Before 2015

I haven't written on my blog in such a long time. I thought I would take a minute to spotlight a few things I've done in the past year. It will be 2015 in less than 4 hours. That's hard to believe. Why does the time slip away so quickly? I haven't written here since August 2013. I've completed over 60 things since then. Way too many to post all of them. So here are just a few! :)

This is Samuel and he's walking around now He's such a cutie! 

Now we are expecting #23 and 24 next summer! Hooray! 

This guy has been well played with and mended too. I start with a Jean Greenhowe cowboy and change it to make my own thing. 

This was a fun knit of Fiona McDondald that I finished at the Talbot reunion! :) 

This was a fun Debi Tomasello knit that I did for my sister, Pat! 

This cute Debi hat is one I did for my friend, Mary, for her granddaughter! 

I enjoyed doing this little YodaMaster by Phoenixknits! She has lots of fun patterns! 

This  baby blanket was a pattern from Debi Tomasello was a fun knit for my new nephew! 

I've done several of these Jean Greenhowe  nativities now. This one was for my sister-in-law, Deanna. 

I have done several Fiona McDonald's fairies from her book Knitted Faries to Cherish and Charm! 

Another Debi Tomasello knit! 

This was a fun knit from Debi's group. I dyed the yarn for this! 

This was my own pattern! A bit skinny, but cute anyway. 

Here's another Jean Greenhowe cowboy turned Ninja! 

I also enjoy doing some test knits for Galina Fedtchenko. Both of these are her patterns! 

I did this shawl for my sister-in-law, Jeanne. It was made from her mother's yarn! :) 

It's been a short year. Time seams to fly by! Here's a link to my Ravelry page that shows all my stuff since 2010! :) 

Knitting has been a great blessing to me! I've learned more than knitting. It's so important to have something to do. Something to keep me focused on. Some way of giving a bit of myself to those I love. There is more I have learned, which comes from learning any type of skill. So I would encourage you to find something to do, something to give and something to enjoy! :) 

Thia's Butterfly Cable Doll Dress

Thia's Butterfly Cable Doll Dress 

This little dress is knitted in the round. A little optional cable makes this a good learning experience. The bottom has a simple picot edge. A few added beads will turn the bit of pink into a butterfly. This dress is 6 inches, but that is easily adjustable to fit a taller or a smaller doll.

The Basic Doll Body (Knit) pattern is from Maggie Menzel. The one I made is 10.5 inches.  She also offers a crochet version.
I have a little eye painting thread that might be helpful. I learned to make eyes from doing Fiona McDonald's Dolls!   

Please let me know if you find any errors or need any help with this dress!

Materials:
Worsted weight in two colors
MC=Main color
CC= Contrast color
Long circular knitting needles or DPNs Size 5.5mm (U.S.9)
Two buttons
Small beads.
Cable Needle
Stitch markers

Gauge: 20 sts and 28 rows = 4 inches

Abbreviations:
CO = Cast On
K = knit
P = Purl
St.St.= Stockenette Stitch
YO = Yarn over
K2tog = Knit 2 together
P2tog = Purl 2 together
S = Slip
CN = Cable Needle
MC=Main color
CC= Contrast color
B = Bead
CO =Cast On
BO = Bind Off
S = Slip
PM = Place Marker

With MC cast on 114 stitches ( if you want to work it flat, start with a purl row. and use st. st.)
Join into the round. PM at the beginning of the round.
Row 1-4: Knit
Row 5: K1,( YO, K2 tog) around
Row 6-11: K
Row 12-18: Follow the chart for color. Or st.st and add color or decoration as desired later.
Row 19-24: Continue in St.St. Fit this on your doll, start decrease rows when it is to the arms.
Row 25: K2tog around (57 sts)
Row 26: K
Row 27: Decrease Row,(Fit this to your doll and decrease as desired (K1, K2tog, K2tog) around to last st (35 sts)
Row 28: With CC K around
Row 29: " P
Row 30: With MC K around
Row 31:  K9, CO 14 sts. (Left sleeve) K17, (front) CO 14 stitches (Right sleeve) K9 (63sts)
Row 32: K9, P14, K17, P14, K9
Row 33: K around
Row 34: Repeat Row 33
Row 35: K14, K2tog, K2tog, K 27, K2tog, K2tog K14 (59 sts)
Row 36: K around
Row 37: K13, K2tog, K2tog, K25, K2tog, K2tog, K13 (55 sts)
Row 38: K around
Row 39: K19, (Do not cut yarn) With CC, BO 6, K2tog Continue binding off, K1, K2tog, BO 6. This binds off the front of the dress. Leave a long tail for sewing
Row 40: Turn work P2, (P2tog) 3 times, P22, (P2tog) 3 times, P2
Row 41: BO with CC Leave a long tail to sew along front of sleeve to the front bodice. Turn first 4 rows under to make picot edge. Or add a ribbon in eyelet row and let the bottom curl up. Weave in ends.
Add beads to the butterflies by using a length of sewing thread (both arms length). Fold double and thread a needle that will fit through your bead. Slip beads on. Hold onto the end of the thread so you do not loose the beads and go under the bottom middle stitch of the butterfly and come out above that stitch. Now go back through the beads and tighten the thread. Secure with a few stitches under the beads. When it's secure, go back up through the beads, then tie a couple of square knots with the end of the thread. Cut off the threads leaving enough thread for anntanas. Put a little glue on the threads to hold them together.
Enjoy the dress! :)

Thank you to MsJodi for charting my butterfly design!

I hope you enjoy making this little doll dress! 

I reserve my rights with this pattern! You are welcome to make and sell as many dresses as you can make.  You may copy this pattern for your own use, but please do not sell the pattern. 

Thank you very much! 

I finished this awesome dragon this morning! 

And this Deborah Tomasello  hat turned out great! 

I had a wonderful time with my parents and my nephew, Walker yesterday! We went to the ice caves north of Shoshone. But I forgot my camera and my traveling doll. and the pictures I took on my camera phone are still stuck on my phone. We had a great time! :) 

A few things since last fall! :)

I have been super busy with so much knitting! I haven't posted anything for a long time so here's a quick look at some of the things I done since last fall. 

This was a special Fiona McDonald Doll! I won a contest with this and got her Knitted Fairies as a prize! That was last December and January. 

Then I made the Blue Moon Fairy! 

And Cobweb! 

We welcomed our youngest grandchild Taylar, in March! I made this dress for her and the blanket was something her daddy's grandmother made for him when he was a baby. We now have 20 grandchildren with 2 more on the way! 

Here is Luke and Pip! I have also been enjoying knitting some of Phoenixknits patterns! She's fabulous! 

I have also been enjoying some color knitting with Deborah Tomasello 

This is only a few of the things I've done. 

I have enjoyed knitting so much. I just keep learning more things and enjoying it more and more! Hooray for knitting! :) 

October & November

In October it was a pleasure to have Dora come to visit me from Ireland! 

Cindy and Dora enjoyed doing many things together! 

Here is a headband and scarf for my friend Mary! 

A trip to the Perrine Bridge is always a thrill! The canyon is so deep and beautiful! 

After I struggled making these blocks with magnets in them I read about magnet safety for children. So I decided that magnet blocks for children is not a good idea. 

But I finally did make a block that might work! 

I made these gloves for Joe. 

I made this cute little Peggy the Pegacorn. Just because I wanted to do a fun toy mystery knit! It was fun to just get a little bit of the pattern every week. 

 Halloween was great fun! 

I helped Mary carve 20 pumpkins! One for each of the kids including Mary! 

A witch outfit for Dora! 

And of course she needs a black kitty to go with her! 

Halloween was great! But I didn't get to see the Bun Maker! Hooray for the kids! 

The past couple weeks I've been working on a doll for Abigail but that still needs some work. I'm also making a pillow for Dane. I have plenty of other things planned. A T-Rex for Ryan is next. Then a dress for my Sweetie Pie, the traveling doll, who will be visiting from Scotland. A new doll for Elizabeth. An Elf for Mary. A hat for a friend. And a soft something for Alexander! That should keep me busy til the end of December! :) 

Knitting in August and September!

Wow! I haven't updated my blog since July! How does time fly away from me so quickly!

The first part of August I made this awesome hunter for my grandson.

Little brother removed his eyes, and of course you know a hunter cannot hunt without his eyes. 

So I made new ones! 

I got them looking up to much. I need some more practice making eyes.

I made this cute Jean Greenhowe teddy bear for my one-year-old sweetie. 

This sock monkey went to one of my James, who just turned three. 

This nativity turned out better than this picture, because I made some changes after I did the pictures. 

I changed the color on the green figure's robe. I found the right color of yarn so I made the change. I also changed Mary's lips, so they are a bit less profound. 

I got a bit sidetracked from my birthday knitting and started a little doll. She is a traveling doll! And she is just so much fun. There are 13 ladies in our group and the dolls will spend about a month with each of us. The first place my doll goes is to Arkansas, then she will travel to Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Poland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and then back home. I will receive their dolls in the reverse order. The doll from Canada was just here and she in on her way. 

This is the first doll I made. I named her Cindy and I have redone her face more than once. 

Here she is before. 

and  after.

She even has straight pins for earrings! 

 I think I might still redo her eyes, just for the practice. 

Her face got too much paint and when I felted her, her head got too wobbly. I wasn't happy with her  so I made another doll. But she is a very nice host doll for all our visitors!  Her name is Thia. Even though I like Cindy's hair better Thia is the one traveling! Her hair is 100% wool Kool-aid dyed and it's nice too. :)

It has been so much fun to have Callie and Cathy visiting from Canada! It says there are only 127 pictures on there, but I think it's more than 150. Here they are helping me make bread! 

We took tons of pictures. Here we are at Shoshone Falls! 

I also made Callie a cute little Jean Greenhowe Teddy bear! 

And some new dresses! We all make a new outfit for everyone! 

Her shoes were from a pattern by our lady in Cornwall, England!

I gathered some post cards and a few things to send on her way to Arkansas. 

This is such a fun adventure! 

I also made some roses for Natalie.

 Now I'm working on some gloves for Joe! 

I always have something planned! I love life and have tons of fun!