Owlishly

Back so soon?

Why yes, yes I am :)

I know, I'm horrible at blogging this year.  I blame it on a multitude of things that have happened since this summer that I have no control over and realizing how horribly I deal with them.

I did have a good reason for not coming back as soon as I wanted.  I was sicker than a dog last week.  I wrote that post and then the next day couldn't get out of bed.  And then didn't get out of bed for 2 additional days after that.  The flu really kicked my butt this year, and it's so nice that it happened when I have a million things to do.

Seriously, so many of you are better people than I am.  I don't know how you manage to run households, make gifts, get ready for guests, and just keep up with life in general! I was not even close to thinking straight last week, and I'm am so embarrassingly far behind on emails, but I'm trying very hard to make sure that pattern purchases get sent within the 24 hour window I've given myself. 

I have two dolls that I'm almost finished with, but I have no idea when I'm going to be able to type up/design the pattern- one is a panda girl and the other one is a winter themed girl.

So instead of dwelling on that and the other 32 million things I need to do, I'll share the two little knitting projects that I finished last month for my daughter's dolls- a sweater for the girl and a sweater vest for the boy.

Eventually I'll work my way up to knitting for bigger bodies, but it's nice to start small. (more details are at flickr & I'll add them to Ravelry soon)

I should probably start cataloging my accomplishments more often than talking about what I haven't done/need to do.  So I will share that I've finally saved my computer's guts to an external hard drive that I bought months ago, but never took out of the package.  I've also organized my desktop, deleted a bunch of useless photographs cluttering iphoto, reorganized my music on itunes and caught up on all the software updates I needed to get to. 

I also cleaned out the cupboard underneath the kitchen sink- I'm super sensitive to chemicals and when we moved 6 years ago the woman who came and cleaned the house for us left a box under there for me that I never opened... until 2 nights ago.  Got rid of that sucker, and breathed a big sigh of relief!

My brother-in-law and mother-in-law will be flying in for a visit this Saturday and will be here until Tuesday so I don't know how soon I'll be back before their visit.  Since this month is my birthday month though, I was going to have another pattern sale- it'll probably only run for a week, maybe like next week because we're going to be gone on my actual birthday.  We're stopping in at Disneyland on the 29th for a couple of woo-hoo-it's-my-birthday rides before heading down to the beach to camp for the week.  I love camping at the beach around my birthday- it's my absolute favorite type of beach weather :)

Well, that post was all over the place, but I always seem to be needing to play catch-up when I post lately :)

So, about stuffing.

Well, as mentioned, I wanted to talk about stuffing a doll. I like to try out different types of fiberfill/stuffing/filling/roving etc. for dolls but I have to keep coming back to the regular Poly-fil.

This bamboo one is 100% Bamboo, made by Fairfield and part of their Nature-fil line. It was too smooth, and when I really packed it in a doll the way I typically do, it made the doll feel slightly heavier than they regularly are, and when you squeezed the body or head, it didn't bounce back- it had to be manipulated back into shape.  I really want this one to work out, but I think that for the types of dolls that I make I need to use something different.

This one is Mountain Mist EcoCraft Fibre, a fiberfill that's derived from corn which is turned into Ingeo™ or PLA.  So far this one is a lot easier to use than the bamboo for the type of doll I make.  It's soft, but still is lofty and maintains the springiness that I like. I bought it at my local Jo-Ann's, but haven't seen it as readily available.  Fairfield, the same company that makes the rest of the fiberfills that I'm discussing, does have a PLA Corn product called Nature-Fil Corn Fiber, but I have yet to try that one.

This is Soft-Touch poly-fil Supreme, and according to the Fairfield website, the fibers are siliconized to make it feel softer and silkier.  I use this type interchangeably with the regular Poly-fil (both are 100% polyester), and like them about the same for my dolls. 

This Poly-fil is the one that I use the most, I like it's loftiness and springiness, and it's the one that I have the most bags of ;)  I usually keep a bag in the trunk of both of our cars since I typically have a yarn project with me when I go places, but it gets unwieldy having to carry this in and out of the house every time I leave, and I don't have to keep stopping to get it when we take off on a whim.

I've yet to try wool roving/batting to stuff a doll because to be honest, I don't know exactly where to get it in bulk.  I've been poking around Waldorf Doll making sites looking for info on making a doll for my niece & daughter for Christmas gifts, and also to find information about wool, and so far I read that West Earl Woolen Mill (717-859-2241- there's no website!) is the place to go for carded wool batting, but I haven't called them yet.

Tips

When I stuff a doll, to get the best looking doll I take my time.  Most of the time I use the Clover Soft Touch crochet hooks when I crochet a doll, so I just use the handle to stretch and shape the doll limb or body to prep it before stuffing it. 

I pull off very small amounts of the fiberfill and then pull it apart so that it's just barely held together and it's nice and fluffy before stuffing it into a doll part.  Then, it just becomes a matter of layering it in. And it's important to not try to hurry and put clumps in, because then your doll is just lumpy and misshapen.

It is time consuming, especially because I try to get as much in as possible. In the picture above, I used the amount of fiberfill that's behind the doll head to stuff another head the exact same size as the one shown, and I needed a little more before I was finished.

For tighter spots, like the legs and feet of my dolls, I use the handle of my crochet hook to push the fiberfill in, and that way I can get it situated exactly where I want it. And then when it's time to seal off a head, or body I fill up that part as much as I can, and then decrease my stitches until there's just a tiny hole left, and then I stuff even more in.  It really helps to retain the integrity of the shape if the doll is stuffed to the gills :)

I hope that helps, and if I've forgotten anything please feel free to add to this in the comments, the more shared information, the better!

Stuffing a doll...

... is something I want to talk about soon :)

The perfect skin tone?

I'm reblogging a picture because I have a question for you... What yarns do you like to use that are close to accurate skin tones?

This has been an ongoing search for me, and I'd like to post about yarns that have colors similar to skin tones that are useful.  It doesn't matter what brand or fiber content it is, I'd love to hear from you on your favorite skin tone yarn & I'll start- mine is TLC Cotton Plus in tan.

That's the best tan color that I've been able to find.  I'd love to find it in a wool, but for now a cotton/acrylic blend is what I have to use.  I do have others that I like to use as well, and will share those, but it'll be a lot more fun to share what others have found and like to use as well, so please, speak up!

By the way, the top is a knit picks cotton blend, the middle are alpaca, and the bottom 3 are Cascade 220, but I'm seriously on the lookout for the perfect tan!

Sneak peak of a little cow girl...

I was taking pictures this afternoon for the pattern, and thought I'd share a couple with you.

I ended up embroidering her markings on her & prefer the way they look as opposed to crocheted ones.

It was a little frustrating trying to get all the stray tan fibers out of her hair, and the black ones off of her white suit.  This time it'd probably have been better to use acrylic yarns because of all the fiber transfer, but I think she's still pretty cute :)

I think I want to take a couple more pictures tomorrow before I'm comfy with the amount I have for the pattern, but hopefully it'll be ready by Monday.

Bunhead

She's almost ready to make her first appearance!

I've just finished adding the perle cotton to her hair to give some textural difference, and soon I'm going to be able to sew her together and write up the pattern.

I'd forgotten that my brother-in-law and his partner are going to be coming from Dallas for a visit this weekend, and I've been neglecting my housekeeping in favor of working on my doll so I'm going to have to be scare for a while to get the house in order again!

Hopefully I can get it done quickly, that way I can get back to the things I enjoy doing.  The little astro-boy was starting to come along too. dang it. Okay, I've seriously got to go clean while I can...

New pattern policy & some musings

I'm just going to start off with the main news first. I'm thinking that each time I introduce a new pattern (the day I actually make it available for purchase) I'm going to offer one pattern free.

The catch is, you have to comment (and only comment once), on the specific post for that pattern and I'll use the random number generator to pick one of you to send a free pattern to.  Sound good?

I understand the necessity of introducing new patterns, but I always feel a little huckster-ish when I haven't posted about anything in a while, and the Bam! "Hey, here's a new pattern to buy!".  I know that's not really the case, as a lot of you who support me :) actually want to know about new patterns.  I'm just still somewhat uncomfortable with that aspect of my little business.

SO, in an effort to assuage my feelings regarding self-promotion, from this point on I'm going to give away a free pattern each time a new one is released. I'm not sure how many days I'll leave the comments open, maybe like 3 or 4, I'm still not sure about that. But I think by the time I get these new patterns out this month, I'll have a better idea of the plan!

Also, I get questions from time to time about how I do certain things, and I have plans to expand on my answers and hopefully get them organized here on the blog for easier access, and quick referral.  Are there any burning questions you have for me that you'd like to have answered? I have a small list going of ones that I plan on getting to, but I'm willing to add more to the list if there's enough of a demand.

Marching on in...

So...
I'm a bit embarrassed, it's been so long since I've been here that I had to sign in.

We've just been super busy, and I've started a couple of dolls but haven't finished them yet.  I'm making a little astronaut, and then a ballerina, and I was thinking of doing a baseball player and a piñata too. Probably the little bull, but I don't know if I'll have it open up or not, probably not.

There's just been some mishaps with the two patterns that I'm working on right now, and so the pictures that I do have of them are the wrong ones, and I always feel weird writing out a post and not having pictures to add to it. But sometimes that's bound to happen.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some good one's up, I'm still working out how chubby I want to make the ballerina's butt & tutu placement :)

Elizabeth the rabbit girl amigurumi pattern done!

Someday my brain will work hard enough to think up clever titles... for now we'll just stick with accuracy :)

My daughter and I've decided that her name is Elizabeth, she likes it and names a lot of her toys that, and that's the name of one of my favorite heroines ever!

It's funny because now that I have all the pictures taken and here, I don't have much to say :)

I will say, for those of you that are interested, the pattern is available at Etsy and Ravelry.  Now on to the next one!

Corazoncitos, free amigurumi heart pattern (in 3 sizes!)

Here it is :) A very quick and easy amigurumi heart, crocheted in 3 sizes. 

It has it's own special page over on the right column of my blog.  If you click here, it'll take you to the page where you can click on a downloadable link to the free .pdf pattern.  Additionally, there's another little .pdf that has images of the materials used, and step by step images of how to join the tops of the hearts.

It's also available at Ravelry.

It's an excellent little amigurumi to make and give as a gift or to a loved one, and just in time for Valentine's Day.