Doll

my bit of the tropics- brugmansia

dahlias

lespedeza- clover bush

Purple hyacinth bean

and now- Mango in the garden…

hrumph!

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My neighbor, the one who is moving, gave me this little doll today. The doll is about 6″ tall. I will call the doll “Mary” after my neighbor. Mary thought the doll had belonged to her husband’s grandmother. I think she has a very serene expression.

Here is my progress so far on my 2 current babies… I worked on the tunic pattern and muslin all day today… when I wasn’t folding laundry … I made the green socks yesterday.

Last night we had the second knit nite at my house. It was great! There were 6 of us, all different (except me!) from the last time. I worked on my bag. I found a great heavy cotton fabric in the box of remnants my neighbor had given me… looks like leftovers from a slip cover project. I sewed it up and then hand-sewed it into place during our gathering. Beforehand, I went through all my ribbons because I knew I had to have something that would work. I found 2 possibilities- (a) ’60’s guitar strap ribbon or (b) Japanese chrysanthemum pattern ribbon for a more sophisticated look. As a group, we choose the chrysanthemums. Maybe I’ll get around to sewing it together before next month!

and now a product review… I won a box of this stuffing (Putnam Company, Select Fiber Fiberfill) when I was at WOW last spring. I had been wanting to try out some black stuffing and now that I’m working on a black child it was time to try it out. The stuffing has the texture I like- a “dry” feel, versus slippery, but there are some quality problems with the
first bag at least. There are bits of other “fibers”(?) mixed in with the stuffing. Shiny, sparkly mylar bits, some of them have enough presence to poke my hand after I had stuffed the arm. I had to unstuff and search for the problem- I thought it might be a pin! Also, it makes a mess- leaves behind a dust of black fiber bits which are not easy to clean up. I am used to working with Buffalo Batt Super Fluff and have never had any problems. I don’t know if I would buy this product… of course I’ve got 10 bags of it right now so I won’t have to!

The black doll is going well. She now has arms and legs. I only ruined one hand in the turning, stuffing process- pretty good! I am not sure who she is yet and haven’t found the right bit of inspiration, but I’m listening for it.
I am working on patterns for the golden baby tunic. It’s hard. If I was a perfectly organized person and I could figure out which body pattern I had used, it would be a lot easier but… Reminder for next time…

I was reading through my pile of daily blogs and came across this site- Tar-Tan via A Ervillha Cor De Rosa. Neither of these sites are in English and I don’t read Portugese or Japanese, but the pictures are worth a visit. The Tar-Tan site has the most wonderful kitty based dolls and some other animals too. I really loved the 6/23 posting of kitty bags (purses?) in the diary section.

I went down to the Boston Knit-Out yesterday for the last half-hour of the event. I only found out about it on Saturday night so hadn’t really planned on going at all, but in the end decided that I really wanted to check it out. It wasn’t really what I expected in terms of vendors- no one was selling, just showing and most of what was being shown was basically the same at every table! I did pick up a pamphlet with lots of info about local Boston fiber resourses and I’m sure that will be very useful. I will try to keep my eye out for the event next year and maybe be more involved.

I will be participating in Arlington Open Studios again this year on October 16 and 17. I don’t actually show my work out of my studio though. I’ll be at Art Wear on Mass Ave. Tomorrow I am going to visit the store, meet the owner and figure out the logistics of setting up my work. I am hoping to use this event as a challenge for myself. I want to get
this doll and

this doll done. I work well with a deadline!

I finally got some decent photos of Sparrow. It was a beautiful day today. The photos are now in my gallery- here. I also collected various photos that I took while I was making her and put them in the album.

The yard sale was yesterday and I must say it was a success. The weather was perfect, we had lots of customers- the neighbors made a lot of $$, I made a few. I packed up all the stuff that didn’t sell into 5 boxes- 2 boxes of clothes will go to Salvation Army (where I will probably find an equal amount to buy at their thrift shop!), 2 boxes I gave to another neighbor who does a sale for Alliance for Animals, and one small box that I brought back into the house… some vintage linens and old photos- I’ll find homes for them I’m sure.
I only bought 2 things- shown in the picture. TinTin in Russian! and a great glass for another “make-do”.

My family went to see the Lord of the Rings exhibit at the Museum of Science today- WOW! While the other members of the family admired the exhibits of digital animation and special effects, I was mesmerized by the costumes. The textiles are beautifully done, but the metal work- jewelry, armor and weaponry are unbelievable. No photography is allowed and I was frowned at when I took out my sketch book, which is sad because I am sure that no book will ever come out that will show the details of what I’m interested in. I would recommend this show to any artist/ craftsperson- even if you aren’t a LOTR fan- I’m not… I only went to the first movie. The craftsmanship and attention to detail is amazing.

I am sad about my bag. It didn’t felt- I should have figured that out from my swatches. The bag shrunk, but it doesn’t have the denseness and body of a felted piece. I put it through the wash 4 times. I will have to line it if I want to use it as a bag, which means it isn’t a total waste, but still… a lesson here? I think this is an example of doing a swatch but not seeing what I’m seeing.

I am finishing up these half-done pins. Then I really have to shift over into production stuff for holiday sales. Bugs, and little dolls… I am not thrilled about changing direction right now- I’m excited about how the dolls are going.
When the weather is better, I will photograph Sparrow and put the photos in my gallery. If I can count on the weather forecast, that might not be foe several days.

I have painted this wooden egg for Sparrow to carry

in this nest/basket/purse thingy. I’ll see if I like it. The carrier is crocheted raffia on the outside and knitted furry yarn on the inside.
And I’m working on her doll stand- I sewed down some of the yarn onto green wool fabric. I love this green fabric- it was a $1 thrift shop, knit fabric jacket that I felted in the washing machine.

And this is the latest side track… I got distracted thinking about cornrows, locks, braids and how to make them on a doll, so I needed a head to work on… I did the painting before we left on our trip. Today I finished up the wig cap so I can start adding hair. I am experimenting with black wool roving.