It's not Christmas or any one's birthday but I have spent a lot of time knitting over the last couple of weeks - at least a lot of time for me. I don't have as much time to play with my sticks and string as I would like. But as I said, over the last two weeks I have been knitting obsessively. We've eaten out every breakfast, lunch and dinner for two weeks, worn the same pair of socks and underwear during said time frame and the dogs have had to forage for food in the trash cans and litter box because my knitting and I could not be parted for trivial things like cooking, doing laundry and feeding the animals.
Just kidding. It hasn't been quite that bad . . .but almost!
The strange thing is that this manic knitting has been on the kind of project that I don't normally enjoy - toys and dolls. I don't particularly like making stuffed animals and dolls because when all of the knitting is done all you have is a bunch of little pieces that require sewing together. I despise sewing lots of little pieces together. Probably because I am not particularly good at doing it.
All that said, I really wanted to make this particular doll. At first I was discouraged by the 2,714 pieces that the pattern said were necessary - everything from hair bows to basic body parts. As I stared at the instructions, all I could think is there must be a simpler way. I set out to uncover this elusive simpler way. I was bound and determined to find a way to knit this doll in one piece and in the round.
I am happy to say that my mission was successful! I managed to knit the entire doll and her clothing in one piece. There were a few accessories that needed to be sewn at the end but compared to the way the pattern was originally written they were no big deal.
Meet "Emily.
Emily will travel this summer to be part of a fundraising raffle where she will meet her new family.
