Update on my lil knit Quaker Pinball...

FINISHED! YES!!
Well ok, this is just the first side, but still! I am most proud of it~ my first intarsa knitting e-v-e-r, and on 6ought knitting pins to boot! WOO HOO! Once I got past the first 5 rows or so, and there was a scrimp of something to actually hold on to, it got aLOT easier, and actually, I quite enjoyed it, very much so. More than I thought I would. I was only able to do a few rows at a time, then needed to take a break to let my eyes rest, I think I will look for a magnifier on a stand for my other half...which, in keeping with my insane tradition of always jumping in before I know how to swim....I think I should knit beads into the other side :) never done that before, but am quite excited to try. Ill let you know how it goes~

I hope you all try something you have never done before this year~ you may just find out that you love it, and wish you had tried it sooner~ I had always thought knitting a pinball would be too difficult~ but not so! You just have to go slow and steady, and eventually, you'll be finished. I am keeping notes of my time, and so far, for the first side, it took me 30 hours, 2 minutes to complete

A Precious, Very Special One of a Kind Wooden Make Do Queen Anne~

This is Muriel~ and she is indeed a very special dollye. Unlike my other dollys, Muriel is solid Maple wood....but not just any ol piece of wood~ ohh no~ she is the ultimate 'Goode Huswife'.. Muriel started her life around 1900, as a turned maple wooden pestle~ you know, the necessary kitchen tool for reaming fruits into jams....mashing and grinding down all sorts of nuts, herbs and spices. I have had this olde pestle for as long as I can remember....but one day when I went to move it, something happened, and a little spirit inside of it spoke to me, and asked me to let her out to play~

So I carved her eye sockets, and inset them with a wondrous, very special pair of antique blue glass eyes~ they are just haunting to look into. I have been saving them for the perfect dollye, and Muriel was it. Her nose is a wedge of dark walnut, the same I carved her hands from.

I dressed her in pretty skye blue silks, her skirt and separate petticoat are from this same silk~ and her stomacher laced with little brown ombre silk ribbon. Muriel's necklace is antique tiny turquoise heishe beads, with a really old brass bead in the center.

Pretty antique lace trims her sleeves, and she wears a gorgeous antique pin tucked bonnet over her floor length human hair wig

paint is worn and sparse for precious Muriel~ always such a help in the kitchen, she more than earned a second life as a make-do dollye for a special little girl. I have no doubt in my mind, that old utensils such as these, were 're~purposed' as dollys for a child in need

Here you can see the bottom of the pestle~ she has no legs. So charming, I will include the little glass measuring cup I use to stand her up in~ which adds even more to her humble appeal.

Muriel stands 11" tall, and is a most definite, special, Diamond K Folk Art one of a Kind Queen Anne dollye~ She will be available for purchase this evening at 7pm CST on the TDIPT Mercantile ~ hope you can stop by and say hello to her, Mollye & me~

I am SO in L*o*v*e!

Isn't he the most handsome precious ever??? Please meet Master Flick. I have had him a while now, since Thanksgiving actually. My husband got him for me for Christmas on our trip to Pueblo for the Christmas tree. I adore woozles :) Too many years ago to count, I was given a little girl ferret for Christmas, Chani~ she was my best friend ever, and I still miss her. They are the most wonderful, comical creatures. Anyway, I always talk about Chani, and even tho I said..."NO!!! We are NOT getting anything that eats or poos!" , Jayson got him for me anyway, and he is soooo darling

Unlike Chani, Flick was born on a weasel farm in upstate NY, and as a domestic type, he is about twice/three times larger than Chani was, but I don't mind his largeness...that means theres just more to snuggle on! He is never still~ either sleeping or getting into absolutely EVERYTHING! He hasn't found his voice yet~ doesn't talk like my Chani did~ she would make the cutest little 'eh eh eh' sounds when she was playing or happy~ nothing like the 'bark' they describe them making these days..... perhaps one day he will remember how to talk.

He loves playing with the big dogs and Dixie, and swimming in the water dishes~ and the children adore him too. How could you NOT love this face?

Intricate Challenges.....


I am not the kind of person that makes 'New Year's Resolutions'....but I do like to identify my goals for the coming year at its start...and usually, I like to start some interesting something I have been meaning to get to, in January. I guess, with starting at the head of the year, in my mind's eye, I will have the next 12 months time to figure out my new whatever-it-is. One of my projects for this year, is knitting more period correct, 18th century fancy pinballs. Now the ones I did last year, were FABULOUS and I absolutely adore them~ and so do my children~ they have all asked me to make them one.....but being....well,me...... I want to make dollye size ones, with precious sayings and mottoes and beads knit into them. yaaaaaaa....right. sounds endearing enough? doesn't it? Above is my start, I am using size 12 DMC coton perle, on 6-ought (000000) lace needles. Evidentally, I have gone absolutely looney, and have a subliminal need to make myself go blind in the process.

I mean...good grief! WHAT THE HECK AM I THINKING????? These blasted needles are smaller in diameter than the straight pins I use for my sewing are!!! And this thread...size 12? My dental floss is bigger. Ohh well, I have started already, so will have to finish :) At least I will have one side done eventually~ how difficult it ends up being, will decide if I actually come out with a finished pinball, or a little framed what-not for dollys wall. The above picture shows 4 completed knit rows, and...gasp, as I am tracking my time, a bit over 5 HOURS of work so far.

post script~ if you read the commetns, you will see one of the little doilies my Mom crochet me so many years ago for the dollye house~ of coarse I still have it! Love You Mom! xoxoxoxox

Question of the day.....

What do wood shavings and olde kitchen utensils have in common????

I would love to show you on Jan the 14th, 7pm CST on the TDIPT Mercantile!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Christmas Gift for Dollye...

So now you know how I spend my idle time whilst its blizzarding outside..... I love this little girl, she is so precious to me. I found her a while ago, quite a while ago actually, and she has been more than patient, content to reside in her unmentionables, until I had time to make a quaint little gown that agreed with her

This is how she was when I got her~ poor girl clad in c1890 dress and bonnet~ not at all anything like her original 1820-30 wardrobe would have resembled. She was extremely happy to be free of them! Her replaced skin wig, tho cunning on the 'right' doll, looked, well, unbecoming on her, to put it nicely. Besides being to small it washed out her pretty features...and ghads, whats up with the widow's peak in the front! AKKKK! She spoke to me tho, I could see her for what she is, and once was, a wonderful first quarter 19th c wax over mache precious~ dollys like these are English, she is on her original body~ the feet pointing inward are a distinct feature of these dolls, as are the red kid leather lower arms with individually stitched fingers. Later 1830s you see the slit heads where wigs were rooted, and some with wire sleep eyes~ this one tho, she is an early early girl with very well done painting and those wonderful blue glass eyes

What a change , a change of wardrobe can make, don't you think? She looks absolutely content in her new duds. I hand stitched her an empire waist gown from a coveted bit of antique late 1820 printed cotton I had here~ been saving it forever for just the right something! This style of dress was very common on these little dolls~ it is simple, yet can be made to be quite elegant just by changing the materials of it. This same pattern, but made up say, out of a silk satin, with perhaps an overlay of netting, would be most acceptable, even for dolly's mistress, to attend an evening dinner or soiree. I made her a little poke bonnet from antique crinoline and lace, and yes, cut a little lock of my own hair for her to wear. Tho she does have a painted pate, she really didn't want to be bald.......

Just a whisp of hair~ I love this picture~ you can appreciate the skilled tinting of her cheeks, precious rosebud lips and those wild eyebrows!

Her shoulder plate is actually quite deep, it goes nearly to the red silk ribbon on her dress. She is a rare survivor to remain in such good condition~ her wax is clean and bright, just nearly as it once was when new. These dollys were commonly sold in places like the famed 'SoHo Bazaar' in London, and by peddlers called 'Bagmen'~ which is where the term 'Bagmen Babies' also comes from.

Her red kid leather arms are original, but do show their age. Perfect individually stitched fingers grace her hands~ and from the worm holes, we can see that scraps of other leather gloves were used to stuff hers.

I left her her most likely original pantaloon and stockings, but made her a little pair of shoes out of two fingers from a pair of antique green kid leather gloves~ actually one of a pair tha thad lost its mate long ago~ I have seen shoes made like this of the period, and actually, was quite surprised how easy it was, and how good they look. They are the tips of the ring and middle fingers, just snipped off in their entirety, you will cut a slit in the top that becomes the vamp, and then stitch the 2 sides up center heel in the back and voi~la~ a little shoe that fits dollye perfect.