Yarn Along

Announcing! The first everrrrrr:

What is a yarn along?

Easy. Have you ever heard of a crochet along, or a knit along? Every week, someone posts directions for you to follow. At the end, everyone winds up with a completed project!

This one's slightly different: you can do this one as knit OR crochet. I've got it designed so it'll work both ways. Actually, you could likely weave it or do macrame just as well ... huh. I'd probably stay away from those huge hoop knitter things, but other then that, so long as you're using yarn, we're cool.

I'll make each step small, so don't worry about getting too far behind. It'll easily be completable in a week for someone who's got a full time job or goes to school or takes care of kids.

As we go along, tweet or mail me your progress so I can post it. Or, link me to a photo in the comments.

I'm keeping the results of what we're making a secret, but rest assured, it's an oft-requested Bean Stalk pattern! You'll love it, I promise.

I accidentally posted before I was ready (duh) a discussion of materials you need here, so check it out.

Yarn Along Week 1!

LET US DISCUSS DOLL YARN before we go further into our Yarn Along.

Any time you craft for a doll, you should be working to make something in scale to the doll's world. The doll is small. You're making small things.

Worshed weight yarn, also known as "most of the yarn you own, likely," is too big to make our project, or any piece of doll clothing. I'd let you get away with it for a hat or some scarves, because humans commonly wear chunky yarn scarves (even if they look pretty putzy -- did I just say that?) But clothing? You do not make clothing out of this. Unless you want to look like a putz.

The biggest yarn I'll let you get away with is sport weight. The yarn will actually say "sport weight" on the label, so it's not that tough to find. I like yarn that doesn't seperate so easily when I jab my hook in it -- a lot of that sock yarn is guilty of this, as is that Microspun stuff from Lion Brand. Here's some suggestions that are easy to work with and won't have you tearing your hand out:

Red Heart Sport Yarn is cheap, comes in a bunch of colors, and it's easy to work with. For whatever reason, Red Heart makes crappy worshed weight yarn and really nice sport weight.

Patons Astra is another good one, and easier to find.

Err, I'm allergic to wool, so I can't suggest any brands for you there. (I can't use them!) But, I've heard that Knitpicks yarn is really, REALLY nice. Actually, they stock acryllic, cotton and non-wool blends for people like me. I've just never used them, so I can't reccomend them personally, but I've heard good things.

I'd use either a size H hook or size 6 needles, depending on if you're crocheting or knitting.

Now, everything I've said is the biggest I'll let you go. Can you go smaller? Sure! You can go much smaller. Make the whole thing with a C hook and crochet thread if you're brave. Sock yarn is really easy to find, you can use that too. The smaller you go, the nicer your result, but the more maddening it'll be. At least, it is for me, you might be some kind of whizz with small stuff.

When you get your supplies, tweet or email the results to me!

Doll Hair!

I love crazy colored doll hair! Here's some Flickr groups related to candy colored doll hair:

Green Haired Gals (my favorite!)
Dolls With Candy Colored Hair
Multi Colored, Two Toned, Rainbow Striped, Streaked Haired Dolls

Of some interest: A friend of a real life friend (convoluted, I know, but stay with me) is doing a photography class online. For free. Is that not THE BEST?! Pretty much everyone reading this right now should be interested. Sign up here: Little Fashion Diary

THE HAMSTER!?

Everyone's crazy over McKenna's hamster! Until AG offers it up as its own item (or at least a replacement part), the only way your dolls are getting a hamster is if you spend some bank on McKenna's bed.

Err, except not.

Follow me back to a magical land called "The Mid 1990s." They haven't made a historical doll about it yet, so you'll just have to use your imagination. During this time, there were toys called Littlest Pet Shops.

"Oh! But Bean! I have some of those," you say! No you don't. You're thinking of the horrifying bobbleheaded genetic abominations they try to claim are Littlest Pet Shop toys today. In the 1990s, Littlest Pet Shop toys:

• Actually looked like animals
• "did something" -- the big hook was that every toy could do an action, like chase a toy or wag their tail or something.

Now, some of these toys are scaled perfectly to AG size. Some aren't, but such is life. But! They actually released several hamster sets that, drumroll please, look strikingly similar to McKenna's.

Don't feel limited. They also had a gerbil set that would stomp McKenna's hamster set into the ground. That cage in the picture is modular. It came with different pipes so that you could come up with a huge variety of configurations, and a magnetic wand so that you could guide the gerbils through the cage.

Actually, both those pictures come from a really good Flickr set if you're interested in seeing more of the old toys. There were literally hundreds of them, way more than pictured there.

If you decide you want to pick up some of the old 90s Littlest Pet Shops, sadly, your only source (that I know of?) is eBay.

New Stuff!

All right! Everyone who saw McKenna's collection, raise your hand!

I'm not that excited about McKenna herself, and don't plan to get her. But! About all I ever want is JLY school clothes in piles, and I got them!

I. LOVE. The school outfit! It probably helps that I have a similar sweater. That sweater can even be paired with jeans or khakis, too, but I kind of dig the skirt. I wish the flats were solid purple, but I've got enough doll shoes to where that wouldn't be a problem.

I haven't decided, but I might take the PJs for Sonali. She doesn't have decent cold weather PJs, and I love green and purple together.

Not sold on the bed.

The fancy outfit is so pretty! I'm not sure who'd get it, but I like it, and that's what's important. I've seen AG use that pattern so many times that I'm wondering if I shouldn't get my hands on one of those dresses and reproduce it in a tutorial.

I kind of like McKenna's meet shirt, too. I wouldn't actively search it out, but if anyone was trying to pass it off, I'd bite.

And finally, I know I said this on Twitter, but I need ALL those teeny nalgene bottles YESTERDAY!

Final Post Of The Year!

I figured I'd tie up the year by doing a post on my five favorite outfits released in 2011. If you do a post like this, tell me so I can link to it!

All right! Top 5 doll outfits released in 2011, number 5:



Most of the historical spring outfits were dull and pink. This one had the huevos to stand out! Very cool. I'm probably Julie biased, though.

Number 4:



Maybe I'm not nuts about the logo, but I dig purple, and I LOVE clothes that actually looks like what kids wear.

Number 3:



This is my favorite of the Marie-Grace/Cecille releases. It's simple, but it's got a lot of nice detail, and that's a rare color in the American Girl collection.

Number 2:



It needs a belt, but dang, don't it look nice and warm?

Number 1! Drumroll!



Love the color. Love the ruffles. Love the whole thing, and I hope it makes it into my collection this year!

Christmas!

Since everyone else posts their haul:



The bitty outfit was from my Clandestine Coconut, and the rest was from my husband! So happy with it~

Hope you had a nice holiday too!

Holiday Dollbilee!

I cannot believe how cool Cherished Playtime's snowflake headbands are. Seriously, click that link, you'll all be wanting to make like 20. Here, you know you want a preview:



What else is from Cherished tonight? Try this on for size:

Clay Gingerbread Cookies! (Gotta leave some for Santa!)

Scenes from the Merriman's Christmas

From the Bean Stalk tonight, we've got two crochet patterns!

Regular Hat, With Very Nerdy Variation (It's a very shiny variation that's just happy to be doing good deeds, are you picking up what I'm putting down?)

Harry Potter house Unity Scarf

Don't forget that you can check out both Cherished Playtime and The Bean Stalk on Twitter: @cherisheddolls and @beanstalktweets. You can also go take a peek at The Bean Stalk Blog while you're at it.

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