My first doll is not a comfort doll and neither is my second!

A couple of weeks ago, I joined the artdollz yahoo group and have been very inspired. The dolls made by this group are generally not knitted but that didn't stop me from giving it a go!


On Sunday, I finished my first knitted doll.
"Art" she is not! She's not even well crafted - but I won't point out my mistakes (don't look too closely! LOL). She's knitted on 3.25mm dpns in 8ply acrylic leftovers - believe it or not, there are 40 strands of yarn - some as short as 15cm - in that 15cm doll! If you click on the image and enlarge it you will see the variations of colour. I'm not really happy with her but DD thinks she's cute. The first time he saw her, WM said, "Babushka" which was pleasing because that's what I had in mind while I was 'designing' her (on the needles).

Today I completed the second knitted doll - this time I knitted from the head down using 3ply baby nylon (it's soft and cuddly) on 2.25mm dpns. I knitted flat to the neck then a tube to the feet.
The fair isle pattern is random: Fibonacci numbers (1-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-3, 3-2, 2-1, 1-2, 1-1, 1-1) repeated three times. I'm still designing on the needles and playing with ideas - and there are still bugs to be ironed out in the construction! The face is one of those "what if" moments - what if I try to draw a simple face rather than embroider one? I used permanent markers - the result is more or less what I expected from drawing on such a fibrous fabric.

Both were an exercise in playing with shape and size and turned out a lot wider than I think is suitable for the comfort doll project. However, I'm sure two little girls in Asia will appreciate them because I will donate them to Operation Christmas Child through my contact at the Knitters' Guild.

What is the comfort doll project? I'm glad you asked! Comfort dolls are small (maximum size 15cm /6 inches) to fit in a purse or handbag and are given to women who've been raped, abused or otherwise traumatised. The dolls are given to women's shelters or refuges, and the staff pass them on to the recipients. You can find out more about this project by looking at these photos or the originator's blog. And here is a link for the project in NZ. As yet, there is no link for Oz but, hopefully, that will soon change. A friend of mine has put her hand up as a collection point in Oz, so if you want to join the project, email me at this address teacherDOTlynneATyahooDOTcomDOTau and I will send you further information as it comes to hand. Make sure you give me a reply address! :-)