’ve been busy with that. I do have quite a few projects that are currently on a mini-break while I’m busy studying, doing notes and such, but I do hope to share some progress with you all soon (possibly next week?). I have some doll clothes to share, as well as some other projects that have been sitting in time out for a while now that I really want to get out and finish!

I also want to share a list of crafting-related podcasts that I like to listen/watch, so I’ll be working on compiling a list of those as well (just a heads up – most of them are knitting related. There’s a lot of knitting-related podcasts, I need to find more crocheting and general crafts ones!).

I am currently working on the Knot Socks by Nancy Bush on 2.25mm/US1 circulars with Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett in colour #04453 which is self-striping/self-patterning yarn.

The pattern is from Sock Knitting Master Class: Innovative Techniques & Patterns. So far it’s knitting up fantastically, I’ve finished cable pattern 4 times and need to do it just once more before I go onto the heel. It’s a cuff-down pattern and written for dpns. I’m knitting it on my new ChiagoGoo Red Lace circulars (2.25mm/US 1 – 40″) with the magic loop method (which I adore now that I have needles with great cables). I haven’t decided how I’m going to do the heel yet, I haven’t figured out how to do the heel flap and gusset with magic loop so I may end up doing an afterthought heel.

Each pattern repeat takes about 2.5-3 hours, so I estimate that I’ve spent around 11-13.5 hours on Sock #1 so far. I knit whenever I’m watching podcasts.

I currently have no other knitting projects on the needles – I’m waiting for a Blythe friend to choose yarn colours and then I’ll be knitting two cardigans with pockets for her in exchange for a very lovely dress.

For crochet projects, it’s currently a secret… I’m designing an amigurumi so it’ll be secret for a bit until I finish it and duplicate it with the notes that I’ve got. I’ve been slowly working on getting the pattern shop for Chelle-Chelle.com up and running and have been tweaking with coding for the last little bit – but I hope it get it open at the same time that the pattern is finished.

Upcoming miscellaneous things: I’ll be doing a review on the ChiaoGoo Red Lace needles (I feel that 10+ hours is a decent amount of time to try something out before reviewing it) and also a post soon about all the podcasts that I listen to regularly.

These socks are knit from the Basic Ribbed Socks pattern by Kate Atherley. It is a free pattern that is available on Ravelry.

I knit on 2.75mm (US 2) double pointed needles. I didn’t actually have a set of dpns in 2.75mm, but I did have several from thrift store baggies so I found 4 mismatched dpns in the right size.

I used Regia’s Design Line by Kaffe Fassett in colourway 04450. I affectionately referred to the colour as ‘clown barf’ after I had knitted enough of the first sock to see how the colours were coming along. I had bought 2 balls of the yarn (460.0yds or 420.6m per 50g) and had, as you can see from the first photo, a lot left over. I used the excess amount of yarn for knitting other things (primarily doll clothing).

I learned from knitting socks that I really dislike ladders. I got them wherever I changed needles, which I did not like. I resolved to get other needles (circulars) for magic looping socks in the future (more on that in a future post).

I was really happy that they were matching up! It was one of the things that I really wanted to be sure that I did – get the darn socks matching. They were close enough for me (I can point out where they’re not, but I knit them and have that privilege of pointing them out to myself).

The socks are super simple. 3k1p ribbing for the foot and leg, part of the ribbing continues down the foot. The heel flap and gusset were the first time I had done a heel. I will admit that when I was reading the instructions, I could not visualize how the heel could possibly be formed. But I just took the instructions as being true and then I made a heel! How awesome is that?

Before washing them for the first time, I have a completed pair of socks!

So, socks. They ended up being probably about 3-4 rows too short for my feet. I wear size 7 US shoes. They fit my mom perfectly though, so I gave them to her (she loves them, and has 6½ feet).

These two sweaters are made from the same McCall’s pattern packet as the hooded cardigan from yesterday’s post. This one is Sweater B.

The yarns used are primarily yarns from a Japanese store (in other words, I cannot read the labels very well). The yarn content is 80% acrylic, 20% mohair in both the blue, pink and grey. The white yarn was 70% acrylic and 30% wool. All are sock-weight yarns. They were knit on 3mm (2½ US) needles.

The blue sweater’s sleeves were knit in the round on two dpns (3.oomm needles) while the pink sweater’s sleeves were knit flat and seamed.

My lovely models are (from left to right): Mollie and Moxie. I received them both (gifts) in December 2011.

The yarn used was Patons Purple Heather in 0350. The ball band listed the date of manufacture as 26/11/1973. I got the yarn from my mom, it’s from when she used to knit. I knit it on 3mm (2½ US) needles.

The pattern is from McCall’s 7841, Hooded Cardigan E.

The entire cardigan has a seed stitch border, which I find really helps ‘connect’ the entire piece together in making it seem a lot like a human-sized cardigan.

I love how the hood has a little bit of a peak at the top of it. It remarkably looks like a sweater, the construction of it had me thinking otherwise until after the sleeves were finished.

In the photo above, the cardigan is being modelled by Bennett, my Margaret Meets Ladybug EBL Blythe doll.

The hat was made in Bernat Super Saver in White (100% acrylic) and Red Heart Super Saver in Turquoise (100% acrylic).

The hat was a simple pattern that I made up as I went along (increase of 6 stitches evening throughout until I got to the size that I wanted). The hat was 14″ in circumference, so I’m hoping that it fit as I didn’t get a chance to ask after the baby was born.

I’m hoping to get the pattern up soon, I just need to write it up and crochet another hat to test the pattern out before putting it up here.

I used an acrylic blend because the hat was a gift and if I’m not entirely sure about someone’s laundry habits, I tend to gift acrylic or acrylic blends. It’s not because I’m selfish when it comes to the “good yarn” (well, maybe I am), but because it’s just good practice. I don’t want to make something for someone and then have them toss it into the wash and have it come out several sizes too small. That wouldn’t do me or the gift recipient any good if the hat was easily ruined, now would it?

I used a basic toque pattern and did it entirely in the base colour first. Goomba’s face was duplicate stitched on afterwards. I tried to make the inside as neat as possible, but not sure if I managed that at all. It was a pretty decent knit, the thing that I really needed to get into the habit was shuffling stitches on the dpns, I was not used to that at all.

I did not use a pattern (I made it up as I went along) and I will not be publishing a pattern for him (mostly because I don’t remember what I did and because Goomba is a trademarked character by Nintendo). I hope you like him.

My 2012 resolutions for chelle-chelle.com are:

1. Blog more often! I’m aiming for once a week (minimum). Bonus points for more than once per week.
2. Opening the chelle-chelle.com Pattern Shop (still in the making, still have designs tucked away for that).
3. Just craft more, photograph projects in progress and finished and document them here (goes with #1).

Hopefully I can keep them!

Upcoming posts will be about:

• Baby bear hat (that was gifted)
• More doll clothes (knitted)
• Christmas presents(!)
• New needles (after they arrive)

All the dresses are sized to fit both Blythe stock bodies and Licca bodies – in the photos below they are modeled on a Licca body (sorry for the headlessness!)

The pattern for the knit dress was made by me.

Pattern for the second dress comes from puchicollective.com.

Pattern for the third dress comes from the Doll Coordinate Recipe book #5.

Knit pattern of my own creation. I love using self-striping sock yarn for doll clothes because there’s always some kind of interesting striping pattern that comes up!

This wasn’t my first attempt at the Puchicollective’s Empire waistline dress. I like it a lot because it’s a simple dress, a lot of other crafters in the dolly community use this one as well.

From Doll Coordinate Recipe #5. This was my first attempt at collars (!) on a doll dress. Also, the pattern doesn’t give any indication to use a lining, which I found very difficult (especially for turning the sleeves). In the future I’m going to include some kind of lining to the dresses that I make from DCR books.

I started with the head/body with big cutesy black eyes. Safety-eyes are fantastic.

Then I crocheted a little leg and another and another until I had oodles of little legs. At two ends per leg, also with two ends for the head/body, it’s a lot of ends for one little cutie.

But with a trusty yarn needle I sewed and sewed and tucked and tucked until all the ends were tucked away into a stuffed little ball and he looked like this:

But he’s not as cute as he is when you can see his cute little face! World, meet Baby Octo. Baby Octo, here’s the world:

A pattern for Baby Octo is currently in the works, I just need to edit it and make sure it’s correct!

So that’s what I’ve been working on while also proofing crochet patterns and photographing projects. Things will get released, in their due time, and I have a lot of exciting and fun things to show all of you (things I’ve been working on, patterns that I’m perfecting). But it is nice to just do something relaxing from time to time, like putting beads on a board.

The first pair uses a mix of seed and bugle beads with flower charms and chemically antiqued earring hooks. They are approximately 2.5 cm (~1″) in diameter.

This second pair uses beads that I’ve shown on the site before, even with the same star charms. I paired them up with very simple stainless steel earring hooks and headpins.

I have a ‘thing’ of scarves. I’ve made a lot of them, in both knit and crochet (and possibly even one fleece one somewhere). I own quite a large amount of scarves (and cowls!) – including the ones that I’ve made, some silk scarves, some scarves that had been gifted to me. That thing of scarves somehow always ends up with me not wearing them though. When it’s cold, I never seem to have one on, despite the large collection that I have.

My first ‘real’ project in knitting was a garter stitch scarf. Not a square, but a scarf. In garter stitch. (I got very good at knit stitches after that, by the way.)

My first ‘real’ project in crochet was a variegated blue messenger bag that I somehow manged to design myself. I still use it from time to time. It was done completely in single crochet and used nearly a pound of worsted weight yarn (I may as well had done a scarf, it probably would have taken the same amount of time).

I never understood why projects geared towards beginners just showcase one single stitch (generally garter or single crochet, depending on your craft of choice) and it’s always a freaking scarf.

But this is one beginner-friendly project that is all about the different stitches. Not only do you get some practice with chains and single crochet, but the scarf also features half-double crochet, double crochet and triple crochet stitches. Which makes for a not-so-boring project and a great new scarf addition to your wardrobe.

The scarf in the pictures is about 7.5′ long with 32 repeats of the pattern. It has a fringe (which is entirely optional, as is the length that you want to make it). This scarf was designed for practicing the different stitch types in crochet beyond single crochet (hdc, dc, tr – US crochet terminology).

Want to make your own Crochet Sampler Stitch Scarf? The pattern is free! Click to download a PDF copy of the Sampler Stitch Scarf pattern.

It’s also the best $1.99+tax I’ve ever spent.

It’s gorgeous, hard cover, full colour photographs. Many of the knitting and crochet designs are incredibly dated (and no, those designs have not made a comeback yet). It has a huge section of embroidery, some information on quilting and rug-making (latch hook and punch needle). There’s information on making lace (there’s more than just tatting [!], which I never knew before). There’s some great stitch patterns that I have never seen before in any of the other stitch dictionaries that I own, so I was really excited to be able to find this.

Surrounding my new-old book is some new yarn. All of the Regia is sock yarn, the four closest to the bottom are going to be knitted into socks. The other two are marked for dolly-related knitting. But the three at the top? Oh, I only wish you could all see how beautiful it is. It’s Rowan’s Cotton Braid and I just got it today. It’s a discontinued (boo!) line of yarn from Rowan and it’s in this gorgeous rainbow of colours (goes from pinks to oranges to greens to blues to violets). It is a novelty-type yarn (which kinda surprises me that I even bought it because I generally don’t really like working with novelty yarns), but it’s gorgeous and made primarily of natural materials (68% cotton, 22% rayon, 10% linen). I can definitely see a nice summery scarf made from it!

The new Pattern Store here isn’t done yet but I do have news about the free patterns that are already available! I’ve taken the time to change the formatting on the PDF files of the three downloadable patterns that I have currently available on Chelle-Chelle.com and the changes reflect the new format for free patterns that I will have in the future.

And in case you’re wondering what free patterns I have, they are:

• Crochet Ribbed Cowl
• Ruse – A Cloche-Inspired Hat
• Blythe Monster Hat (was not updated)
• A Little Filet Crochet Scarf
  

I am working on opening an online pattern store for Chelle-Chelle.com – after evaluating the pros and cons of sites like Etsy and Artfire, I’ve decided to self-host the shop here on Chelle-Chelle.com. I’ve been spending the last few days tweaking and playing around with coding, so I’m hoping to get it up and ready by mid-March. Patterns will be downloadable – once payment clears, you’ll get an email with a unique code to access the purchased pattern(s)!

There will be new free patterns coming up soon – I’m just finishing up some pattern testing. The two new patterns that will be going soon in March will be my Sampler Crochet Stitch scarf (free pattern) and a mini crochet pouch (also a free pattern – name hasn’t been decided on yet!).

Even with opening up a pattern store, I will still be producing free patterns. The first pattern that will be going up in my shop will be my cupcake hat pattern (in 3 sizes) and a robot amigurumi pattern. The focus of my pattern store will be primarily on Wearables and Amigurumi and the sections in the shop will reflect that.

I just wanted to share the exciting news! Pattern testing takes quite a bit of time, seeing as how I juggle a few other projects (and school!) at the same time.

Filet crochet is all about having filled spaces and empty spaces. You accomplish this with double crochet stitches and chains. You can ‘draw’ with your empty and filled spaces, a lot like piecing together tiles of different colours – only you use yarn and your imagination.

A Little Filet Crochet Scarf is a scarf that I designed and made for my friend’s birthday gift. I had the yarn, I had the time and I had a hook. All I needed was an idea. So while I was flipping through a stitch dictionary that I have, I came across filet crochet. I’ve done a few small projects with filet crochet and love it. It’s easy to get the hang of, once you understand the concept, and it can go by pretty quickly (if time is an issue), plus it’s fun to make a pattern with your squares.

The pattern is written up as a one-size-only scarf, but you can easily add on more repeats to lengthen the scarf to your liking.

Want to make your own scarf? Click to download a PDF copy of the A Little Filet Crochet Scarf pattern.

Difficulty Level: Easy

I may have disappeared for a little while. After September started, I was busy with school and time for crafting had (very unfortunately) fell to the wayside. I am looking forward for the beginning of 2011 though, I do have a few patterns that I’m going to be posting up on the site for:

• The cupcake hat (finally!)
• A filet-crochet mesh scarf
• Blythe-sized hats

The patterns will go up in January and February. I am starting up school again January, but given how my schedule looks, it’s going to allow myself for a little bit more time with the crafting overall, which I think is a total win!

I also have a few more reference articles, mostly on amigurumi and crochet techniques that I’m really looking forward to getting up soon. All I really need to do is finalize the editing and then take the photos to illustrate the points and for examples.

I hope everyone’s been doing well, and if you’re looking for some fun, beginner-friendly crochet projects, be sure to check out my patterns page.