Oh Good! It's hot again.

Of course it is! Why? Because my fingers are itching to turn out tiny adorable sweaters. I've even been working on another one. Proof:

This will be our boy's requisite infant Aran. Originally I had intended this yarn for a different sweater altogether, but there's enough of it for this cabled sweater -- and I like it better, too.

And while we're talking baby boy clothes - I found an amazing sale at Bonnie Togs this weekend. I got all of this:

for $88! What a freakin' steal! As it happens, they're clearing out the summer line, and much of what you see here was marked down to $3/hanger. On the hangers, there is one t-shirt, one onesie, and one pair of shorts. So I still have to buy our little fellow some pants, but 2 shirts for $3 is still awesome! I also need to get him some sweaters, but as noted above, I'm working on that. Or I will be . . . once it's no longer hot.

Lucky Number Thirteen! And some knitting.

Seems like all I blog about lately are dolls. Seems like all I've done for a while is sew dolls. I'm not complaining - this is good news! I'm just sorry I'm not more interesting.

Suddenly I'm in a doll dry spot - which is probably for the best since I'm running low on interlock (skin) and stockinette again, and I'm nearly out of wool stuffing . . . but it kind of makes me sad at the same time. I wish I were enjoying the success of Bamboletta, Fig and Me, Dragonfly's Hollow . . . but for some reason, my dolls aren't really moving. Of the 13 dolls I've made, five were sold. 2 are hanging around waiting to be sold. The rest were given away - except Beebie. She's still here. Anyway, you didn't click this way to watch me mope . . but if you have a few moments, check out my shop here and tell me if you can why these dolls aren't going anywhere. Should I just chalk it up to being new on the scene? Is something terribly wrong and I've over-looked it? What's the deal?

Doll #13! Beth-Anne.



Oh yeah, she's cute! Of the 5 dolls that have sold, 3 are this pattern - the 10" jointed doll. It seems to be a favourite.

I also did some knitting in the past week. Since we now know the gestating addition is a boy, I was able to get some nice boy coloured yarn, and queued some nice boy type patterns . . . and I knit this:



Baby Sophisticate. And it's darn cute too. Still needs buttons (gimme a break! This time last week I was still pondering yarn choices!), and a blocking - but I can't wait to see it on my tiny baby son!

OMG CUTE!

So I gave you a sneak peek at #12 earlier - but now that she's done, packed and ready to be sent off . . . here she is!



Belonging to a young ballerina in New Brunswick - Mom wanted something really special for her little girl's birthday. I like to think I rose to the challenge.

Right down to the shoes:



And then I figured since I had a doll on hand who was the right size, and since this pattern is proving to be pretty popular - why not do some experimenting?

PJ's:



And a dress:



All in all, I'm really happy with her. I love her hair, and her ballet outfit. Too cute.

Sneak a Peek! #12

This lovely doll will be heading to NB for a special girl's birthday. She just needs some clothing, and she's all set!

I feel like it's been a while.

Last Friday, our internet went out. We weren't around to have it restored until last night. That's one week. One week without internet - I still have it at work, and on my phone, but I am somewhat more limited. It felt like a very long time. I'm extremely happy to have it fixed, and even happier that the ISP we use is crediting our service for that week.

A week without internet or TV is a productive week. I got doll clothes made. 2 pairs of custom ordered PJs and one pair of PJs for an auction. I got 2 dolls cut out and partially made. They have heads and torsos. They need more work, but that's not a big deal.

I got a little wee sweater mostly knit for our upcoming son. Yes, that's right - it's a boy! We look forward to welcoming a little brother for Sweet Pea.

I wanted to show you some pictures of our garden, but something seems to be going wrong. I was going to show you the tiny green peppers and the sidewalk full of cherry tomatoes. I was going to show you the beefsteak tomatoes the size of my fist - still green and growing bigger every day . . . but I can't seem to get photos to upload. Just as soon as I get it figured out, I'll share.

Meet Lindy, #11

Ah, Lindy. Doll #11.

I tried something new with Lindy, and I'm just not sold on it. Usually, for hair I do the crocheted cap with the hooked hair style. It's fully style-able, easily changed if need be (we all have an incident with a favourite doll and a hair cut in our past, don't we?) terrifically time consuming, and since I'm not a crocheter wildly difficult and aggravating for me. For Lindy's hair, I decided to try the layered wig I hear so much about.
Pros: it's quick, easy, doesn't take a huge amount of yarn or self-control, easy to add awesome highlights.Cons: Not as styleable, I just don't like the way it lies.
The pros do outweigh the cons, but the cons are pretty sizeable. As such, I won't be adding the layered wig to my rotation for dolls. I think as a doll maker - or really as anyone who sells anything, you have to be proud of the product you're putting out there with your name on it. With my dolls, I tend to make them with this criteria in mind: would I put this doll in Sweet Pea's hands? Would I let her take it out in public? If someone asked me where I got it, would I tell them I made it? If it's not good enough for my daughter, it's certainly not good enough to sell. The layered wig is not good enough. I guess I'll have to brush up on my crochet skills.

I also want to apologize for my recent radio silence. Life is catching up with me, and there have been a lot of early nights - pregnancy and summer are a poor combination.