Thank you Mother Earth

Spring is filled with celebrations. I just finished Easter. And Earth Day. Coming up tomorrow are International Tai Chi Day and National Day of Puppetry. Then Cinco de Mayo and finally on May 11 - Mothersday. Mother would be 102 this year. We will celebrate with brunch, at my sister-in-law's house, to honor her. I wish I could show her my newest dolls; she always encouraged me to allow my creativity to flourish.
The knit-along is over; my three dolls are finished. Though made from the same pattern - Deena Thomson- Menard's Patty Cake pattern - each has her own personality. I embellished each a bit differently and, of course, hair always makes such a distinct difference.

Ann-Katrin is the largest of the three. Her hair session took several hours, since her wig is large and had to be filled with strands of yarn, piece by piece.















Natalie S. has a mohair wig, which needed less yarn. But she wanted a wild hairdo. No braids. Let the wind blow through her hair!






Then there is the little one - D.D. - I wasn't sure about her hair, probably didn't give it the attention I devoted to the other two. She has two pigtails now; they stick out in defiance, but for a while her hair looked like that of her bigger sister.



And here they are, finished. Ready to occupy whatever space I desire.








I repeat what I said on Facebook on Earth Day, when I talked about the things that make me happy.

Mother Earth has blessed me.
There are chestnut leaves. And pansies.
There is photography. Purple yarn.
Hot chocolate. And Madiba ..... Forever.

...... and many times there is a project that fills me with great joy. April gave me the three Patty Cake sisters. Thank you Deena Thomson-Menard

Flower Power Bears - Sister Sister

Bear 321 Margaret







Bear 322 Catherine







Bear 323 Beatrice







Bear 324 Elizabeth







Bear 325 Rebecca







Bear 326 Nena







Bear 327 Joan







Bear 328 Carolyn







Bear 329 Bernie








Bear 330 Sandy







Bear 331 Roseanne







Bear 332 Judi

Patty Cake continued

Yesterday I learned details about two concepts that are new to me. The first is the provisional cast on which is a zipper-like cast on, done with crochet hook and knitting needle. The cast on thread can be pulled off when needed, to allow for the project to be worked on again. In my case the collar will be attached to the top of the coat after the coat is finished.

The second concept is that of the Fibonacci stripe generator, named after an Italian mathematician and his numerical sequencing that seems to generate pleasing patterns in nature and on knitting needles.

I am thrilled to learn new things, but even more so, I am thrilled to be creating three dolls instead of one. To Ann-Katrin (25") and Natalie S. (21") I have added D.D. (15"). To accomplish different sizes I am using different yarns (from bulky to superfine) and different needles (from #7 to #1) , but sticking with the same pattern.
That I am impatiently attacking my iPad for late Thursday night or early Friday morning clues, revealing the next step for this project, makes me laugh out loud. Of course, in my haste I misread a clue this morning and happily knitted almost half a coat before I realized that I had made a mistake. As luck has it, the provisional cast on will allow me to redo the beginning with ease.

As for my three Patty Cakes, they are eagerly awaiting the completion of wardrobe, facial features, and hair.




Natalie S., Ann-Katrin, and D.D. In the beginning ....


Artistic interpretation generated by an application named PhotoFunia



Step 2 - bloomers for all



Playing with PhotoFunia that allows me to place my images into preset designs




The three girls trying on dresses in various stages of completion




D.D. Testing the outside world in her newly knitted dress.




It's midnight and all three dresses are finished.




Week Five - Friday morning clue: pattern for coat. Unforeseen complication? I misinterpret the pattern and knit the collar first. But ... the cast on is a provisional cast on and by pulling on the yarn end I can unravel it and "reinterpret" the pattern. Or, I can ignore the pattern and leave the collar as is.
In our group discussion we called it "winging it" and it looks like I am not the only one who began knitting immediately, without questioning the wording of the pattern. As long as my three Patty Cakes get their coats by next Friday morning all is well with the world.

Motherbear Face Tutorial

It's been a long time since I took a few pictures while putting a face on one of my Bears. I always intended to pull all the instructions together into one post, with some luck as Youtube video. Never happened. As I started my fifth face today, I thought I should take pictures again. My steps have slightly changed, not much though, and, who knows when I will be Youtube ready.

The wind blew hard on my front porch, knocking the Bear down several times; once the background white board collapsed and flew into my face, and, when I checked the pictures I had missed twice, showing my feet instead of the Bear face. Luckily there was Bear number six, a good reason to repeat the effort.

So, I will show you how I make a Bear face. There are as many different faces as there are Bears, and if you already have a way to make your Bear smile or wink and look into a child's eyes, disregard all this. But if you are sitting in front of your first stuffed Bear and he/she has a blank face that scares you a bit, because you don't quite know how to begin, this post is for you.

And here I go, on a windy afternoon on my front porch, shivering just a bit, but in need of daylight and a plain background. I am staring at a finished, stuffed Bear, some black yarn, a tapestry needle, a pair of scissors, and my iPad. I am determined to document stabbing this Bear into life

I use about 30 inches of black Worsted weight yarn for a darker Bear, brown yarn for a lighter Bear, or, occasionally, purple or hot pink, depending on my mood.


I insert the needle in the back, in the middle, where head and torso meet and I leave five or six inches of a tail




I come out in front, about four or five rows up from the neck wherever I perceive the middle of the row to be. If the scarf I have knitted is wide, I go up a bit more.




Now I insert the needle to the left, about three stitches from the middle and one row up and exit at the same height and amount of stitches to the right.




I insert the needle once again in the middle, meeting the other half of the mouth, and then exit about four rows up to the right of the middle stitch




Now I go across the middle stitch two or three times forming a little nose. When I am really brave I attempt a little triangle by enlarging the loops slightly toward the top. (It doesn't happen very often, but I like the way it looks.)




After the last stitch for the nose I exit the needle three stitches to the right, a row or two above the nose




And insert again one or two rows above that, depending on how big an eye I want. I repeat, in and out in the same stitch four or five times, then, after the last repeat, I exit for the left eye, in mirror image fashion.




After the left eye is as big as the right eye I exit just below the nose, in the middle of the middle stitch, as close to the nose as possible, so as not to leave a space. To finish the face I reenter into the middle of the mouth, between the two halves of the mouth




... and exit in back, a stitch away from the beginning of the face journey




All that is left now is making a knot, weaving the two ends toward the sides ...




... and cutting the ends. The knot will later be hidden by tying down the scarf right over it.




And here you have it - Bear face number 306.




Bears 301 to 306 are awaiting "detailing" such as hats, scarves, purses, headbands, flowers, and the weaving in of a few loose ends. More about them in my next post.