Morning babes workers...

Hi, I'm almost through the back for my first babe, things don't look "Just right" i.e of course being new to knitting on tiny needles and it taking a while for the fabric (read poor dears skin) to look remotely even and smooth, plus I think in my "improvement" I've ended up knitting one side a bit smaller than the other. My hope is that love, stuffing , hair and makeup will cover a multitude of sins! Sigh...Questions 1.How many of you have gone to doing her round? 2. Did anyone have success yet at the early suggesting of knitting round for body and then going to two needles for head in order to have easier access to face for decorating?
3. Did you block your doll? mine is in blue sky alpaca and is curling a lot but that could just be helped enough by stuffing I suppose. 4. Any stuffing hints that you learned doing yours?
Gotsta go knit...thanks to a bad spell of asthma meets pretensions I've got lots of hyperenergy but not enough to do any "real work" like clean house LOL...Cheeers, Susan

Finished my first babe

This is the babe that I just finished. I named her Suzie Sunshine and she will be a Christmas present for my niece. She was so much fun to make. My daughter 9 year old daughter loved how she came out and wanted to keep her. So I will be making another one for her for Christmas. I'm glad to be apart of this knitalong it's fun seeing all the other babes.



















http://www.thegabbyknitter.com

thicker yarns?

Greetings babe knitting marvels,
I am inspired by your creations and happily making plans to bring forth a few new babes. I am looking for some advice - have you tried using yarns other than the fingering weights called for in the book? Do you have any thoughts on how well it would work. I have a big stash of worsted and sport weights and I tend to be a loose knitter needing to go down a couple of sizes. Thank you!

Just Got My Book!

Hi everyone,

Got my book yesterday, joined today...so excited! Your work is *excellent*!

What yarn are y'all (I'm in Texas) using?

I'm seriously considering Knit Picks Palette, but don't know how practical a hand-wash-only doll will be for my infant granddaughter....

Looking forward to knitting one up. Renée :-)

~Hello and a question~

Hi everyone,
My name is Cathy, I am a wife and mother of 4 children 18,16,13,11 and an Aunt to many! I work in an elementary school's computer room, helping tons of K-8 kids learn all about computers, how they work, what they do etc.
I am so happy I found this blog - I absolutely LOVE THESE DOLLS! I just started knitting my first one last night.... they go so quickly! I am so enjoying all of your dolls, what an inspiration - and they will make such wonderful gifts (I want some too! lol)

I do have a question for you - I've been knitting for quite a while and I don't know if I'm having a "moment" or a brain freeze or what, but I can't seem to figure out how to knit these in the round so as not to have to seam. Also, a lot of you are knitting in the hair, are you knitting it in and tying it? I'd love to hear your tips and tricks if you have the time to share!
Thanks,
Cathy

Knitted Grrl, I mean, Babe

This is Alice, Full of Malice. She really isn't into all the pink and frilly things, but she's not as scary as she seems. Her sister is in the process of being born, Agnes Angst.

Alice loves her big clunky boots and long gauntlet gloves, but she really loves her skull sweater! Rock on!

Hi, love the babes

Hi babe makers,
Love the babes. Just started my first babe, and am a reasonably new knitter. Can you tell me if this is just me but is it normal for the head to be as long or longer looking ( on the needles, not stuffed) as the body?
I took the row that says P after the increase rows or decrease rows as being that one just does purl only across those rows. Any thoughts?
Happy Knitting...Thanks, Susan

Hello everyone,

I am new to this knit-along and I just wanted to share with you my first babe.

She doesn't have a name yet, she is a birthday gift for a special little girl who I'm sure will choose a wonderful name for her. She was knit useing KnitPicks pallette. I knit the body in two pieces (following the instructions) but I made i-cords for the arms and legs rather than straight knitting for a neater finish.

I can't wait to begin a babe for myself. The next one I knit will be done in the round so that I will have less seaming to do. First I have to make a tutu for this babe and finish up some of my other unfinished projects.

You can read more about what I've been knitting and spinning on my blog Chasing Needles.

Meet Fifi

Hello! I'm a new knit-a-long member, and I'd like you to meet Fifi. She does not have the red hair as called for (from Clare's pattern on the Rowan site), so I used Rowan Biggie (black) that I had in my stash. For the body, I used Karabella Frost (a very yummy, soft yarn!) She's sitting on top of my bookcase in my office at work. This is the first knitted babe I've created, and as a new knitter, I found the pattern very easy and fun. I can't wait to make another!

I look forward to seeing your creations, and am interested in your comments. Please stop by my knitting blog and say hello! www.knittedpurl.blogspot.com

Enjoy your day!
Michele

Mona and her little brother

I am a relatively new member, also from Denmark as Dorthe who showed you her beautiful and exotic bikini-Lola some days ago. I've made Mona Måneskin ("Mona Moonlight") for my 3 year old daughter Anna some weeks ago but since her little brother Emil, who is 15 months, kept stealing Mona, I thought I should make him a Boy Babe - and so I did - finished him today. Here you see the proud big sister with the "newborn". ;o)
He is still without clothes (he is, after all, newborn *lol*), because I only have the Rowan pattern for Fifi and therefore I'll need to make up some clothes for him myself. I am thinking about a red and white striped sweater and short trousers of some kind.
Oh, in case you are wondering about his hair: I used eyelash yarn and knitted it directly into his "skull" for he last decrease rows in the front and for almost all of the straight up-knitting in the back - it seemed the wise thing to do since Emil is only 15 months old and puts everything into his mouth (and it also seemed like the perfect way to make short hair without the hassle of weaving it into the knitted part, making tight knots and whatever made the yarn stay put).

I neeeeed to make one for myself, I simply cannot live without one (I am 34 years old *lol*) and I plan on telling people that it will be a "back-up" for when Anna have friends over so they'll have another doll to play with.

Hi, I am a new knit-along member, and just finished my first Babe. Meet Matilda. She is very popular at my house, but my daughters understand they will have to wait until the holidays for their Babes...Matilda is mine! I am enjoying seeing everyone elses Babes...Keep up the awesome work!!!

Ming Wah

Good Morning! Just finished my second Knitted Babe. Her name is Ming Wah. You can see her there sitting next to Grayling. I used Paton baby yarn. It was pretty thin and very stretchy. When I went to stuff her she ended up a bit on the chubby side. I had quite a hard time deciding how to make her eyes. I'm pleased with the way they turned out. I knit her hair as I went along, rather than adding it when she was finished - except for the spritz on the top of her head. She is knit in the round and her hair was a hit or miss sort of thing as far as how to do it.

new member of the Knit-along

Hello !
My name´s Dorte. I´m from Denmark.
My doll is named Lola.
Today I took her on a ride at my bicycle - we went to a nice place by a lake, where she could relax and enjoy the sun :

Here in Denmark the weather is not going to stay so nice - soon we will have autumn .... I have to knit her some more clothes.

Regards from Dorte

PassionPinky

PassionPinky
Originally uploaded by yogagardengirl32.

Whoops, forgot to add my pic of PassionPinky! (I am a disaster when it comes to adding things to blogs...)

PassionPinky

I finally finished my babe! I'm very happy with her...though I've changed her name from Pinky Painter (from the DotPebbles kit I bought) to PassionPinky. I was surprised how easy her body was to knit, but the placement of the eyes was more difficult than I thought it would be. Here's some things I've learned:

1. Knitting in the round might be faster, but makes designing the face and sewing the pieces on much harder. Even though I used the guidelines of the eyes being 9 stitches from the top of the head and 5 stitches from the edges, her eyes were still too big and too high up.

2. The arms and legs I originally wanted to knit using Icords, but thought that the stockinette stitch made the limbs look much more feminine and a bit thicker.

3. The lacy shawl (pattern from the Knitted Babes book) was fun and I loved the way it came out using the Online angora/lambswool yarn I had left over in my stash...very pretty and a nice intro to lace knitting.

4. The smock was supposed to be knit in 2 pieces, but I realized later that it would have been much neater and nicer looking to knit in the round.

5. I totally recommend trying out one of the DotPebbles kits (www.dotpebbles.com)....all of the yarn, accessories, needles, felt, patterns and very cute bag all included. Well worth the money.

Love seeing all of the new babes on the blog....all are so original and creative!

Striped Slip-on Dress (errata)

I did come across some confusing instructions while making this dress. First, a few others noted that the dress is quite short so I just added a few more rows before beginning the back waist decreases.

And...Shape back waist: Bind off 2 sts, K 17 sts. Turn. Bind off 2 sts, K 15 sts.K 10 rows. (or more for a longer torso)

Left Strap: K4, (put on holder) ...

Next row: The decreases at each end are made with the last 2 rows otherwise, I found that if I did an additional 2 rows the straps had pointed ends.

Hope this helps.

How are the other babes coming along?