Hello! It's gone all windy and chilly outside today, making me want to snuggle up with my crochet and mug of hot chocolate, but first I have a book review to share! I bought
Edward's Doll Emporium by Kerry Lord in Waterstone's when I was on a day trip to Aberdeen in October. It had recently been released and I had seen lots of hype about it on social media so I was keen to have my own copy! I love the concept of this book; you flip through and match heads with outfits to create the pattern for the look you are going for. The corresponding pattern is presented on the opposite page making it very clear and easy to use.
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| Oooooh, shiny new book! |
Because my WIP list was so long it wasn't until January this year that I began to make my first doll and I was so excited to start! After looking through lots of different options I decided to make a doll in the likeness of my dear friend Gwen so Head 1 and Costume 1 were the best fit for her.
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| making a start |
The dress was one of the most time consuming pieces to make, it seamed to take forever to be long enough but I loved how it quickly injected some colour into the project and my photos! I like the fact that all the clothes are interchangeable, allowing more than one outfit to be made - something a young child will really enjoy to play with.
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| 2 arms now! |
One thing I did find fiddly was making the hands! I went for the advanced body options and trying to create 2 sets of fingers that matched was quite tricky! I was mostly crocheteing whilst watching family films (it was still the Christmas holidays) with a stash of chocolates and a cup of tea at my side so all this kept me going!
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| time to think about the hair |
Gwen has beautiful, thick auburn hair so lots of woolly hair was needed! I had an odd ball of leftover sock yarn and reckoned it would be big enough but it wasn't until I began pulling the strands through that I realised just how much yarn this task consumed. I started spacing the strands further and further apart in an effort to cover the scalp, but I wasn't convinced this approach had worked very well and was still considering pulling it out and starting with different yarn when I spotted a very similar colour yarn in a charity shop, hooray! It worked perfectly in harmony with the initial hair colour and the gaps were filled and blended very neatly.
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| initial hair coverage |
It was arround this stage that I stopped taking and posting photos online because although Gwen knew that I was making it for her and she had helped to choose colours for her dress, I wanted to keep some elements a surprise. It was also around this time that I began to think about glasses. Gwen wears glasses all the time so this doll had to have glasses! Working with metal has never really been my thing so I turned to someone else to help, local artist Alan MacDonald. Alan had fun recreating Gwen's glasses in miniature form using thin wire and I was really pleased with how they turned out!
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| eeeeek! I have glasses! |
At the start of this week I handed mini-Gwen over to Gwen and she was delighted with how it had turned out - all those tiny stitches in 4ply yarn were definitely worth it! I will be making more dolls from this book for sure - there are so many different options to choose from which I love!
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| both Gwens together at last! |
I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys crocheting. The instructions are very clear, the photos are excellent and there is all sorts of extra information at the back on skin tone, sizing, etc. This is a fun book that you will keep reaching for when you need to make a personalised present for a special friend or relative.
Until next time, happy hooking,
Marta xx
PS. All views expressed in this blog post are my own, this post has not been sponsored in any way.
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