knits for birthday

just after christmas, sienna and i had a chat about projects that we loose motivation for and that get pushed aside, left waiting for someone to get the urge to finish them off. admittedly, we both have a bit of this kind of thing going on. it is one of my quests right now to tackle the unfinished projects that are cluttering our lives.

one request sienna often has is for her dolls to be mended. i suggested i focus on doctoring her dolls for her birthday (feb 6) gift and she jumped at the idea! not only was i pleased that she wasn't insistent that she get new presents, but this would also give me a chance to check something off that ever-growing to do list. (for the record, i also needle felted a special animal for her and she received a book.)
four dolls received the first round of treatment. i have much more work to do, but she was pleased with my progress thus far. first up is her most beloved companion (next to her brother), *birthday*. birthday was custom made by fabs of *fig & me*. she came to live with sienna on her sixth birthday. she is so loved here and a regular part of our family.
fabs has such skilled hands and pours so much love into her creations. birthday really did not need any mending from me. despite the fact that sienna has taken her on countless adventures all over the place in the past year, including camping at music festivals, much frolicking in the woods, numerous picnics in the yard, and hundreds of trips in the car, she had only one popped stitch on her shoulder and a slightly dirty nose to show for it.
so birthday got a new outfit instead. i bookmarked shelley's doll sweater pattern when it first appeared in living crafts. i told myself that i could not knit sweaters yet though. then i just decided to tackle it....and i did it! it was so much fun i am kind of surprised that i didn't cast on for another one right away!
the buttons were jasper's contribution. i intended for us to make our own from fallen branches in our yard. however we found these little wooden disks in our playroom and went with those instead. he sanded them, drilled the holes with his hand drill, and gave them a watercolor wash before rubbing them with beeswax polish. he was so proud when sienna saw them!
i based the hat and the leg warmers on patterns i found online for american girl dolls and adapted them to my needs. i should add some ties on the hat to help hold it on all that gorgeous hair!
the tube dress was an impromptu fix. i had spent my allotted time for this project on knitting the rest of her attire, but she needed something to complete her outfit. i had just made sienna a skirt out of this amazingly soft sweater and cut the sleeve of it for birthday. it slipped right on!
eventually i will share pics of the other dolls as well as various other completed crafty adventures. however i am having trouble getting decent pictures and making the time to edit them and fight with blogger to get a post out.

wishing you a beautiful and inspired weekend!