Pink and Purple – Krissy’s Winter Warmer

Bonjour, mes amies!

Here is Krissy in an absolutely adorable outfit by Odile at Passion Poupees. It’s been a while since I’ve made an outfit for one of my Mini Corollines, and it has been fun and fast.

This outfit was for a larger doll and I hoped that by using Odile’s recommended size of crochet hook it would turn out small enough for Krissy (I am a much tighter crocheter than Odile!). I was right and it is a very good fit. However, I did not enjoy using a size 2.5 mm hook – it was hard for me – I’m used to bigger hooks.

I did adjust the hat to make sure that it stayed turned up by making the last row have several stitches crocheted together.

The yarn is Stylecraft Life 4 ply in shade 2309 (Heather) and James C Brett Supreme Baby 4 ply shade SY3 (Lilac).

I love this outfit!! I hope you do too.

Passez une bonne journée, à bientôt …

Merry Christmas Everyone! – Jeannie’s Sparkling Gold Trim

Joyeux Noel, mes amies!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Here is the last Xmas outfit for my little family of Les Cheries. Jeannie is wearing a beautiful outfit by Odile at Passion Poupees. This features a simple long sleeved dress, trimmed with some sparkly variegated yarn in shades of gold.

I think you will agree this is a very sophisticated look for Jeannie.

The cream yarn is Sirdar Countrystyle DK in shade 917 (cream). The contrast yarn is DMC Starlet in shade T143 (coppers/gold). Having crocheted with a thicker yarn than recommended, I found that the use of a size 3.5 mm crochet hook meant the dress was a perfect fit!

The Xmas party look is completed by a lovely gilet with a gorgeous flower in the middle of the back. I used a different yarn for this – Woolcraft Brushed DK in shade 02 (cream). This is a fluffy yarn which has a nice effect. I used the same gold contrast yarn for the gilet and it took me a few attempts to get this right. I used a size 3.5mm hook for the gilet too.

And here are all my lovely Les Cheries together in front of my xmas tree.

Festive Felicitations and a very Merry Christmas to you all!

Krissy’s Cosy Cardigan – a Winter Warmer

Bonjour, mes amies!

So even although our friends in Australia are heading into their summer, Krissy’s dress from yesterday will not keep her cosy enough in our somewhat damp and miserable weather here in Scotland (and the rest of Europe).

Having previously made a dress from one of Laurence’s patterns (at crochetloisirs.canalblog.com) which I then made a matching cardigan for, I decided to do the same for Krissy.

The original gilet pattern is by Vanina at Les Cheries de Vaniline, and this pattern is designed for both Kidz n Cats dolls and Les Cheries. I, however, have adapted it even further for the Mini Corollines. (I have written down my instructions for the cardigan and, if Vanina is happy, I will send them to anyone who asks.)

I made a new wee cardigan for Krissy and I think you’ll agree that she will be warm enough now as the frosty weather is threatening to come.

I used Woolcraft Baby Care 4 ply in shade 700 (white), and for the edging I used Hayfield Baby Bonus 4 ply in shade 854 (Baby Blue). I used size 3 mm knitting needles.

Here are both little girls in their beautiful dresses by Laurence and their cardigans by Vaniline (both adapted in size by me for the Mini Corollines). Don’t they look cute?

Passez une bonne journée, à bientôt

Mustn’t Get Cold – Katie Gets a Cardigan

Bonjour, mes amies!

Today I am following the advice of Nathalie who was concerned that Katie might get cold in her pink dress made following Laurence’s pattern at crochetloisirs.canalblog.

Taking Nathalie’s comment to heart, I immediately searched for the perfect pattern for a jacket for Katie.

I decided to make this cute gilet by Vanina at Les Cheries de Vanaline (the blog that started this whole adventure for me – she was my inspiration.)

This gilet was my first attempt following a pattern like this, and despite the very clear instructions, I got confused a couple of times. Nevertheless, I’m finished now and really pleased with the result.

I’m sure you’ll agree that Katie will be cosy enough now for the colder weather which is surely on its way.

I used the same yarns as before – old 4 ply yarns from my stash, and I took a chance and made the gilet with the recommended knitting needle size of 3 mm. Vanina’s tutorial is for a Les Cheries doll, but I assumed that mine would turn out smaller due to the fact I knit very tightly (don’t know why – just have to always try to compensate with needle size and yarn thickness).

Vanina mentioned that the neckline would turn out very loose and needs to be tightened, so I picked up some stitches in my contrast colour (pink) and then on my next row knitted 2 together the whole row. I also used size 2.25 mm knitting needles for this in an attempt to make the neckline even more fitted.

Having put some contrast yarn at the neck line, I thought it would finish off the gilet nicely if I also added pink as an edging to her sleeves.

I am very happy with the result. J’espère que Nathalie est heureuse aussi! Je la remercie pour les conseils 😉

Passez une bonne journée, à bientôt.

Another Autumn Outfit – Annie Gets Cosy

Bonjour mes amies!

Back to where I began, making one of Odile’s gorgeous patterns! Odile at Passion Poupees must be the most prolific crocheter out there. Virtually every day sees a new tutorial kindly and generously posted on her blog.

This lovely outfit appeared a few weeks ago, just as we were beginning to see the signs of autumn, and I have chosen to use the same autumnal colours as Odile.

What I did do wrong was use thicker yarn. I used DK yarns for both colours. I made a mistake with the skirt as I decided to use a size 3.5 crochet hook with the thicker yarn and this made the garment far too big (silly me!). I reduced the number of stitches and carried on …

As an experiment, I then made the top and bolero with a size 3.0 mm crochet hook. This meant the top fitted perfectly, but the bolero was still a little bit snug.

I have discovered that I crochet very tightly and while I can adjust width easily by changing my hook size, I will still always have to lengthen a garment with extra rows. I did this with the skirt, and also while making the bolero – or else her arms would not have fitted into the sleeves!

The skirt and top are made with a very old brown DK yarn I have had for years, and for the bolero and contrast I used Sirdar Bonus DK yarn in shade 882 (pale green).

Another issue I had was that the bolero ended up with too short sleeves. I fixed this by adding the same edging rows as the skirt but with the colours reversed. I think this is a lovely wee amendment to the original pattern.

All in all a very successful return to one of my favourite designers – Odile.

J’espère que vous aimez ma tenue. À bientôt.

Vero’s Dress – Variations sur un Même Thème

Bonjour, mes amies!

I love this simple, but beautifully fitted, dress by Vero of ‘Le Petit Monde de Vero’. It is a clever pattern and is very well designed for the Cheries’ body shape.

However, my first attempt here was with this DK wool and size 3 mm needles and to be honest it is way too tight. Annie is wearing this version made with Sirdar Kisses DK shade 0756 (pale blues).

Jeannie’s version is much more successful and slips on and off easily – a far better fit!

I made Jeannie’s dress with size 3.25 mm knitting needles (once again bigger than Vero suggests) and some lovely soft yarn by Sublime. Extra fine merino wool 4 ply in shade 087 (beige). This knitted up very well and the dress looks so stylish.

Unfortunately I was not able to make the matching hat from Vero’s pattern as I have now used up this whole ball of yarn.

The matching shoes are from a cool pattern from lagrandemaisonsurleplateau.hautetfort.com. Love ’em!

And here too is Jeannie wearing her matching cross over cardigan (lovely pattern from Les Cheries de Vaniline). So now you know where most of the yarn went!

And finally, both girls together…

Dress and Cardigan – Jeannie Goes Spotty

Here is a very cute dress by Nathalie at the ‘Les Creas de Nathalie’ site. The photo series that Nathalie creates are very detailed, fun and pretty. This outfit was posted back in July, so is a bit unseasonal for Autumn! Nevertheless it is so pretty, that as soon as I discovered it, I knew I had to knit it.

For the main part I used some bargain wool acquired from E Kemp (my favourite online yarn stockist) – Patons Fairytale 4 ply shade 04383. I used Nathalie’s recommended needle size of 3 mm, but the outfit may have fitted more comfortably with slightly larger needles (maybe I am a tighter knitter than Nathalie, or it may be that the pattern is designed for a Paola Reina doll). The white borders were knitted with an old white 4 ply I had in my stash.

I adapted the shoulder straps slightly to make it a halter neck.

As a concession to the fact it is autumn, I knitted Jeannie this lovely little crossover cardigan by Vaniline from my favourite site ‘Les Cheries de Vaniline’.

I used Sublime extra fine merino wool 4 ply in shade 087 (beige). I tried to anticipate making it too tight by using size 3.25 mm knitting needles instead of the size 3 that she recommends.