It’s Annie’s Turn – Lots of Blue

Bonsoir, mes amies!

Here is a fabulous pattern by Odile as adapted by Vero. I love it! Annie looks great in this outfit. Thank you to both ladies.

The yarns used are: for the darker blue – Stylecraft Life 4 ply shade 2308 (Cascade) and for the paler blue an old yarn from my stash that I have had for years – Hayfield Baby Bonus 4 ply shade 854 (Baby Blue).

I used a size 3mm crochet hook.

The shoes are adapted from another pattern by Odile!

I think Annie looks really nice today.

Passez une bonne journée, à bientôt …

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 …

Kimberley Gets a New Dress – and a Matching Hat!

Bonjour, mes amies!

Here is a very cute wee dress and hat with a lovely frilly edge. Naturally it is by Odile of Passion Poupees, and the tutorial was just published a couple of days ago – I couldn’t resist it.

I love Kimberley’s black, black hair and so many colours seem to suit her.

The yarn is Patons Soft Baby Fab 4 ply in shade 189 (sunset print) and I used a size 3.00 mm crochet hook. I added one extra row for length as I tend to crochet tighter than Odile.

Doesn’t Kimberley look adorable in this outfit?

Bonsoir, à bientôt …

Snuggly Winter Coat – Beautiful Shades of Pink and Red

Bonjour, mes amies!

Athough it’s not too cold here in Scotland – yet – I thought it would be a good idea to make a nice winter coat for my Cheries.  And to be honest, I’ll use any excuse to make another one of Odile’s fabulous patterns at Passion Poupees. Jeannie is my model.

This lovely coat was crocheted with a much thicker yarn than I have been using of late, and I used a size 4.50 mm hook.  It actually felt a bit strange and unwieldy to work with to begin with, as I have been using 4 ply yarn mostly up to now.

I grabbed the yarn in my local yarn shop because I thought it looked interesting and I must admit I really like the look of it crocheted up – it is also very soft – I quite fancy a hat in the yarn myself! It is by James C Brett and the yarn is Marble DK in shade MT 22 (pinks/reds).

The yarn has coloured repeats and goes through several colour changes, so I decided not to get too fancy and try and match the sleeves.  I hope it doesn’t look too odd!

The hat makes a wonderful finishing touch. I think Jeannie is ready for winter now.

Jeannie is also wearing a cut up sock and the boots are by Corolle.

~*~

And finally a big shout out to Anna3143 who left a lovely message on my blog asking for news of Scotland. Well, yesterday my son and I went to a nature reserve nearby where we live and my son, while taking pictures of birds, managed to take some pictures of Highland cows that went paddling past his hide.

So just for you, Anna, here are some images of Scotland!

The island you can see in the distance in this photo is where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in 1567.

Passez une bonne journée! À bientôt.

A Good Witch – Jeannie Dresses Up for Halloween

Knowing I was going to be spending several hours at a Gymnastics Competition with both my daughters recently, I looked for a crochet pattern that could keep me amused for a few hours (it took me several days to complete it in the end!) I chose Odile’s gorgeous dance outfit at Passion Poupees.

I had already made this beautiful pattern for Jeannie, but I couldn’t resist this beautiful yarn and it suited Jeannie’s complexion far better than Annie’s. So Jeannie gets the new version and Annie is wearing my original pink version.

Here they are together in their ballet tutus.

This very pretty, slightly sparkly white yarn is from Wendy. It is Peter Pan 4 ply in shade 3000 (white with a strand of glitter yarn through it). I used a 3.50 mm hook and spent a few days completing the outfit (I kept getting distracted by other beautiful patterns and finishing them first.) There is an extraordinary number of stitches by the time you get to the last row, to give the tutu its lovely, voluminous frill.

But today is Halloween and Jeannie wanted to take the wee ones out guising round the neighbours’ houses. As the wee rascals were dressing up as naughty witches, Jeannie decided to be a Good Witch.

So I made her a witch’s hat and she is all ready to go. I adapted my hat pattern for the Corollines, by using a slightly bigger crochet hook (size 3.50 mm) and adding some extra increase rows and extra rows for length and it is the perfect size for Jeannie.

This time I added a gusset to the tutu so the leotard and pants are all-in-one. This was to make sure that the pants were not obvious underneath.

I think they all look very sweet together.

Ps: both my girls won gold medals, so I am very proud.

1. Witch’s Hat Tutorial – Tutoriel Chapeau de la Sorcière

And for my very first tutorial I am sharing how I managed to achieve the little witch’s hats for my Corolle Mini Corollines, Krissy and Katie. These dolls are 20 cm tall.

English Version – Witch’s Hat

Yarn: Patons 100% Cotton 4 ply
Crochet Hook: 3 mm

Row 1: 4 chain and 3 trebles in the first chain. Close with a slip st.
Row 2: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first st, then 1 treble in next st, 2 trebles in next st, and 1 treble in final st. Close with a slip stitch. You have 6 sts.
Row 3: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first st, then 1 treble in each of the remaining 5 sts. You have 7 sts.
Row 4: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first st, then 1 treble in each of the remaining 6 sts. You have 8 sts.
Row 5: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first st, then 1 treble in each of the remaining 7 sts. You have 9 sts.
Row 6: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first st, then *1 treble in next st, 2 trebles in next st*, repeat from * to * till the end of round, close with a slip st. You have 14 sts.
Row 7: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first stitch, then *1 treble in each of next 2 sts, 2 trebles in next st*, repeat from * to * till the end of round, close with a slip st. You have 19 sts.
Row 8: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first st, then 1 treble in each of the remaining 18 sts . You have 20 sts.
Row 9: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first stitch, then *1 treble in each of next 2 sts, 2 trebles in next st*, repeat from * to * till the end of round, close with a slip st. You have 27 sts.
Row 10: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first stitch, then *1 treble in each of next 2 sts, 2 trebles in next st*, repeat from * to * till the end of round, close with a slip st. You have 36 sts.
Row 11: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first stitch, then *1 treble in each of next 5 sts, 2 trebles in next st*, repeat from * to * till the end of round, close with a slip st. You have 42 sts.
Row 12: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first st, then 1 treble in each of the remaining 41 sts. You have 43 sts.
Row 13: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first st, then 1 treble in each of the remaining 42 sts. You have 44 sts.
Row 14: 3 chain and 1 treble in the first st, then 2 trebles in every st.
Row 15: change to contrast colour and do a round of double chain then finish off with slip st.

I would love to hear from you if you make this pattern!

Here is a link to my article about the little Halloween costumes for Krissy and Katie.

Version Française – Chapeau de la Sorcière

Laine: Patons 100% Cotton 4 ply
Crochet: 3 mm

Rang 1: Faire 4 ml et 3 bs dans le premier maille. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 2: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, 1 bs dans la maille suivante, 2 bs dans la maille suivante, 1 bs dans la derniere maille. On a 6 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 3: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, 1 bs dans les 5 mailles suivantes. On a 7 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 4: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, 1 bs dans les 6 mailles suivantes. On a 8 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 5: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, 1 bs dans les 7 mailles suivantes. On a 9 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 6: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, *1 bs dans la maille suivante, 2 bs dans la maille suivante *, répéter de * à * jusqu’à la fin du rang. On a 14 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 7: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, *1 bs dans les 2 mailles suivantes, 2 bs dans la maille suivante *, répéter de * à * jusqu’à la fin du rang. On a 19 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 8: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, 1 bs dans les 18 mailles suivantes. On a 20 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 9: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, *1 bs dans les 2 mailles suivantes, 2 bs dans la maille suivante *, répéter de * à * jusqu’à la fin du rang. On a 27 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 10: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, then *1 bs dans les 2 mailles suivantes, 2 bs dans la maille suivante *, répéter de * à * jusqu’à la fin du rang. On a 36 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 11: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, *1 bs dans les 5 mailles suivantes, 2 bs dans la maille suivante *, répéter de * à * jusqu’à la fin du rang. On a 42 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Rang 12: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, 1 bs dans les 41 mailles suivantes. On a 43 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Row 13: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, 1 bs dans les 42 mailles suivantes. On a 44 m. Fermer par 1 mc.
Row 14: 3 ml et 1 bs dans la 1ere maille, 2 bs dans tous les mailles suivantes. Fermer par 1 mc.
Row 15: changer la couleur et faire 1 rang de ms, fermer par 1 mc et couper le fil.

J’aimerais que vous m’envoyer un message si vous faites ce modèle!

Halloween Theme – Katie and Krissy Get Spooky

Here are Katie and Krissy all dressed up for Halloween.

These two dresses are from Odile’s site Passion Poupees. The dresses were adapted from Odile’s pattern for her Paola Reina baby doll posted on Tuesday. This doll is 22 cm, so close in height to my Corolle Mini Corollines (who are 20 cm). I adjusted the width, though, by reducing the front by 2 stitches and the back by 6 stitches and it is a very good fit now.

The yarn used is Patons 100 % cotton 4 ply in shade 1741 (orange) and shade 1712 (black). For once I actually used the same crochet hook as Odile – size 3 mm.

The hats were the result of a long and frustrating search on Google, but I think have turned out very well. The pattern was created by me! I tried to adapt various patterns and kept having to rip them back because it looked wrong or didn’t fit properly. So I gave up trying to follow someone else’s pattern and just crocheted (this also resulted in a fair bit off ripping back too!)

I am quite proud of my effort and am going to create a tutorial in case anyone else wants to make the hat.

Autumn’s Here – I admit it and make Something with Long Sleeves!

Here is Annie wearing another fantastic outfit by Odile of Passion Poupees. As usual I had to use a bigger crochet hook and also I had to add in extra rows to lengthen both the jacket and particularly the skirt. The skirt would have been a wee bit skimpy otherwise for the colder weather which seems to be well and truly on its way.

I used a yarn by Wendy called Mode 4 ply and it was a nightmare to crochet with. It seems to be barely twisted at all and constantly split on the hook. I imagine I spent twice as long on this outfit as I could have done had I been using a tightly wound cotton. I bought it really cheaply from my favourite yarn stockist E Kemp (though maybe it wasn’t the bargain I thought it was). The shade is 205 ‘Iris’ (dull lilac).

I think that this colour lends itself well to the season of autumn.

I made a matching hat (from another pattern of Odile’s) to keep Annie’s head warm as the weather takes a turn for the worse, and she is wearing boots by Corolle to keep her tootsies warm.

Primrose Yellow Summer Dress and … My First Hat!!

Yet another fabby outfit designed and offered by Odile at Passion Poupees crocheted at the crack of dawn while on my holiday.

Jeannie came away with me and here she is perched on my antique laptop showing off this outfit just before I came home. Still to make some sandals to go with it … of course!

I used Rowan Siena 4 ply 100% mercerised cotton in shade 00657 Sunray (yellow) and the hook was a size 3.50 mm.