Just so you know I'm still alive and knitting

I've knit quite a bit reccently and bought a few barbie and kens as well as clothes for them. I just haven't really had anything I was really proud to show off . Keep checking in for updates though! ^_^

KRISSY SLING PATTERN

Size D crochet hook
Wendy Velvet Touch
Tapestry needle
Remnants of crochet cotton

Chain 15, work half double crochet the normal way until swatch is square. bind off all stitches and weave in ends. Insert hook into 1 and chain 8. Insert hook into 2 and bo. Insert hook into 3 and chain 8, then insert hook into 4 and BO. Insert hook into 5 and chain 15, insert hook into 6 and BO.

Finally take crochet cotton, crochet one chain at the top of the sling until it reaches half way around the barbie's neck. Repeat on the other side. Weave in ends.

I don't usually write crochet patterns so if this isn't clear please feel free to ask for help.

Rose has a new body plus another pic of dolls I brought on first time

Did a doll census,

So I did a census of my barbie dolls today. I have currently:

-Nine white blonde barbies
-Three nonwhite barbies (only two usable for children as Rose, my favorite doll (in the green) has bitten up hands and feet that I don't think kids would appreciate (but that I don't mind.)
-Two Kens (well technically one Ken, one John Smith but he's Ken sized and doesn't have his original clothes)
- Five blond white Kellys
-One red headed white Kelly
-One African American Kelly
-One white blond Tommy
-One white blonde Krissy.

Here is also a picture of me dropping off my first donation of dolls, earlier last week:

Yes I am wearing an Indiana Jones hat, yes it is dorky, but it made me feel all heroic like.

more baby Krissy stuff

I designed this sling last night while trying to make Krissy a sleeper sack out of Wendy Velvet touch (which feels just like the stuff baby sleeper sacks are made of), but I discovered it would be very hard to to make it fit her, so instead I made it into a sling. I will try hard to make a sleeper sack for Kelly instead of Krissy, as she might be easier to fit.

Despite coming out of a mistake the sling is still useful as Barbies can't hold Krissy dolls.

New clothes today.

So I got a Krissy doll a while back in a bag of doll clothes. She came with only one outfit that well lets just say it didn't look right because it didn't have a diaper. So today I made her a few things, a bonnet and a diaper. It is my goal however to make three diapers (not including the one I already made,) booties  four dresses or pants or jammies or what have you, three bonnets, two blankets and a diaper bag. If I could also make one of these strollers for her from this site:
http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/2007/08/doll-house-sized-stroller-tutorial.html
I'd enjoy that too.

I also made one of my Kellys a new dress, I'm stocking up on Kelly clothes so the next one that comes naked can be dressed right away. So far I made a sweater of my own design (two posts down, its the red one) and this jumper:

Please tell me what you all think. ^_^

I have the tutus done.

I'm shocked I have them dressed already, I think their outfits are super cute. What do you think?
Kelly doll ballerina outfits.




Size three knitting needles

Remnants of a smooth textured yarn and an eyelash yarn

Size B crochet hook



Row 1: cast on 1 stitch, knit front, back, front. (3)

Row 2 and all wrong sized rows: purl

Row 3: Knit front back , knit one, knit front back (5)

Row 5: knit front back , knit three, knit front back (7)

Row 6: cast on six stitches, purl across the row (13)

Row 7: cast on six stitches (19) work even for about 3/4ths an inch. Bind off.

Sew up back seam and sew front flap to back flap.

Using B hook attach front flap to back flap using fun fur yarn using single crochet, in doing this make sure to shape this into leg holes. Break yarn.



Single crochet around the top edge of the tutu with the fun fur. When done with row, break yarn and weave in ends. Finally chain two straps using the smooth textured yarn for arm straps.

This week's garage sale and thrift store finds

I went garage saling today. I expected to find quite a few dolls at a church garage sale I went to but the pickings were slim. I did find two things I was looking for, one at the aforementioned church sale, one at a sale I went to before that. At the church sale I found these two adorable Kelly dolls I just had to snatch up (remember my rule about dolls of color?)

Aren't they adorable? They have arms that are articulate at the shoulders but both came naked (which I don't usually find with Kellys.) The redhead on the right, who I nicknamed Risa, borrowed an outfit from another Kelly for the sake of modesty. The African American, Kira as I have so dubbed her, is wearing a red sweater I knit her of my own design. Both will soon have clothes to call their own and Risa will return the dress to the other Kelly. Both need a fresh coat of paint on their shoes, Kira more than Risa.

I also found a Dr. Barbie lab coat (on a barbie I know is not Dr. Barbie) that will be given to another barbie, along with the barbie stethoscope I found around a Ken's neck the other day and a dentists chair I got some time ago. I am also making a barbie nurse that will likely be packaged with the Dr. Barbie along with a Kelly patient.

Also earlier this week, I forgot to say, I bought a lovely (though small, in number of rooms, not in size) doll house:

The dolls inside the house haven't had clothes made for them, they are only there for scale.

So what do you all think?

Kelly patterns

http://www.allcrafts.net/f.php?url=www.geocities.com/crochet_crafters/patterns/free/cindy.html

This has a four Kelly patterns, very adorable.

http://www.dolls.wendysweewoolies.com/Kelly%20Doll%20Ridged%20patterns.html
http://www.dolls.wendysweewoolies.com/Kelly_Victorian_Style_Outfit.html
http://www.dolls.wendysweewoolies.com/Kelly_ruffle_top_pattern.html

A few Kelly outfits that are free, although there are others on the site that are pay only.

http://www.craftown.com/crochet/pat61.htm

another free kelly pattern.

http://kellybasics.tripod.com/kelly1.html

More free kelly patterns.
http://keepingmeinstitches.wordpress.com/2007/07/24/free-pattern-gi-joe-pants/

a Ken/ GI joe knitting pattern for pants.
http://www.allcrafts.net/f.asp?url=www.jpfun.com/patterns/free/toys/f113005_kenpants.shtml

Another Ken pants pattern, this time crochet.
http://craftatticresources.blogspot.com/2010/06/ken-now-has-enough-of-his-own-free.html

A lot of ken patterns, possibly some repeats.

I have more patterns but my hands are numb.

Where I get my patterns and how to do a project like this frugally.

I am an average teenager, an average unemployed teenager, so all my money for this project comes from gifts or from one of my knitting commissions (For example I crocheted a tetris cell phone cozy for someone I know who will soon be in a tetris movie, that pocketed me about 15 dollars, all or practically all of which went to my doll project.)

YARN
    The yarn is simple to obtain, thriftstores often have a yarn section. I could head to a thrift store and pick up two skeins of baby, sock, or fingering weight yarn for about $2.50 (my trusty google says this translates to 1.5726£ or 1.8921 euros). True, this is usually red heart or some other acrylic yarn but it works especially if you are like me and have allergies to most animal fibers.

   Another option to use that you could also get from the thrift store is crochet thread also known as crochet cotton. When making doll clothes I usually suggest size 3 or size 10 crochet thread (size three is bigger.)

Both types of yarn can come in many vibrant colors including variegated (which I don't suggest for using for doll clothes because the color changes can become overwhelming.) Most of the yarn used in my doll projects are made from yarn from thrift stores.

THE DOLLS

Where do I look for dolls? My trusty friends the thrift store and the garage sales. You can buy most of these barbies in the price range of from $.75 to $6.00 used. Keep in mind just because a barbie is more expensive doesn't mean it is better. Here are some examples. One of these dolls was $ 1.25 and fully clothed (not in the clothes she is in now) and the other was only $.75 also fully clothed (in the clothes she is shown in.) Can you tell which is which?

I don't think so.

A good price for a Kelly doll is between $.10 and $.75. I have bought a bag of 6 Kelly dolls for $2.50 before, which isn't a bad deal.

As for Ken, if you find one for under $5.00 buy it, especially if it is clothed. Kens (especially non-white Kens) are fairly difficult to find.

If you can't find a Ken  and you want one for your doll 'family' you can always find a GI Joe (which tend to be more expensive at thrift stores, but about the same price as Kens at garage sales.)

CLOTHES TO GO WITH THE KNITTED AND CROCHETED ITEMS

So... where do you think I will go first for shoes and other clothes that are not knitted or crocheted for barbies? If you said thrift stores and garage sales you are RIGHT!

You can buy bags of clothes for about $2.50 at thrift stores and the prices are all over the place at garage sales.

QUESTIONS ABOUT KEN'S CLOTHES.

So you might ask if Ken can wear GI Joe clothes or vice versa, the answer is usually. Try them and see, as it all depends.

BARBIE KNITTING PATTERNS

Just Barbie

http://www.sindyclothes.com/Sindy%20Knitting%20Patterns.htm

This lovely site is full of clothes originally intended for Sindy, a doll about the same size as Barbie but they will work just as well for Barbie. There is a lovely nurse pattern that I am currently working on. ^_^

http://happyyellowhouse.com/htm/easterfrock.html

A fairly easy pattern.

http://www.crochetnmore.com/fashiondollsundress.htm

This site has many many patterns for barbie.

http://www.knittingonthenet.com/dollsbarbie.htm
Cute barbie witch pattern on here, as well as other cute things.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTblythe.html

Blythe, like Sindy is a doll with a body about the same size as barbie.

This is just a tasting of Barbie patterns avalible, I will post more on a different post later on when I can feel my fingers again.I will post Ken and Kelly clothes on a seperate post, different from Barbie clothes patterns

My First Post

I'm Madeline, I'm 17 and a 3.9 GPA high school student with high functioning autism. When I was younger I lived in a battered women's shelter and recalled having few toys. Now that I am older and can knit I have decided to give back to the girls and boys living in the same situation by fixing up dolls from the thrift stores and garage sales and giving them to battered women's shelters.

Here are some examples of my work and more examples will be coming soon: