Micro Crochet - Doll Fun

 I don't know why I thought that micro crochet would be fun.... but now I've fallen down the rabbit hole. I started with my daughter's dollhouse which will be a whole other post! I hope to actually share a bit about that because I'm having so much fun making stuff for it! 

But microcrochet has been on my tiktok feed for AGES. I keep getting this lady who does these beautiful delicate granny square blankets with sewing thread. Which feeds into the miniature thing because they are the way to make perfectly 1:12 scale stuff for a dollhouse. THANKFULLY (for this minute) I haven't gone down that path at the moment, I just have stumbled onto tiny dolls. So using size 10 crochet thread (one of the thicker micro crochet threads) and a 1mm hook I am making Hannah a tiny doll. 

But being me I didn't just work on it from just one pattern or idea. My thought was a little crochet doll that she can throw into her bag and play with like it is a whole play set. Though our time of travelling across the city every day is finishing soon, I still have a thing for portable play things. 

So how did I make this doll? I didn't use just one pattern. I used the Mini Noso doll base from superamigurumi. While you can just work with the free pattern on their website I did end up buying it from etsy to be able to print it and carry it around. But that doll base has no hair. There are hair ideas from some of their other stuff but I started looking around and stumbled on this curly hair tutorial on youtube by Crochet Mama. I adapted it a bit and only did strands 15 chains long and I sewed them down rather than glued them.  So I ended up with this cute little doll with curly hair.

Now she needed clothes. And trying to make clothes for the doll had my head spinning because it's SOOOO tiny. Look at it against my fingers down below!! 

So for clothes I started looking for inspiration. And I stumbled on this dress by The Loopy Lamb. I find myself wanting to make this whole doll but this dress seemed like something that would be fairly simple to replicate. And with adjustments for size I was able to make it for this doll. Like the starting chain is only 12 stitches. There aren't any closures because I can't work out what would actually work and I need a 4 year old to be able to put them on and off. I have 3 little dresses so far but from the sounds of it I will need to make a few more according to her plans. (not my plans, I'm not allowed plans anymore since it's her doll.)

Everyone of these dresses have a slightly different embellishments. Because I tried a few different things. I think my favourite style is the green and pink one with the picot crochet edge around the bottom.

Then now that I have the doll I needed things for the doll to play with. Now for this deep dive I randomly ended up on etsy, thankfully didn't spend any money but I did like the ideas particularly these two patterns right here and here. Now if I had've found these two BEFORE I started this whole process maybe I would have ended up with one of these patterns but because I didn't and I already had a doll and didn't really want another doll pattern. But I loved the ideas in these patterns. So using a thicker thread and more normal sized hook I made a background that I could make things to go on them. 

Then I made a bed and pillow for the doll. So this side will be a bedroom. This is basically how far I have gotten. I did two backgrounds and stitched it around a piece of cardboard to make it more playable. I have plans to make a bath like the inspiration pictures have. I also may make a kitchen/lounge one too. Basically I want her to be able to play with it and have things to do I just have only really been working on this for just over a week. 

I love how she sits in this nice and snug. Such an easy way to put her to bed. But I am sure I will have a lot more for her to do. I know I have been requested to make a toy/animal for her so I will see how that will go. But also I want to actually get her Large Dollhouse up and running for them to play with because she needs more things to play with that hit at her level. (the fun of having too many younger toys.) 

So I hoped you like this trip down into my thought process to make this little doll. It was a whole lot of fun and I have a lot more to make but it's a pretty good start. I definitely don't get ideas from just one place and I really don't do them the same way as other people have put them together. 

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

New Start: Ophelia Reading Shawl

 

So a few years back I made a homebody sweater with a cheap acrylic yarn and I still wear that one today. I bought this yarn to make another version with a nicer yarn, but for some reason it just didn't work up right. I actually think the yarn wasn't quite boxy enough and ended up being too drapey and it didn't suit this style of boxy sweater. So I asked my mum to help me because after putting a month into this project I didn't want to see it. My mum is awesome and the other week I got the yarn back from hers all balled up ready to be used :D

 

Mums are great aren't they?!

 I wanted a fairly easy shawl that didn't look boring but would keep me warm when sitting at my desk whether at home or at work. I love shawls more than jumpers. So I was browsing online and found this one and I knew it was the one I wanted to do. Outside the awesome name I just loved the shape and simplicity.

 

This shawl is the Reading Shawl from Ophelia Talks. (I did buy the pattern) It is a half hexagon shawl and follows a simple two row pattern. I am using a 5.5mm crochet hook and the 8 ply Stellar Yarn in the Amethyst Colourway from Bendigo Woollen Mills. At the time of this post the yarn unfortunately has been discontinued. I don't know if they will bring it back or not :( but I've used it for a few projects and  love how they all turned out and the yarn is just beautiful. 

So I have only done a few rows so far. I am loving how this yarn is working up and the pattern is really easy and simple and is just looking stunning. 

The great thing about crochet over knitting is that you can stop mid row a lot easier than you can with knitting. So this is a great project for me to carry with me at the moment onto the train and work on there. I look forward to sharing more updates with this project and I'm hoping it isn't a multi year project like the stormy sky shawl that I just finished!! Hannah is a bit older so I can generally stop her from being too disruptive with the yarn so I shouldn't have to hide it from her at least!

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

Finished - Stormy Sky Shawl

 For the first time in a while I have a finish that isn't one of my designs! Honestly to make my life a lot easier I have actually outsourced the test stitching on my cross stitch designs because it was stressing me out. Instead I've actually been enjoying picking up my crochet and knitting. BUT before I could get started on a couple of projects I wanted to work on I needed to get this project out of my WIP list. 

I know my WIP list is WAAAAY too long but I try to keep it contained particularly with cross stitch being the main one. I try not to have too many other projects half finished. So only a couple of knitting and crochet projects on the go. 

 So 2 years ago I posted for the first time about this project on Instagram/on the blog here. I don't have an exact date as to when I started this project but that's good enough. I worked on it at a lot at first because as with most knitting projects it's quick at first. But it is a triangle shawl. So it starts small and gets longer as you go. 

At first this project was fun to work on but with knitting you can't put it down easily mid row like you can with crochet. And I had a little helper who liked to be a part of anything I was doing....

She is so cute.... 

 

That face is just so hard to resist even if she is making a mess of my yarn!!!

 

So the project went away into a drawer more often than not. That was two years ago....

Now ...  she still wants to help and it doesn't always end up in the best way but she is still super cute.

The colours are just stunning and this pattern was lovely to work on. I am tempted to do this pattern again with a less busy yarn. And more yarn so that I can actually make it bigger. 

 

 

I love the changing lace patterns. 

 

Little feet helping me take the photos :D

 

 

I am in love with this project, despite not loving this yarn and I won't be going out of my way to find anymore, (it has been discontinued so....) I will absolutely love this shawl and use it all the time. 

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

Charm on Wheels: Whimsical Cross Stitch Bus Pattern

When tasked with creating a design for the smalls/ biscornu issue of Down The Rabbit Hole, I found myself pondering various ideas. Should I revisit a floral motif like last year, or venture into new territory? Inspiration struck once again while I was commuting on the bus or train, my sketchbook in hand. As I mulled over ideas, I couldn't help but notice the lacklustre appearance of modern trains – just dreary grey boxes on tracks. However, our buses exuded charm with their vibrant designs. Basically they were more colourful and I could do something with that!

 

Do you find yourself frequently travelling on public transport? Like me, perhaps you rely on it daily. Here, our bus and train system utilizes cards called go cards for fare payment. I couldn't bear to leave mine in its plain plastic sleeve, so I decided to give it a makeover. Transforming it into its own miniature bus seemed fitting – mirroring the cheerful decorations adorning buses in our city.

Each major city in Australia now boasts its own mini bus, capturing the unique colouring and character of its public transportation. Though I empathise with Hobart, where the buses are simply plain white!

Ensuring accuracy in colour representation was crucial, albeit challenging. I scoured online sources for reference photos, striving to faithfully recreate each city's distinct bus design. Of course they are not perfect but they are cute :D Can you tell I'm trying to be a bit over the top right now? I tried to be accurate but it wasn't always easy. 

Now where can you find these designs?

The set of designs is available from Down The Rabbit Hole's Patreon. 

You can sign up for a subscription or just buy the individual magazines. 

I hope you enjoy this little design. 

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

 

 

Crochet flower fairy

I needed to do something that wasn't cross stitch for a bit when something came across my ads on Facebook. It was a sunflower fairy that was reversible. So could be both a flower and a doll. I didn't end up getting that one I ended up down an Etsy rabbit hole. And picked up a reversible tulip fairy from ChibisCraft 

I didn't end up adding the wings but using Bendigo Woollen Mills cotton 8ply I made this purple tulip. I love how it turned out and Hannah loves her 'fower'.

I also picked up two new Crochet books. These ones are to make some Crochet dolls. I'm really excited to try these out. 

I love all the little outfits. I'm looking forward to creating little dolls with changeable outfits.

These books are so cute and all the photoshoots they did are so awesome!

I'm lost as which to begin with. They both look absolutely gorgeous!

so many cute ideas

I will have to make a decision soon because she really loves looking through these two books. And I think she will love the doll when it's there to be played with. 

Happy stitching,

Caitlin