Sculpture and puppets

Here is another experiment. This is a doll that is for a more grown up audience. I am looking at the cloth form as sculpture and also as puppetry. This poor girl is still waiting body parts and clothes and some beautiful, intricate tatoos.

Unfortunatley a couple of lovely comments about my other latest dolls got lost in the recent Blogger problem. I'd love those people to try to leave them again as all such things mean a lot to me and my humble blog. I also wanted to make a comment on the sock hair question.

New Dolls

This is a sneak preview at my latest dolls. These were designed with the desire to make a simple play doll that would appeal to the child and the adult. I have knitted the hair on two of them and the other two have sock hair. I'm thinking of calling them Doiley Birds because their clothes are made from recycled materials including doilies from the op shop.

I want them to have a wardrobe of clothes that can be ordered a piece at a time, accessories and a carry case.

PhD proposal successful

Yes! At last I've had word that my proposal to do a PhD at the University of New England (Australia) is successful. I have been waiting and waiting to see if I have to restructure my plans for the year. The doctorate will be in an area called Creative Practice and it differs from many PhDs in that you aren't limited to writing a thesis (though that does form a part of it). I am going to write a novel for young adults.

My career is forming beautifully. I began with designing and writing a knitting book, then another and now I have four of them under my belt and three non-fiction, text heavy books (meaning that they are more full of words than anything else).

Having finished the 80,000 word text for the first of these, Textiles: a history for Remember When, imprint of UK publisher Pen & Sword, I realised that I could do it. And that was when I began my plans for putting in the PhD proposal.

It is wonderful watching these dreams come true. It is not a miracle, it is not luck (though it helps to have a sprinkling), it all comes down to hard work and determination. I guess for me the biggest lucky break was making contact with Isabel Atherton of Creative Authors, UK www.creativeauthors.co.uk. She runs a boutique literacy agency and she liked my work (the knitted dolls).

From there it was a matter of building a friendship and a strong working relationship, trusting my agent and following her always excellent advice.

Now, my plans are to become a full time writer, illustrator, artist and toy maker (with my own toy shop called Granny Fi's Toy Cupboard). Let's hope money soon rains down on me to buy me the time to achieve these things.

I want a toy shop

I want to have a toy shop selling handmade toys. I want it to have a black and white chequered floor and those old fashioned windows with lots of small panes.

I want beautiful dolls and cars and dolls' houses and castles and knights and teddy bears and merry- go-rounds and robots and puzzles and wooden blocks and prams and tricycles and pedal cars and tea sets and softy monsters and dragons and glorious picture books and farm sets and Noah's arks and peg dolls and soldiers and mermaids and fairies and sock monkeys and space ships and rockets and ships and rocking horses.

I want it chock a block full of lovely things.

Knitted Fairies

At last! Here is the cover for the Knitted Fairies book. She is now listed on Amazon and will be released fairly soon.

Spider child

Here is my little spider child. She is the daughter of the spider lady I made some time ago and who was featured on this blog last year I think. A teenage girl is the owner of both and is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the latest spider baby who hasn't quite reached full term yet.

Scrumbling and mermaids

I was trawling through my pictures and found this one of a commissioned mermaid from about 12 years or so ago. She is cloth over a wire armature and painted with oils. The photo was from before digital cameras (at least, I didn't have one) and finally got scanned in last year. I must say I do like her. She was made for a lady who has commissioned several dolls including a very sexy boy one with a bare chest and six pack, unfortunatley I don't have a photo of him.

I think it is time I knitted a mermaid.
Scrumbling is the name for free form knitting and crochet. Below is my first attempt at this addictive pastime. You knit or crochet little bits of this and that and stitch and crochet them together. You can also pick up stitches along one side or off at a tangent and add texture in that direction. It is all about building up texture and colour. It is also a good way of using up oddments and experiments. I have big plans. Stay tuned.