Beret de Printemps

I originally spun this yarn to be a lace shawl!

There were just 2 problems. It turned out to be a heavier weight than I had planned and I was terrified of the pattern.

As you may already know, I have only used one other lace chart pattern and it was for a pair of gloves. So as I sat looking at the shawl pattern I knew if I made any mistakes their would be A LOT of tearing out to do. So I thought a hat would be a nice thing to make a little bigger than a glove and not as daunting as the shawl. 

The pattern is Beret de Printemps by Jeni Chase and can be found on Ravelry.

The fiber is 100% Merino in a Rose Quartz colourway and was purchased from Stone Edge Fibers. I spun it as a 2ply with a WPI of 18. It was very nice to spin with, soft and easy to draft.

I had a little problem with the pattern. I was about half finished with the hat when I realized I had been reading the pattern wrong:( I pulled it out and started over. Funny how the stitches look so much better when you do the pattern the right way.

It was worth the time to do it over again, and I learned more about reading lace charts!

 

Almost Finished

She is Almost done! As I mentioned in my previous blog I'm making a new doll for my daughters birthday.
This time I wanted to make a smaller doll that could fit in her hand.

Here she is next to Ella. Ella is about 16" so Isabelle is about 12". I gave her little ears and bendy knees.

For her hair I started with a crocheted wig cap. Then I hand stitch layers of yarn to the cap.

I like to make the hair in layers so my daughter can give her any hairstyle. She likes to change her dolls hair a lot!

This is what the back looks like when the hair is pulled up.

Around the face I like to hook the yarn.

Last year I saw a beautiful doll with wavy hair and I new I wanted to try it. You can see the doll here http://www.flickr.com/photos/juli_velo_poupee/5995274340/in/faves-fromthelandofbrung/
at Juli's photostream. She was so nice to share how she made it so wavy. After the yarn is attatched each piece of yarn is unwound.

It takes a lot of time, but it's so pretty it's definitely worth it.

Now she's almost finished. I designed her a little cotton calico dress with hook and eye closer in the back.

I knitted her  little yellow beret out of Cascades 220 Superwash Wool. It was originally for another project but I thought the colour went well with the brown dress.

 I still need to finish the coat. I want to put a blanket stitch around it and I'm trying to knit a matching scarf. That part isn't going so well. She may end up scarfless :(

 Then the  last thing I will  need to do is make her little felt shoes. I will post more pictures when she is totally finished.