Meet Ava

This beautiful doll is my second attempt at making a Waldorf style doll. The first one came out OK and sure is cute but there were definitely some mistakes. After consulting with a professional Waldorf doll maker, I had a better outcome for this doll. She was named after a special little girl who who fell in love with her. When that little girl is old enough, she will get one of her very own! I can't wait to make it.

This doll, our Ava, was made for my little girl who snuggles up with her every night. The dolly is allowed to have a modeling job on the side when my little one is at camp or school but otherwise, Mommy needs to keep her hands off. My daughter may only be 5 but she is sure of what she wants!

If you are interested in making a Waldorf style doll, I encourage you to try. It does take some doing and there is definitely a learning curve but the reward is a great big smile on your child's face. I made my first doll with a kit from Weir Dolls and my second with materials from that site but a slightly different method.

1) I rolled the head like a snowball instead of stuffing it like a pillow as the directions called for.

2) I machine sewed more on the second than the first.

3) I found some beautiful yarn at a local yarn shop for the hair on the second instead of using worsted wool.

4) I crocheted a cap for the head, hand sewed it on and then attached the individual strands of hair to the cap by doubling them and looping them around the crocheted stitches. I like this version of hair the best because it can be styled in many ways, oh and I like to learn new crochet techniques as I am more of a knitter than a crocheter.

Waldorf Dolls, Sweaters and Shoe tying

I have recently discovered Waldorf dolls through my friend who owns Millie’s Dollhouse. She makes the cutest dolls and they sell quickly! I love them to distraction and can’t wait until I can purchase one. In fact, I love them so much that I have been inspired to knit all sorts of things for these dolls, starting with cardigans. I have had so much fun playing with patterns and yarn and, oh, the choices!! I’ve always loved sock yarn, I but I’ve never really felt pulled to knit socks. There is nothing wrong with knitting socks, I just haven’t felt the need to. Perhaps it is because I have this sneaking suspicion that if I start, I’ll never stop. So, what to do with all of this gorgeous yarn? You see where this is going don’t you? Yes, I knit these little jewels of “sock” yarn, 100% merino wool to be specific. I love the colors, the fiber and I am so inspired. There is nothing better on a rainy day (and there are plenty at this time of year) than a cup of tea and turning some beautiful yarn into something cute! Can you tell that I’m really enjoying this new venture? I have even found a wonderful community on facebook that is dedicated to all things Waldorf called Gals and Dolls. I could spent hours reading posts and checking out the Etsy stores of doll makers and other knitters. In fact, I have.

My daughter is loving this new venture too because her dolls get all of the prototype sweaters, skirts, headbands and purses. Let’s just say that some of the patterns coming out of my head work better than others. She is also enjoying that fact that more dolls will be coming into the house. I’ve told her that she can play, gently, with the new dolls but that they will need to be “working” dolls from time to time when Mommy needs a model for a photo shoot. She seems alright with this arrangement since most of my photo shoots are while she is at school and not playing with her toys anyway.

So what does all of this have to do with shoe tying? Yesterday I blocked out a whole afternoon to teach my daughter to tie her shoes because I thought that, even though she loves velcro shoes, she should know how to tie shoes with kindergarten fast approaching. It turns out that if you teach your child to knit and then to tie her shoes the shoe tying lesson takes all of three minutes. We had all kinds of time yesterday afternoon for fun stuff!

Hats all around

This summer has brought a lot of travel and even more knitting.  For some reason a large amount of the knitting has been hats.  Hats for munchkins that is.  Who can blame me though, they are so CUTE! 

The bear hat is the result of a friend asking for one for her little man but never finding a pattern she loved.  When it doubt, make your own pattern.  It came out well I'd say.

I call August to December "birthday season" as it seems we are at a birthday party nearly every week for the entire 5 months.  With all of these cuties as inspiration, the hats very nearly made themselves.  I particularly love the striped photo prop hat, I can't wait to see the pictures of the little guy.

When fall finally arrives in our neck of the woods, the kids around here are going to be warm, toasty, and cute!

Summertime!

Whether the calendar agrees with me or not, I declare it summer.  These are my reasons why.

1) School is out in my neck of the woods.

2) My neighborhood pool is open.

3) The Farmers' Markets are open. 

4) Caprese salad with ingredients from aforementioned Farmers' Market.  Summer's lovely simplicity in a bowl. Yum!

5) It hit 90 degrees this week.

6) It has stopped raining daily.

7) It is strawberry picking time.

8) All of the people in my knitting group are doing open work or lace instead of blankets because "dear, it is just too hot."  I am knitting cute little hats for the same reason.  Watch for a blue one soon.

9) The summer concerts have started.

What makes it summer for you?

My New Ride

It has been a wild ride for the last few months but we are now moved into the house and mostly settled.  (No pictures of the house until the lawn is installed, the downfall of moving in February.)  There were hassles with the build and the move but it was worth it.   We have wonderful neighbors and friends close by.  I am also, finally, back to knitting and filling my Etsy store check out the new stuff and the gorgeous pictures.  I can't take credit for the vast majority of the outdoor pictures, by the way, those were taken by my dear friend Jolene.  Check out her photography blog here.  I told you she was talented now didn't I?

With all of these changes has come another.  I've gotten a new ride.  Cool huh?  

My daughter and I have taken to riding to the local parks in the mornings before it gets too hot.  She loves the trailer, I love the exercise and we're saving quite a bit of gas.  We are lucky to live in a place with so may parks and nature trails available.  We plan to explore them all this summer.  I hope that you and yours find some nearby and do the same.  I'd love to hear how your adventures go!

Progress

More work has been done on the house and the much awaited bannisters are in!  Munchkin may now tour the house freely.  No closing date yet but we are getting close.  I'm so ready to live out of drawers and cupboards instead of boxes and to have some semblance of order.  Sure our house is clean and gorgeous for showings but papers have a way of disappearing when I have to keep putting them somewhere "safe."

I'm now also dabbling in bead work for my Etsy store.  I currently have 2 sets of prayer beads for sale in my store and more to come very soon.  This is something I stumbled across a few years ago and shared with the women at my church recently.  They are fun and thought provoking to make and they are peaceful things to have in your life.  I've very excited about these and even if no one buys them, I hope to spread the word about them and encourage more people to make their own to use in their own prayers.

In addition to the prayer beads, I've been knitting like crazy, especially for Christmas.  In 10 days I knit 6 scarves and a purse.  They came out wonderfully but unfortunately there are no pictures since I gave them all away before photographing them.  Rookie mistake. 

Home building - Quite an adventure

As I mentioned in my last post, we are building a new home.  Something we never thought we would do, but we are enjoying it nonetheless. Pretty huh?  They tell me the dirt piles will be gone by spring and then maybe we'll have some plants too.  If everything goes well, we should be in the new home by mid-January.   

My child is mostly thrilled about the move because we know a lot of families who live very near the new place and now they are only a bike ride away instead of a 10 minute car ride.  We enjoy wandering through the new construction even with the dust everywhere just to see the changes.  There are some things about the house tours that make me a little nervous though.  Remember the child I mentioned, well this is what the hallway just outside the playroom. 

Terrifying isn't it?  Soon there will be a railing, but right now, nervous nellie mommy!  Never have I been so appreciative of trim carpenters!  Wish us luck.  Now back to knitting.