Month: December 2018

Merry Knitmas!

Out of the Thistle 2 Comments

Yesterday was a bit of a cliffhanger, but I feel like it was obvious enough. We’ve got new patterns!

I decided to make a line of Dress Up Dolls patterns. Say you are a knitter and love our items, but they just aren’t in the budget. Well now, you can make one for yourself! They are a more simplified version of my shrunken wool rabbits that I’ve been creating lately, but they still have hips and feet and shoulders and beautiful heads! Another bonus: they are knitted in the round! Makes knitting a breeze. No mountain of body parts waiting for their seams to be sewn up and attached. They look beautiful dressed and undressed.

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The pattern is a standard deer: one color, no muss no fuss. So if you’re still a kind-of new knitter, you can do this! If you would like to venture out, you can change colors like I did. I simply knitted the muzzle a different color (tip included in pattern), added antlers (also included in pattern), embroidered on some spots and ‘hairs’ in the ears and voila! Rudolph! My daughter went nuts over him.

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I also bought a skein of a mohair lace weight and knitted it together with my wool to create a fuzzier doe:

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ALSO, You can see they have little sweaters on–that is also available as a pattern! It was so easy to make; I foresee a boatload of beautifully detailed sweaters in the future! The pattern is for a simple, single-colored sweater. However, as you can see, it makes a great base for being creative. I double-knit in a nordic design on one. I embroidered little holly cluster polka dots onto another. I made Rudolph’s sweater striped! Details for the stripes  included in pattern. I can’t wait to see all of the different finishes!

***Please note, I created this pattern as just to be knitted, not shrunken as well. If you do decide to shrink it, it will look completely different than this! I do not use these designs for my shrunken wool dolls. I merely created a pattern to look similar to those. ***

I wasn’t really sure of when I was going to offer these patterns, but I figured no better time than the present! It may be a little bit like offering in the eleventh hour, but they don’t need to be holiday deer. There’s always New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Easter, birthdays, nightly toy knitting, or just ’cause! So grab these patterns at our Etsy shop; more are already in the works!

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Some kind of segue

Out of the Thistle 1 Comment

You know, it’s been a while. This year, for us, has been a period of  trying to ‘figure ourselves out’ in a business-focused aspect. For me, I previously wasn’t as drawn to shrinking up my dolls after knitting them because I saw the incredible amount of tedious work it took for my mom to perfect the technique. However, the finished product is unlike any other doll I’ve ever held.  To me, it is the highest form of doll making that aims at the longevity of the life of the doll, also allowing for daily use, and holding up to even the most brutal play my young daughter has had to offer. This year, I was drawn to work in that avenue of art. I mean, look at the finished product! No seams, no loose stitches, no misshaping.

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For those who are new here, this technique requires that you create the entire doll out of wool yarn by crocheting or knitting, then agitate it with water and soap and pressure over and over until it shrinks and is thick and firm but fluffy and springy.  This incredible form of art takes a lot of time, as I’ve stated over and over previously. So here’s the deal. I worked tirelessly with my mom’s guidance and I was able to create many dolls this year. Here’s a few:

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Yes, those are knitted-then-shrunken dolls wearing tiny skirts and tiny knitted cabled and fair isle sweaters, wearing hand-stitched boots and Maryjanes. I loved holding each one in my hands when I was finished with them. Each unique in their own way! So I decided, I would like to switch gears and offer something that allows other knitters to become creative and make their own unique items using a sort-of template. I’ll just leave it at that and share more very soon! Thanks for checking in!

XO, Rhonda