Cashmere Hoodie Makes For Happy Dolls

I've busied myself with knitting up doll sized sweaters this last week during every spare moment.  I found a couple of great free patterns that only took a bit of tweaking to fit Tonner 16" dolls, including my lovely Tonner Club Jane repaint by PepStar, and my Amber doll from the Ellowyne Wilde collection.

I am thrilled with the results and can't easily pull myself away from my knitting needles to go to work or do any of the necessary chores of life and living. Especially since I'm using the luscious recycled cashmere yarns from Penelope's Fine Yarns!  This particular hoodie is made from her Curry reclaimed yarn, with a touch of a mink brown at the cuffs and lower hem.

The pattern for the hoodie is found here at Undermost Salamander's site. It is extremely well written and easy to follow.  I tweaked the fit on the sleeves just a bit, adding four stitches at the armhole caston, but otherwise the pattern intended for a slim fit BJD like a Miniefee, in laceweight it fit Tonner's 16" doll just about perfectly!

As I went on to my next project, I found it less complicated than I expected to knit up a sweater with a custom and tailored fit, so I will definitely be making a lot more knit wear for dolls. It's a lot less daunting than knitting a full sized sweater for myself!

And the dolls stay happy.  Happy dolls are important. Unhappy dolls are unnerving, even to concerned friends and family who don't hear what I hear...

Little Luxuries

Sometimes I just need the relaxation of knitting something simple. In this case it's a blanket made out of recycled cashmere in a mallard duck blue. Simple pattern, nothing to memorize, and the cashmere feels wonderful against my fingers as I knit.

I would never be able to afford a full size cashmere blanket for myself, but my dolls are very willing to take advantage of their relatively inexpensive desires in my stead. It's a great way to get the opportunity to knit with 100% cashmere, and being recycled it's friendly to the environment.

Make sure to check out Penelope's Fine Yarns on Etsy. She has a ton of variety, including merino, cashmere, silk cashmere blends and more. And her prices are very reasonable, especially for the quality yarn you get. She includes several samples when you make a purchase from her, which helps you decide "yay or nay" on that other color you were eying. She is awesome to work with!

Now back to work for me so I can continue to afford even these little luxuries!