More 2010 Creations

After making the Barbie wedding party, I felt like taking a little break from doll gowns. We still are using two afghans in our great room that I made many years ago and that are now falling apart and need to be replaced. Near the bottom of page 5 of my site's crochet section is a pic of a tri-color puff stitch ripple baby afghan. I enjoyed making this pattern very much and decided I wanted to use it to make a full-size ghan for our great room. I used TLC Heathers yarn in burgundy, teal and purple.

Then it was back to dolls for awhile. I crocheted a simple but elegant sage green outfit with gold and peach accents using a pattern called "Corrine's Sporting Suit" from the Ladies of Fashion series. As with the wedding party outfits, I used Opera #10 thread. I actually didn't crochet her companion's outfit till a few months later. Here are their front and back views.

In between the two above dolls came the second most ambitious gown I have made (the bride being first). This gown features six ruffled layers in her skirt, a striped jacket, and a belt with about 30 little tassels. It's a Paradise pattern called "1875 Mother's Sunday Frock". I really enjoyed creating this lovely lady! I used Opera #10 in wood violet and tea rose. Front and back views:

My friend Dianne and I had seen the "Itty Bitty Babies" dolls and booklets of crochet outfits for them in our shopping trips and thought they were the cutest things. I finally had to go ahead and buy two of the dollies (the first pic below) and one of the pattern books. The second two dollies' outfits were created a few months later (before the above Ken doll). All were made using various shades of Opera #10.

Dianne and I will be having a belated Christmas in January, and the doll below will be one of her presents. (I don't have to worry about her seeing it ahead of time, since she hardly ever goes online, totally unlike me!) I saw a book of Victorian outfits for a larger 15" fashion doll on eBay, so I bought the book and also found the perfect old-fashioned doll on eBay. The doll with this outfit in the book was named Marabel, and I think it suits her! I used TLC Heathers in Teal and Bernat Berella 4 in Rich Pink. Front and back views:

I then took a little break from the dolls and spent a little time crocheting baby afghans. I sold a couple of them to my boss' mother. I didn't take pictures of them, but I used some of my same favorite patterns, examples of which are shown throughout my Comfort N'Joy crochet section on my site: diagonal brick stitch, puff ripple, spiderweb, fanfare, mayfair, and pineapple. Then a few weeks ago, a lady I see on my ferry commute to work asked if I would crochet a tea cozy for her pot. I had never made one, but felt it would be fun and easy and saw a lot of cute patterns online. But when she lent me her pot to fit the cozy onto, it was shaped more like a mini-coffeepot than a teapot. So I ended up making up the cozy as I went along! I used three shades of Knit Picks "Shine" yarn, a blend of cotton and modal which is ideal for kitchen items (as well as apparel). Here are the after and before pics:

The past few weeks, I've been crocheting Christmas doilies and lacy covers for Cnristmas ornaments. I haven't photographed those yet, so they will get posted sometime in 2011!

Welcome!

Back in the late 90's when the Internet was new, and I first created my extensive web site The Evergreen Refuge, no one had ever heard of blogs. So as my site grew, I gradually added photos and descriptions as time permitted to the "Comfort N'Joy" crochet section of my site, which as of '08 had grown to 5 pages. As of a year ago, I already had enough pictures to start a 6th page.

But several years ago, I began noticing that blogs were now the method used by modern crafters to display their creations online. I did see the advantage to this, since I could add my items in the approximate order I had created them. Besides, though I hoped visitors to my site would look at all 5 of my crochet pages (especially with the newer projects being on the later pages), I didn't know that for sure. So with that in mind, I am glad to launch my new crochet blog on this Christmas Day 2010!

So without further adieu, let's start with one of my most ambitious projects, the Barbie wedding party I created during the second half of '09.

I made the gowns for the bridesmaids and the flower girl first. I used Opera #10 thread (my favorite crochet thread, which has sadly been discontinued) in Parasol Pink and Tapestry Rose.

Next came the groom. This was the first outfit I ever crocheted for a Ken doll (or any boy doll, for that matter). I used Opera #10 in black, white, and Atlantis (blue).

And here is the beautiful bride! I remember the day I put the final finishing touches on her, but not for a good reason. It was Nov. 21, 2009. That night at 9:45 p.m., my beloved dog Heidi passed away....

The pattern I used was the 1874 bridal gown from Paradise Publications. I used Opera #10 in cream for her gown. I had curled her hair tightly and allowed it to dry thoroughly, but it didn't stay very curly. But I think she is pretty spectacular nevertheless!

Finally, here are the bride and groom together, and the entire wedding party.

OK - next! On page 5 of my site's crochet section is a pic and info on an outfit I crocheted in '08 for my Ashton-Drake baby boy doll, "Nicholas, The Winter Baby". I'd wanted to get a girl doll companion for him for some time and crochet her an outfit, so early this year I did just that. I used a different design from the same Australian layette book I used for Nicholas' outfit. His is made of Bernat Softee Baby in Blue Denim Ombre, and Nancy's is Red Heart Soft in Angel Print. They are both sitting on blankies in brick stitch (I used Cottontots, another of my favorite baby yarns). I'll post both their pics here so you can see what they look like together.

I think this is long enough for my first post, and I need to finish getting Christmas dinner ready! So I shall publish Part 2 of my 2010-11 crochet projects later today.