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.

Chibi Girl Pattern at last!

Chibi Girl
By Fiona McDonald 2010

Please not that this pattern is copyrighted as my design. It is free for you to use but not in a commerical manner. Please acknolwedge me as the designer

8ply yarn 3mm needles
Body make 1
Cast on 26 in underwear colour
Rows1-6: stst 6 rows
Change colour to flesh or singlet colour
Rows 7-8: stst 2 rows
Row 9: k2tog each end [24]
Row 10: purl row
Row s 11-16: repeat rows 9 and 10 until there are 18 stitches left
Change colour to flesh
Row 17: k2 tog along row [9]
Rows 18-20: stst 3 rows beg and end with p
Row 21: inc each st [18]
Row 22: p
Row 23: inc each st [36]
Rows 24-38: stst 15 rows
Row 39: k2 tog along row [18]
Row 40: p
Row 41: k2tog along row [9]
Row 42: p
Row 43: k2 tog x2, k1, k2tog x 2 [5]
Row 44: p and cast off
Legs make 2
Cast on 12 stitches in shoe colour
Rows 1-4: stst 4 rows
Change colour to sock colour
Rows 5-6: stst 2 rows
Change to flesh colour
Rows 7-12: stst 6 rows cast off on p row

Arms make 2
Cast on 3 in flesh colour
Row 1: inc each st [6]
Row 2: p
Row 3: inc 1 each end [8]
Row 4: p
Row 5: inc 1 each end [10]
Row 6: p
Change colour to singlet/shirt colour
Rows 7-14: stst [8]
Row 15: k2 tog along row [5]
Row 16: p cast off
To make up:
Body/head
Fold body/head piece in half lengthwise and backstitch up from base to just below the neck, leave thread. Stitch back of head from top of head down to just above the neck. The neck is so narrow it is impossible to sew this on the wrong side – it would not turn right side out.
Turn the body and the head right side out. Put some stuffing into top of head. Get a toothpick and wrap sticky tape the wrong side out along it and then bind stuffing very, very thinly around it. Insert into body and up into head. Stuff head and stitch head and top of body closed. Stuff rest of body and stitch the base shut.
Legs
Fold leg in half lengthwise, turn right side out and stuff firmly, leave top open. Stitch each leg to base of body.
Arms
Fold arm in half lengthwise and turn right side out. Stuff and leave top of arm open. Pin to shoulders and stitch.
Face
Chibi girls are very much in the manga/anime tradition so big, big dark eyes, small mouth and tiny nose.
Use the photo as a guide and place the eyes quite low on the face. I have embroidered these on with embroidery thread. They are basically two large circles with an outline of white underneath. Place a line along the top of circle to form an eyelid and make eyelashes come off it. Eyebrows are a single stitch as is the nose. The mouth is a longer stitch for the top lip and a shorter one for the bottom lip.
Hair
Go wild with the hair – lots of it and in bright colours.
I have used the crochet hook technique for this where you cut even lengths of yarn and fold each in half. Insert crochet hook through a knitted stitch and pull the folded yarn back through then pull it through itself to secure.

Dress
For this girl I have been very lazy and cut a length of wide lace, gathered it with a running stitch along the top and pulled it tight enough to go around her waist. Use super fine ribbon for shoulder straps.
Warning: Chibi girls are highly addictive and can be made in every colour imaginable.

New Creatures

These two heads have been around for a while. I need to finish them. They are made from DAS which is very tricky to work with.

This is a father and son piece. They are fashioned from wire and wrapped left over pieces and scarps of fabric, old stockings and socks. Oh and a pair of lairy Christmas Tree ornament boots for the father and a pair of vinyl dolls shoes fort he son.

OMG Gabe will kill me!

Trawling through some old photos I found this from about 1999 or so. Gabe, now taller than me with a beard and hair to his waist, has just been offered a place at university (I'm so proud). This was taken at the Katoomba Wearable Art Awards. Gabe is wearing his dragon hunter's outift I made for him - we still have it somewhere. He was a sensation on the stage and won the people's choice award, kindly donated by sculptor Ian Swift - Gabe is standing with his prize.

I can't believe I haven't posted my chibi doll. I must show this to the Ravelry group and offer them the pattern to try. Chibi is Japanese for small and cute and usually refers to anime style little girls and their pets. Now there's a thought! I might do some pets to go with them.

Babes in the Wool

Nearly Christmas! I've been getting beautiful photos of babes made from my Babes in the Wool book. I have to share them, they are wonderful.

This gorgeous lady is made by Georgia Piotter who has also sewn her a red satin vampire dress in which she looks stunning.

This sweety was made by Karen Zorn. I love the short, pixie hair style.

This beauty is one of the first I saw and was made by the talented Pamela Atherton who has gone on and made several of the dolls. I shall post them soon.

And this morning I received this fun girl from Martyna Kunkel from Poland! I am so glad to see her wearing something warm. In Australia we are supposed to have lovely hot summers but it nearly snowed yesterday!

I want to see lots more photos of your creations, this is my best Christmas present ever!

The second day of summer

Four drawings for an online publication called New Fairy Tales: www.newfairytales.co.uk
Great fun to do, I hope they ask me again.