Happy Halloween!

Neelie, Elfonda, and the weird, faceless new ghoul wanted to drop by to wish you a Happy Halloween!

Unless the torrential rain we are experiencing lightens up I don't think we will be having many Trick or Treaters at our door. Of course those that do go around might be getting more than the usual amounts of candy as people realize they have purchased too much.

Just an update to say that the final Trick-or-Treater tally was 27.

A Flight To Sweden

 The little Mari girl was a delight to have around for a couple of days. She even helped out by doing some fittings for a commissioned piece.

But after awhile I had to face facts. She's not my doll (at least not the faceplate part) and I have to give her up. Stalling was not helping anything.

So bright and early this morning I packaged her up and sent her on her way to her new owner in Sweden.

Bye bye you funny little fishy face. Hopefully we'll see you (an exact look-a-like at least) again in a few months. Maybe by then I'll have a wardrobe ready?

She Grows on You!

This little cutie was a surprise delivery yesterday! I ordered her on October 8th and didn't really expect to see her until the new year. She's a Fairyland Realfee Mari. Fairyland usually doesn't start making the dolls until after an order is placed, resulting in a wait of many months for delivery.

But this little one arrived in only 15 working days, and that includes the day I ordered and the day I received her. That's absolutely unheard of for Fairyland.

The PLAN was to not keep this particular little face. The body yes, the faceplate, no. I arranged to trade this "Mari" faceplate, (which I thought I wouldn't care for), for a Soso faceplate, but a curious thing happened. 

She grew on me. 

I mean really grew on me. I fell in love with her!

Here is how it happened:

It seems I am the VERY FIRST person to get a Realfee Mari doll! Perhaps not in the world, but certainly on the photo hosting site I use (Flickr) and on the ball jointed doll forum (Den of Angels), and on the knitting forum (Ravelry). No one else seems to have one yet! This means that there are rabid Mari fans just dying to see 'owner' photos of this doll. Having had the honor of being 'first' I felt it my duty to oblige.

The actual company photos never seem to stir the excitement and creative ideas that the incoming blank dolls photographed by individuals like myself do, so I set to work, intent on providing doll hobby friends with photos. But as I dressed, posed, and photographed this odd little doll I grew so attached to her that it became difficult to box her up and send her off to Sweden to the woman who is sending me the Soso faceplate in exchange. But I am a woman of my word and a deal is a deal. Off to Sweden she goes tomorrow.

So as you can see, there was nothing else I could do! Defenseless against the Mari's enchantment --

--- I ordered one for myself.

A Gift Prepared Early

I've been super busy lately, but haven't been taking many pictures. When that happens I end up not blogging at all for what is a story without at least one picture?

Here's just one of the projects I've been working on lately. I finished it up today and the weather cooperated for photos.

It's a newborn sized layette for my hairdresser.

She has found out that her baby, due in early February of 2016, will be a girl. 

She had been told that she would never be able to have children, so she's very excited about becoming a mommy.

It felt right to welcome her miracle baby with a hand knit gift.

This is the "Nouveau-né"pattern by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot.

It's a fairly gender-neutral pattern so I pushed the femininity with a bright pink yarn and added, lacy embellishments.

As with all new born sized layettes I'm sure it took longer to make than the baby will actually spend wearing it.

But perhaps it will be something special to bring the baby home in and then tuck away as a keepsake.