Happy New Year! – Shona’s Daring Two Piece

Bonjour, mes amies!

Finally the last arrival is at the Hogmanay Party.

Shona, my naughtiest little girl (who rarely brushes her hair) has arrived fashionably late.

She is wearing a lovely little two piece outfit where the top comes directly from a pattern of Odile’s at Passion Poupees.

Her skirt I made myself and unusually I started it at the bottom and worked up so that I could include two rows of the scarf yarn easily. It was interesting trying to figure out the decreases for the waistband!

The yarn used for the skirt and top is Stylecraft Life 4 ply in shade 2309 (Heather) and the frill was created by the scarf yarn Papillon in shade 16 (Purple). I used a size 3.00 mm crochet hook for both.

I am very pleased with how the skirt has turned out and I made it in one go without having to stop and try again!

Shona looks ready to party with the others …

… and here they all are together at the party.

Bonsoir, à bientôt …

Fabulous Fairisle (6) – Shona Completes the Group

Bonjour, mes amies!

At last, I am done! Here is Shona in her cute dress based on the Tunique d’Abigail pattern by Sylvie at Poupeesdesyl.

Shona’s dress is made with Sirdar Crofter DK Fair Isle Effect in shade 56 (Hedgerow). I used size 3 mm knitting needles and I am very proud of this dress.

I changed the bottom to have two tiers and amended the top to be garter stitch and off the shoulder.

I think Shona looks lovely in this dress, despite her messy hair. Shona does not care about her hair and leaves it unbrushed a lot!

And once again here are all are all my lovely little girls in their Tuniques d’Abigail.

Left to right we have Jeannie, Annie, Robyn, Shona, Carole and Patricia.

Phew!

Passez une excellente 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!

Christmas Eve! – Shona’s Lovely Xmas Tunic

Bonjour, mes amies!

Here is Shona in her lovely new dress. This is made from a pattern by Esyram (at Dans le Pupitre d’Esyram) which is designed for the Boneka dolls.

I have no idea what size these dolls are, but I know they are smaller than les Cheries, so I increased the needle size to 3.00 mm and hoped for the best. Surprisingly it fits very well, although as I was knitting it, I wasn’t sure if it would turn out as a dress or a tunic!

I think using the colours red and white give the outfit a festive air and I am very pleased with the way this dress looks.

Of course, the most obvious way to make the outfit look festive is to add a Santa hat!

Shona’s hat comes courtesy of Marie at Les Voyages de Capucine. A simple and effective pattern that creates a very cute hat.

I used the yarn, Stylecraft Life 4 ply, shade 2306 (Cardinal) and some old white 4 ply from my stash.

I think Shona looks like she is ready to join Patricia and Annie for Christmas.

And without the flash …

Bonsoir, à bientôt …

Shona’s New Dress – Stripes!

Bonjour, mes amies!

Here is Shona’s first outfit and it is a dress by Marie at Les Voyages de Capucine.  I was delighted that Capucine was able to come and visit Scotland for a seven day trip earlier in December.

This is a cute little tunic dress and it was very easy to follow Marie’s instructions.  The front and back are all knitted in one piece, which saves having to sew the shoulder seams. The sleeves are then picked up and knitted, so yet another saving in sewing effort!

I used Stylecraft Life 4 ply in shade 2309 (Heather) and Woolcraft Baby Care 4 ply in shade 702 (Lemon). I used Marie’s recommended size 3.00 mm knitting needles.

This is a really sweet dress and I think that this heralds the start of a stripey theme that I think I will continue after Xmas.  (Got to try and come up with some Xmas outfits now!)

Shona’s hair is a bit tangled, but I actually liked it all messy like this.

Here are the two new French arrivals together with their first outfits.  I hope that Patricia and Shona will be happy here in Scotland.

Bonsoir, à bientôt …

The New Arrivals – All the Way From France!

Well, I blame Patricia!

She posted on her blog that Camille was for sale cheaply on Amazon.fr. I made a mistake and bought two!! I actually thought I was buying another Camille and another Chloe – but I got that wrong! So here are my two new girls – Patricia and Shona.

Shona is named for a very dear friend at work who is such a lovely person and great company – I have been wanting to buy Camille ballerina for ages to be named after her…

And Patricia is named for the lady who got me into this mess (I now have three Camilles!) Obviously, I only have myself to blame really – or maybe it was the language barrier!!!

But they are such beautiful dolls I am not at all angry, but very pleased to have some more dolls to dress.

Here they are together …

Je vais prendre mes aiguilles ….

Bonsoir, à bientôt …