Copyright © 2005-2008, Kimberly Chapman. All knitting graphics/patterns/instructions on this page were created by Kimberly Chapman. You may link to this page, but please do not steal/hotlink the graphics or copy the patterns to other sites without my written permission. Feel free to print graphics/patterns/instructions for personal or non-profit use, but absolutely no for-profit reproduction is allowed, including selling of finished items (except for registered charitable causes).



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Dolly

Dolly[d]

See the gallery for more photos.




Yarn: 100% cotton in green/white and natural

Needles: US 3 double-pointed (see my double-pointed needle tutorial to learn how they work)

To make Dolly, I began the body at the neck with Basil with a total of 30 stitches, 10 on each needle. I kept that count for about 4.5in/11cm of tube, then began decreasing one stitch per needle for a few rows, then tied off the bottom when it looked decently round. I stuffed the body with cotton balls (enough for a very stiff doll). Then I switched to Natural. I re-inserted the needles into the top row of stitches and knit as before, going the opposite direction, for about 1.5in/4cm, then reduced as with the bottom, but was sure to stuff the head with more cotton balls before sealing it shut.

Then I knit 12-stitch tubes for the arms and legs (4 stitches per needle). The legs are all one colour, about 8in/20cm long (reduce a few rows before you want them to end, dropping one stitch per needle until you're down to only two stitches, then snip the yarn with a decently long tail, pull it through the last two loops so everything is snug, tie a single knot, then feed it back up into the limb with a yarn needle). For the arms (which are about 6in/15cm long), I switched to the "Natural" colour just before reducing to make the hands.

I stuffed the limbs halfway up with cotton balls so they were stiff, then used black embroidery thread to stitch in elbows and knees. Then I stuffed the remainder of the limbs and sewed them onto the body with more black embroidery thread. All of the stitching is multiple-layered, back and forth, so a toddler should be able to whip the doll around by the limbs for a long time before tearing one off.

I embroidered some simple eyes and a smile using standard embroidery thread. Her hair is also embroidery thread, but into equal lengths of about 8in/20cm, then tied individually to stitches on her head, then combed gently to separate the threads. (If you want the hair to look more even in length, you'll have to vary the lengths of each thread to match the relative distance down from the scalp.) I then parted the hair and tied each side with some scrap orange yarn.



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Page last updated March 9, 2009.

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