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Monday, October 31, 2011

Trick or Treat!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween

Smell my feet!

Witch Costume

Give me something good to eat!

Trick or Treat

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Jack, Her Lantern

Serenity's just dropping by to show you her Jack-o-lantern......

IMG_0748

....and her new dress, of course!

IMG_0746

It's my second knit through of the Ridged Lace Dress Pattern for Pukifee. Just making sure it is error free before I go on to designing the next item in the lineup.

IMG_0752

I also sewed her little, brown tights.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Party Perfect Pukifee

I've had so much fun today finishing off this little outfit for my Pukifee, Serenity.

Party Dress

The pattern is my own design and will be included in the Pukifee knitting pattern package that I'm working on.

Ridged Lace Pattern Image

I also sewed her little matching tights. The sewing pattern for those is also my own creation. I "guesstimated" the shape and size and they turned out perfectly, FIRST try even! I was so surprised. If I had known it would go so well I would have attempted it sooner.

sitting pretty

The tights, before pulling them up over her legs, were so teeny that they were about the width of linguine noodles!

Hello

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Tessa's Visit

Serenity was happy to have her cousin, Tessa, over for a visit.

Tessa came for a visit.

I made Tessa's outfit (minus the cute little boots) as her homecoming gift.

Serenity and Tessa

Tessa is a Fairyland Pukifee Zoe that lives with my daughter.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Handspun Pukifee Dress

Yesterday I made Serenity a simple little dress using laceweight handspun, merino/silk.

new dress

On 1.5mm needles (US 000) it wasn't exactly "quick", but it didn't take all day either.

handspun dress

She seems pretty pleased with it.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

A New Line to Design

Red really isn't Serenity's best colour, but she's been great about posing in a new "One Button Cardi" that I'm in the process of designing for Pukifee and Lati Yellow sized dolls.

Say hi, teddy.

I still have a bit of tweaking to do to the pattern so maybe the next rendition will be in one of her better colours. She seems to favour colours that range from pink through mauve to soft blues.

kisses for teddy

wearing red

Friday, October 21, 2011

Serenity Reborn

Serenity's new wig and eyes arrived today and what a difference!

new wig

Interesting how the right wig and eyes can make the faceup look so much better. The wig matches her eyebrows perfectly, the eye colour makes the most of the "shadow" on her lids, and even her lip colour looks pinker and more realistic.

Serenity

Now THIS is the little toddler I was expecting to see when I opened her box that first day.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Desert Mesa Spinning Retreat

I spent a fun weekend in Cache Creek at the Desert Mesa Spinning Retreat. This is what the main room looked like before 54 spinners arrived and took over in an explosion of equipment, fibre, and friendship.

arrival

Although seating is casual and everyone sets up where they wish, many have their favourite spots that they gravitate to year after year.

set up

Ms Muffet wasted no time claiming a spot by the window. While Mr Magoo never did any spinning he did did appear to be listening in on all the hilarious stories being told. I'm sure he would agree that busy hands do not idle the tongue.

Ms Muffet's spinning retreat

When the spinners were not upstairs spinning, chatting, and laughing uproariously they were down in the dining hall eating, chatting and ..... well, yes .... laughing uproariously!

dining room

True to my usual style I only remembered to take a few pictures over the entire weekend, and those were before most people arrived. Once the event begins I am too wrapped up in the action to think about taking pictures.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Magoo In Cashmere

Teeny little super guy, Mr Magoo, dropping by to show off his new cashmere/merino/silk sweater.

Magoo's cashmere sweater

His itty, bitty sweater barely fits on the tip of my thumb!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

eBook of Knitting Patterns

It was a lot of work getting to this point, but my first eBook of knitting patterns is now available as a very affordable PDF download! 10 knitting patterns custom fit and in proper scale for Pukpuki dolls for only $5 US. They should also fit other similarly sized 4" dolls like Lati White and the 4" version of Barbie's sister, Kelly.

knits for Pukipuki

one button cardi

collared coat

All designs are knit with 1.5mm needles (US size 000) and laceweight yarn.

Ms Muffet can't resist popping in to say that when worked with even finer needles (1mm, US 5/0) the patterns work up nicely for RealPuki too! She's wearing a modification of the dress pattern that uses Colourmart 2/28 cashmere and the "Harebell Lace" pattern from a popular sock knitting book.

Ms Muffet's new dress

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all Canadians who happen by today, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

When Ms Muffet and Mr Magoo heard we had company coming they climbed for higher ground. Now they are better able to view the "goings on", but are out of the reach of little hands too. (Not that that has ever really been an issue.)

Staying out of reach!

Serenity is giving thanks today for her helpful, bigger friend, Peanut. Peanut was more than happy to help with the buckling of Serenity's shoes.

helping hands

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Welcome Serenity!

Early this morning, while we were preparing for a photo shoot for a new Puki knitting pattern, the doorbell rang.

Puki modelling gig

It was the parcel deliveryman bringing this big box. I hadn't told the little ones that we were expecting an addition to the family so it was a big surprise and they were all quite excited.

the box

In fact, they were all so excited that they were getting in the way! I had to request that they please go and sit on the chair.

stay over THERE

When I opened the shipping box and the boys saw that the inner box was all pink and girly they promptly lost interest.

PINK box

They were last heard discussing motorcycles and hot rods while they wandered away.

manual

The girls however were still VERY interested.

overlooked

Well they were....until the big pile of new shoes caught their eye.

shoes!

After that they were all about trying on the shoes and playing dress up.

trying on the shoes

With no help coming forth from the "welcoming committee", the new comer had to climb out of the box by herself! (I tell ya, this is the last time I allow the Pukies to act as greeters!)

hello?

While Petunia and her friends collapsed in fits of giggles over the "big kid" shoes, a bald and chilly Pukifee searched good naturedly for something to wear.

fit o giggles

First she found a pair of leggings and a .... um .... set of sleeves? Hilarious!

what the....?

But then I showed her how they were to be worn with a little knitted dress.

shoes?

She politely introduced herself as "Serenity" and mentioned that her feet were cold.

cold toes

So I wrestled Serenity's shoes away from the Pukies and found her a hat.

without hair

She had arrived before her wigs so she will have to make do for now with a much too large wig borrowed from Delilah Noir. Luckily the hat at least holds it on her head!

Serenity

Seeing as the so called "welcoming committee" seems to be busy doing other things, I hope everyone will join me in a warm welcome for a dear little girl named Serenity.

Welcome Home

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Petunia? That You?

Petunia? Is that you?

Petunia?


It IS! Yay! Petunia's back!

She's back....sorta

Well sort of.

I wish I could have the eyebrows and blushing from the first faceup attempt back. They were better than this second attempt. I got the eyebrows WAY too high this time. Both Petunia and I have had enough for now though. Maybe I'll try it again in a few months.

Faceup artists deserve every penny of the fee that they charge for their expertise!

Another Face Wipe Coming Up!

My granddaughter always asks me what my dollies are saying. Well what Petunia is saying right now is, "Wipe me, Wipe me! and someone keep this talentless newby away from me!". Heh.



So yeah, I'm going to wipe her again and give it one more shot before I admit defeat. I liked the blushing, and I'm pleasantly surprised with how the eyebrows came out. The eyelashes weren't even too terribly bad at first but then I made the fatal mistake of thinking I could pull the black from the inner eyelid out at the corner....then I added an "eyelash" or two with the same paint....aack, big mistake!

And the lips....oh my, that was another whole torment session. I haven't come anywhere NEAR being happy with those. I wiped the area so many times that I lost some of the blushing along with it. Never could get her looking anything other than that she had just eaten a very messy jam tart! I want her to have much more defined lips that the usual Pong default faceup, but not like THIS! I couldn't get enough colour where I wanted it on her lips while using the pastels, but clearly paint isn't the answer either.

Back to the drawing board! Or faceup board....'er whatever. Petunia isn't successfully through her cosmetic surgery yet.....

Saturday, October 01, 2011

Blushing

I didn't want to become a custom faceup artist. I have enough hobbies as it is, but the sad state of Petunia's face just could not be ignored any longer. Here's how she looked before I wiped her.

before

And here's how she's looking with just the blushing done. Of course while I was actually working on her I had the eyes and wig removed. I only put them back so that I could get a better idea of how she was coming along.

Just the blushing

I have to say that I'm really liking how she's looking so far, but this is only the beginning. The hardest part is yet to come and I'll admit to being very nervous about it. I still have to do all the line work and if my trial brushstrokes on the back of a sandwich plate can say much about my "talent", it says that I don't have any! I need fine, tapering lines and I get big, blobby, inconsistent ones. Aargh! Never mind the nightmare that attempting two mirrored eyebrows is going to be.

When it's not so humid I'll "save" this layer by giving the faceplate another seal coat, and then see what I can do about making Petunia look a little less like Odo from Star Trek, Deep Space Nine. Yep.....she definitely needs eyebrows, lips, and eyelashes!