Old Noey & New Noey

Noey 2005

2005 Noey and 2010 Noey Redux

New Noey in old (washed and pressed) dress

I have just finished working on a special project.

The top photo is Old Noey, first made and sold in February 2005. She was one of my very first batch of kitten softies. After Noey travelled across the sea, she was given to a little girl and was much loved and cuddled – for almost five fabulous years. But after all that cuddling she started to wear  thin. Stuffing started to come out and her head had become distorted. There was a little breakfast cereal on her stockings and my hand stitching had started to unravel — so much so there was a fair chance that her head would come off altogether. So Old Noey came back here again for some R & R, special stuffing based chicken soup, and Australian sunshine. She’s had a good holiday and now has roses in her cheeks and a fresh spring in her step. She’s packed her new spare sundress and her journal and she’s heading back to Georgia, USA to little Tess who has been waiting patiently for her return.

Give Away and small knitted hat tutorial

I have been making little ornaments for gifts and thought I would share my super simple knitted hat pattern with you. (please use it for personal use and gifts only! Thanks folks).

The little wooden blank dolls are from Winterwood but you can get loads on etsy from sellers such as Goose Greese Undone or Gemmielou. The head diameter of the ones I use is about 2cm.

I use 4 ply sock wool and I like using the variegated stuff (is that what a yarn buff would call it? the Patons stuff is called “Patonyle”) so that I get spontaneous stripes and patterns. My needles are size 2 3/4 (that’s  12 English size and 2 US size apparently!).

So; make a cup of tea, crack out the gingerbread, wield your long skinny needles and…

Cast on 20 stitches

Row 1: Knit 2, purl 2 and repeat until the end of the row

Repeat for two more rows to make the ribbing.

Next row: Knit row

Next row: Purl row

Next row: You will now begin to decrease to make the pointed hat. Knit 2 together and then knit to the end of the row.

Next row: Purl 2 together and then purl to the end of the row.

Repeat until you have one stitch left on your needle. Cast off.

Turn right sides together and sew sides together using row ends, leaving the bottom of the hat open. Turn inside out, using a chop stick or a knitting needle head to push the tip through. Embelish with sequins and beads or with simple embroidered details. Glue it to your little doll’s head.

And now the give away part – I will be making three of these little christmas ornaments to hang on the tree and will give them away to three lucky commenters. All you need to do is leave a (one only) comment  (of the creative and eloquent kind – natch!) on this post and I will draw three random numbers out of the hat next week. Comments will be closed on Monday 14th December 2009 7am Australian EST. Thanks! xx

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Edit to say: Comments now closed! Thank you. I will draw three winners later today.

A birthday present

Greetings from Sleep Deprivation Land! Woah – sick kids and no sleep are beginning to get to me… I have tried to edit this post over 24 hours and I just can’t get a nice flow so publish and be damned, I say, and sorry it isn’t more sparkly:

I have just finished this doll to give to a good friend on her big 4-0. I based the idea for this doll on  a quick doodle I did last year. She’s a bit more clown-like, but I quite like her. I made up a new pattern using elements of my punkdorf doll pattern (arms and legs – less seam allowance), and a crazy adaptation of my marshamllow rabbits, believe it or not. Her legs are attached with buttons – a technique I learnt from Mimi and her fabulous felt doll tutorial at Purl Bee. Her dress is lifted directly from Fiona’s gorgeous Poppy Doll pattern (such a good pattern!) which was so quick and easy to make that I am looking forward to finding some time to make an actual Poppy doll. I used wool fleece to stuff my doll which was a great choice for something that needed a strong form and not much squish. Even so, I had to stablise her neck with half a paddle pop stick and it still has wrinkles (grr).

Off to have a coffee (my best friend).

Tomorrow we are off to Byron Bay but I am going to auto-publish next week’s What’s Hot and What’s Not on Wednesday so join me then – hopefully the widget works. xx

Painstaking Coraline

I was doing some searches on “doll hair” (because I am making a new doll for the Softies for Mirabel project, are you?) and I found an interview with Suzanne Moulten, head of the hair department on the movie Coraline. It’s pretty cool to think that you might spend you whole working life carefully making beautiful stop-motion hair.

I went on to find another crafty Coraline video – Althea Crome’s tiny knitting. It really is incredible to see such beautiful, tiny knitted pieces.

I spent so much of my childhood making tiny things to fit out my doll’s house. There were hours spent tinkering away at little tissue boxes and christmas puddings with my friend Pia. Pia had the patience and the inspiration (and the endless supply of Liberty scraps) to make the most breathtaking little bits. I just did a web search to see if I could find Pia and HEY there she is! She’s got her own crafty label. Hello Pia – if you ever google yourself and eventually come across this post. Glad to see you are still making.

“When one shrinks a craft or a skill into something so tiny it asks the viewer to imagine how it was done”

Now I am off to make some really tiny jars of cumquat marmalade.

Starry Serenade Redwork Pattern

I’ve been working on my contribution to Kirsty’s Rework Quilt Project and have been enjoying the gentle, repetitive stitching.

I drew up my pattern in Adobe Illustrator so thought it would be easy to write up some accompanying instructions, save it all as a pdf and put it up here as a downloadable embroidery pattern – for you! From me! For freee!

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print off this file, which is available for free here.

The pattern and instructions are copyright and are for personal use only. Please don’t copy and redistribute it, or sell items made from the work. But you know all that. Thank you.

Let me know what you think  - I might do some more in the future.

< adverting spot > Don’t forget the prints and rabbits and kokeshi dolls – all available now but selling fast! < / advertising spot >

My Creative Space today

I am taking part in Koo’s My Creative Space  meme again this week and, as per the game plan, I have hidden a heart somewhere on my desk. For easier heart-hunting you can click on the photo for a bigger image.  

My creative space is getting tidier this week. I have to clear the decks for a onslaught of gocco printing and bunny sewing. 

Here’s my Paper Moon illustration, slightly changed to satisfy my inner (and outer!) critics. I am working on rescanning and making colour seperations this week, ready for printing up next week. Fun! 

More creative spaces (with hidden hearts) at kootoyoo.

Off to Nicaragua

I have almost finished this little girl, ready to send off to Eren and then on to Nicaragua. She needs a few more pieces in her wardrobe, because (well, really) a girl can’t go on a long trip to Central America without any pants.

She’s a funny one. As with my other punkdorf dolls, I made her sans-pattern. She’s got tiny, skinny little legs, one longer than the other, and big, boofy arms. While she looks a little dull in these photos (I find that these dolls are impossible to photograph) I think she’s actually pretty cute (even if I do say so myself) and definitely squishy enough to find someone to love her.

My Creative Space today is COLD

This is the stuff that I pulled out of my bag (apart from the laptop) from last night when I got to go and do some stitching in a place where the ducted heating was belting out good warmth. Thank you to my kind host who kept it running for my sake even though it meant several people had to go bare foot to enjoy the balmy climate.

“My Creative Space” this week has still mostly been on my laptop doing my Every Day in May writing, but I have also been working on my doll to send off for the Casa Bernabe Orphanage project. Her head is much smaller than the dolls I made for my girls for Christmas but she should still be a decent, huggable size.

Other acts of random creativity this week:

1) I made a chicken pie. It wasn’t ready when I had to leave last night, but there’s enough to serve up again tonight and I am looking forward to that goodness. I learnt that I can make a pie (including the pastry) fast, if I need to.

2) I started sketching some ideas for a Paper Moon print. I will need to clean the studio before I can get the gocco out but it’s great motivation.

3) … hmm.. it’s been a bit quiet creatively speaking. Oh, but that’s right : the writing! Apart from yesterday, I have managed to get at least 500 words down every day, even though it’s way too cold to get up at 5.30 at the moment. My manuscript’s at 65, 363 words and that’s with some heavy edits. The plot structure is out.of.control – I was thinking yesterday that it’s a little holding a jelly (jello?) in my hands. No matter how hard I try and hang on to it, bits ooze between my fingers and the whole lot threatens to fall at my feet in a big messy splat. But it’s draft one, it’s always going to be a jelly draft. At least this one is raspberry flavoured.

Other My Creative Spaces here, thanks to Kirsty. xx

My uncle rocks!

My Uncle Michael has always been such a good mate to me. We have long, rambley conversations about creativity, and true callings and all that. We put each other on to good things (The Artist’s Way, Elizabeth Gilbert etc) and share a common understanding of what matters to us – I know if I say something  about my work or my need to write, or draw or craft, he just ‘gets’ it, even if I am talking in vague and slightly frustrated terms. 

Recently I have been helping Michael get his beautiful turned wood up and onto etsy – and I was going to try and write something coherent about his work but his profile from etsy says it all beautifully:

“I discovered my passion for wood and wood turning back in 1995 after a trip to Tasmania and then discovering my father’s old home handyman’s drill kit with a rudimentary lathe attachment. My first piece was a huon pine candle stick. Now I devote my time to finding timber that I can open up and discover what lies beneath…and my 25 years as an architect has given me a sensitivity to design which I bring into the shapes I make on the lathe. I feel it is important that the wood speaks for itself and I help that with the shaping and finishing of each individual piece.

I enjoy making objects that are not only a pleasure to look at but also practical….”

I just wanted to add that Michael’s work is exquisite, and tasteful and modern and I am pleased that I can say that from the heart (and not just say that out of familial obligation!).

He is also very open to discussing custom pieces so do contact him if you have an idea.

See? I told you he rocks.

PLEASE NOTE: Michael is in Sydney but his prices are in US Dollars.

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Day six: Finished 500 words, just, by 11pm. Exhausted. Right as I hit the 500 word mark (or there abouts) smallest child started vomiting, thus eliminating the possibility of getting up the next morning at 5.30 am.

Day seven: Tired day – slept through the 5.30 am wake up time, as predicted. Spent a lot of precious time resizing pretty images of writers’ rooms to fit in my blog template and then had to write my 500 words after the kids were asleep. Wrapped it up around 10.30 having written 1,230 words.

Day eight: Lily might (just might!) be asleep at 12.35. I am going to try getting my 500 words down right.now. Where are the lollies?

Dolls for the Casa Bernabe Orphanage

I have just signed up to make a doll to contribute to Craft Hope’s second project, which is to supply as many dolls as possible to the children at the  Casa Bernabe Orphanage in Nicaragua.

“The orphanage … house[s] children from the ages of 4 to 18, boys and girls.  They are currently working to not only feed and clothe the kids, they are starting to really focus on their psychological and emotional health as well.  When the children arrive at the orphanage, they literally have nothing and we would love to give them something that is “theirs.”

Craft Hope is working with Eren and the ORPHANetwork to provide handmade, soft-bodied dolls for the children.  Many of the children come from abusive situations and the dolls will allow the children to develop the mothering and nurturing instincts that most little girls have.

Here is what we are needing…   Of course, the dolls must be handmade.  We will need girl, as well as boy dolls.  We ask that the dolls have brown hair and brown eyes, since we would like them to resemble the children they are going to.  You may use any pattern you like.

If you have never tried sewing a doll, it’s okay!  Just give it a shot.  We aren’t looking for perfection, we are looking for the love that goes into making the item.  This is also a good project to get your children involved.  You can even put a little heart inside the doll.  Be creative, it’s your creation that will be loved no matter what.”

Sign up over at Craft Hope now if this seems like something you would like to be a part of, get sewing and send your contribution/s to Craft Hope in the States for June 13th.