Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Waldorf Doll, part 2

Sorry, no pictures of the doll here tonight. My camera's downstairs, I'm upstairs, and I should be sleeping not typing or crocheting.
YES, I'm finally making the hair for this doll. It doesn't look quite like hair. I'm not even sure it's supposed to look like it does... in fact, it looks very much like a chanterelle mushroom. I probably did something wrong. Oh well. At least it fits along with the rest of the doll, which has a head that's too big, arms too long, one leg longer than the other, one eye bigger than the other, and awful seams across the shoulders that I'm POSITIVE are not supposed to be there.
But this doll has been made during late hours at night.
My back hurts. My bum hurts. my eyes are getting crossed...
I must be a sucker for punishment or something though. I'm crocheting for the very first time in my life and it's with mohair. What was I thinking!
It's actually getting a little better, though. I'm getting faster even on my second night of work.
Of course, when I knitted something for the first time, other than a straight knit scarf, it had to be a sheep, with all sorts of weird new directions going on. Oh, I CAN post a pic of the sheep!



It's supposed to be felted, but alas, it didn't work in my washing machine. I suppose if I knew at the time that front loaders DO indeed work if you put the item through a number of times, then it might have been felted, but I already stuffed it with horrible stuffing, as opposed to the wonderful wool I use now. and sewed it shut and the seam has disappeared...

The internet is a wonderful thing... Being able to look up videos and directions for different knitting, and now crochet, techniques!
But I must continue on with this incredibly s-l-o-w work of hair...

Friday, November 19, 2010

Waldorf Doll, part 1


So many different things going on... Starting a Waldorf Doll for one of my little ones. I'm this close to chucking it and just buying him one! I never imagined it would be this difficult. It's such a simple concept, but I'm having such a struggle with it. The pattern has a very small seam allowance for such stretchy fabric! It won't turn on the machine... one thumb is rather pointy compared to the other one. And don't get me started on the head... The darned thing came out too big and so the "skin", when pulled over the head, doesn't fit that well - very tight! Not to mention that because of this, the face has taken on a certain neanderthal likeness... almost flat-faced, though the forehead protrudes a bit too much.
Ugh. I'm not loving this project too much at this point.
And this is after my machine didn't work when I got it out after year's break from it. It's freshly home from the repair shop, but I'm still fighting it.
I'm hoping it gets better from here on out.
Perhaps he won't mind if the clothes are just sewn down onto the doll so noone can see it's wonkiness!! Christmas is right around the corner...
Of course, maybe it wouldn't be turning out so bad if I found some other time to work instead of after everyone is sound asleep... is it really 11:30pm?!
*Heavy Sigh*
I'm thinking, when I make another down the road for the other kiddo, I'll cut out to allow for a bigger seam, then TRIM the excess so the seams don't bulge.