For our October Knitting retreat we made these sweet rag dolls. They're knit in the round, starting with the legs, which are joined with a knitted gusset to create the basis for a body, which is then knit up to the head. They're a great way to use up scraps of 4 ply wool left over from other projects. We used our own-label, Costa Brava Knitting 100% organic cotton yarn. You'll need one 50 g ball of the skin-coloured yarn to knit the body of the doll and scraps for her shoes, dress and hair.
Just read on for the pattern:
Abbreviations used:
K = knit
P = purl
K2 tog = knit 2 together
KFB = knit front and back of stitch
PFB = purl front and back of stitch
MC = Main Colour
CC = Contrast Colour
W= Wrap
T = Turn i.e. turn work around and work back in the opposite direction
M = place stitch marker
M1 = make a new stitch by bringing yarn to the front (yarn forward YFWD) and knitting the next stitch. This will create a new stitch to be worked on the next row.
SSK = slip 2 stitches knit-wise, and then, placing the left needle in the fronts of those stitches, knit them together
YFWD = bring the yarn to the front and knit the next stitch. This will create a new stitch to be worked on the next row.
Doll Body
Starting with a foot:
Cast on 8 stitches using the two needle
twisted cast-on method.
To
work a 2 needle twisted cast on: -
Hold
the two needles side by side, parallel in your right hand. Twist the yarn
around the top needle, looping it over itself at the back. Holding the working
yarn over your forefinger and the tail over your thumb, twist the forefinger
yarn around the bottom needle, looping it over itself at the back, and the
thumb yarn over the top needle, looping it over itself at the back as well. Carry
on with a rocking movement until you have the desired number of stitches. Turn
the needles over so that the purl bumps are facing upwards, and knit the
stitches off the bottom needle. Push the work to the other end of the needles,
and knit the second needle with the working yarn, working in the opposite
direction.
Row 1: Knit 1 row.
Row 2: Knit into the front and back of each stitch (kfb) (16 stitches)
Row 3: k
Row 4: *k1 kfb*. Repeat from * to * to the end of the row (24 stitches).
Divide the stitches over the 3 needles so that there are 8 stitches per needle. You can do this by just knitting 8 stitches on the next round and starting a new needle each time you reach the 9th stitch.
Knit until the foot measures 3cm (about 11
rows on my tension)
Shaping the heel:
To shape the heel we work on the first 12
stitches on the needle. The remaining 12 stitches are held in waiting until the
heel has been turned. If your tension is loose you may like to put them on a couple of stitch holders until they're in play again. They will, in due course, be knit to form the instep, the
front part of the sock opposite the heel.
Row 1: k 11, wrap the following stitch (W),
turn
Row 2: p10, W, turn
Row 3: k9 (i.e. to within one stitch of the
previously wrapped stitch), W, turn
Row 4: p8, W, turn
Row 5: k7, W, turn
Row 6: p 6, W, turn
Row 7: k5, W, turn
Row 8, p4, W, turn
Now we’ll carry on and work the other side
of the heel, picking up the wrapped stitches.
Row 9, k4, pick up first wrapped stitch and
knit it along with its wrap, turn
Row 10: p5 pick up first wrapped stitch and
purl it along with its wrap, turn
Row 11: k6, pick up next wrapped stitch and
knit it along with its wrap, turn
Row 12: p7, pick up next wrapped stitch and
purl it along with its wrap, turn
Row 13: k8, pick up next wrapped stitch and
knit it along with its wrap, turn
Row 14: p9, pick up next wrapped stitch and
purl it along with its wrap, turn
Row 15, k10 pick up next wrapped stitch and
knit it along with its wrap, turn
Row 16: p11, pick up next wrapped stitch
and purl it along with its wrap, turn
Leg
Carry on working in the round until leg
measures 10 cm
Put to one side and work on the other sock.
Do NOT cast off.
If you would like to give your doll stripy tights, choose a contrasting colour and join it after you have turned the heel. Knit 2 rows of your main colour, and then 2 rows of your contrasting colour all the way up the legs.
If you would like to give your doll stripy tights, choose a contrasting colour and join it after you have turned the heel. Knit 2 rows of your main colour, and then 2 rows of your contrasting colour all the way up the legs.
Work a second foot and leg to match the first.
The gusset
We’re now going to join the 2 legs
together with a gusset.
Place the feet side by side, and chose the
central six stitches on opposite sides to knit up and across to form the
gusset. Be careful that you chose stitches that are in the middle and will leave both feet pointing in the same direction. Join the knicker colour, which is the colour that we will use for the
gusset, and knit 6 rows in stocking stitch.
Using the knicker colour join 2 sets of
live stitches using a 3 needle bind-off. Keep the last stitch on the
needle to start knitting around the body. Pick up 2 stitches on the other side
of the gusset seam, and (still using the knicker colour) knit around the live
stitches of the first leg to the other side of the gusset. Pick up 6 stitches
across the other gusset section, and knit around the live stitches of the
second leg back towards the gusset where the 3 needle bind-off terminated. Pick
up 3 stitches on the first section of that part of the gusset.
At the end of this row there will be 48
stitches on the needle, which we will carry on knitting to form the body.
Knit 2 rows in the round.
Row 3: *k7, kfb*. Repeat from * to * to the
end of the row. You will have added 6 additional stitches and will finish the
row with 54 stitches on the needles.
Lightly stuff the legs and feet with toy
stuffing. It’s a good idea to keep doing this as you work your way up the body
as it will get increasingly difficult to stuff the extremities as the body is
worked.
Knit in stocking stitch until the knickers
are 4.5 cm long, join the skin colour, and carry on working with it.
Knit in stocking stitch until the body
measures 9 cm.
Shape the neck
Row 1: *k1, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all
the way round. This will reduce the number of stitches by 18 leaving 36
stitches on the needles.
Rows 2 to 6: knit in stocking stitch.
Row 7: *k2, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all
the way round. This will reduce the number of stitches by 9 leaving 27 stitches
on the needles.
Rows 8 to 11: knit in stocking stitch.
The neck has now been knit. Satisfy
yourself that you are happy with the legs and feet stuffing and lightly stuff
the body.
The head
We are now going to increase the number of
stitches to knit the doll’s head.
Row 1: *k2, kfb*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have
added 9 stitches, increasing the number of stitches on the needles to 36.
Row 2: *k2, kfb*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have
added 12 stitches, increasing the number of stitches on the needles to 48.
Row 3: *k2, kfb*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have
added 16 stitches, increasing the number of stitches on the needles to 64.
Knit 25 rows i.e. rows 4 to 28 in stocking
stitch.
Row: 29: *k2, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have
decreased the stitch-count by 16 stitches, leaving 48 stitches on the needles.
Row 30: *k2, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have
decreased the stitch-count by 12 stitches, leaving 36 stitches on the needles.
Row 31: *k2, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have
decreased the stitch-count by 9
stitches, leaving 27 stitches on the needles.
Stuff the neck and lightly stuff the head,
adding a felt circle of about 10 cm in diameter behind the part of the head
that will form the face. The idea here is to have something a little firmer, that won’t fray, into which you can fix the safety eyes and anchor the
embroidery as you sew on the facial features.
Add the safety eyes, piercing the felt to
hold them securely in place.
Row 32: *k1, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have
decreased the stitch-count by 9 stitches, leaving 18 stitches on the needles.
Row 33: *k1, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have
decreased the stitch-count by 6 stitches, leaving 12 stitches on the needles.
Row 34: knit.
Check that you are happy with the head
stuffing. Add any final amounts of stuffing that you believe necessary.
Cut the yarn and using a darning needle
thread the yarn back through stitches on the needle to draw them tightly to a
close. Secure the loose end and finish off.
Arms
(Knit 2 – both the same)
Cast on 18 stitches.
Work on the flat in stocking stitch for 10
rows.
Row 11: cast off 2 stitches.
Row 12: cast off 2 stitches.
Carry on in stocking stitch until work
measures 11 cm.
Cast off, and sew around side seams. Stuff
lightly and sew up top seam.
Sew the arms to the body – at the side, and
just below the neck.
Add the hair using a crochet hook, looping
it through the textile that forms the head and securing it with a loop knot.
Once all the hair has been added you can trim it so that the doll has a haircut
to your liking.
Using embroidery thread, give the doll a
smile and some rosy cheeks.
Doll's Dress
Please bear in mind that the pattern given below is for the blue dress. At the end of the dress pattern you will find the patterns for the alternatives that have been used to knit the pink dress, namely how to do the slip-stitch stripes, the longer, frilly sleeves and the i-cord cast-on edging.
The skirt
Starting with the bottom hem of the skirt cast
on 90 stitches in contrasting colour (CC). Distribute evenly across 3 needles
i.e. 30 stitches per needle.
Join with first stitch to make a circle without getting any twists.
Rows 1 and 2 purl, or see alternative
i-cord cast-on (set out at the end).
Change colour to the main colour (MC), and
work in knit stitch following the chart for the colour pattern. The stitch chart shows the pattern for the 30 stitches on each needle. Repeat the sequence for each needle as you knit around.
Carry on in knit stitch until work measures
8 cm.
Shaping row: k1, K2 tog, all the way around
(60 stitches)]
The bodice
Divide the stitches for the back and the
front: place 30 stitches on one needle for the front, and another 30 on another
needle for the back. From this point on we will work on the flat to shape the
front and back independently of one another.
Back bodice
Work 12 rows in purl stitch.
Row 13: Cast off 4 stitches, and work to
the end of the row in purl stitch (26 stitches).
Row 14: Cast off 4 stitches, and work to
the end of the row in purl stitch (22 stitches).
Row 15: Reverse stocking stitch.
Row 16: Cast off 1 stitch, and work to the
end of the row in reverse stocking stitch (21 stitches).
Row 17: Cast off 1 stitch, and work to the
end of the row in purl stitch (20 stitches).
Row 18: Cast off 1 stitch, and work to the
end of the row in purl stitch (19 stitches)
Row 19: Cast off 1 stitch, and work to the
end of the row in purl stitch (18 stitches).
Row 20: k3, cast off 12 k2 (this will leave
you with 3 stitches on either side of the 12 cast-off stitches).
Work 3 rows in purl stitch on the right
hand side shoulder of the 3-stitch row on that side.
Cast off and rejoin the yard to work a
similar 3 rows on the left hand side shoulder on the other side of the cast off
stitches. Cast off and rejoin the yarn to knit the front.
Front bodice
Join yarn and work 12 rows in reverse
stocking stitch i.e. purl the right side (odd numbered) rows and knit the wrong
side (even numbered) rows.
Row 13: cast off 4 stitches, work to the
end of the row in reverse stocking stitch (26 stitches).
Row 14: cast off 4 stitches, work to the
end of the row in reverse stocking stitch (22 stitches).
Row 15: work in reverse stocking stitch.
Row 16: Cast off 1, work to the end of the
row in reverse stocking stitch (21 stitches).
Row 17: Cast off 1, work to the end of the
row in reverse stocking stitch (20 stitches).
Row 18: Cast off 1, work to the end of the
row in reverse stocking stitch (19 stitches).
Row 19: Cast off 1, p5, cast off 6, p5
(leaves 6 stitches on either side of the 6 cast off stitches).
(Working on right shoulder)
Row 20: knit
Row 21: Cast off 2, p3 (4 stitches)
Row 22: knit.
Row 23: Cast off 1, p2 (3 stitches)
Cast off and rejoin yarn to work the left
shoulder
Row 20: Cast off 2, k3 (4 stitches)
Row 21: purl
Row 22: Cast off 1, k2 (3 stitches)
Row 23: purl
Cast off, sew shoulder and side seams, darn
in ends and block the dress.
The Sleeves (both the same)
Pick up 24 stitches around the armhole. Join
with first stitch to knit in the round.
Work 6 rows in knit stitch.
Work 2 rows in purl.
Cast off and darn in the ends.
Alternatives:
i-cord cast-on in the round
This could be used as an alternative hem for the skirt.
·
Cast on 3 stitches using the
long tail method using on pin needles or circular needles.
·
Slip the stitches back onto the
left needle.
·
You are going to knit them
across onto the right needle again, pulling the live end of the yarn from the
stitch on the extreme left, which was the last stitch to have been cast on and
knitting into the front and back of the first stitch to create an extra stitch.
·
At the end of this first row,
slip the last 3 stitches back onto the left needle and repeat.
·
Keep on going until you have
the required number of stitches cast on plus one extra stitch.
·
Slip the last 2 stitches
purl-wise back onto the right needle and then knit them together. This will
give you the correct number of stitches and correct the bulk of the i-cord so
that its two ends can be seamed when you’re finished knitting the project. If
you don’t stitch the 2 ends together you’ll get a slight V-shaped gap in the
finished article.
·
Join and close the circle by knitting
the first stitch cast on with the live end of the yarn, and carry on knitting
in the round. Be careful to pull the tension reasonably tight on the stitch
that joins the round.
·
Carry on as normal with your
pattern.
Slip-stitch stripes
If you would like to do some colour-work
but don’t want to follow a chart and create a picture pattern you may like to
consider some vertical slipstitch stripes. This pattern can be worked over any
even number of stitches.
Rows 1 and 2 : knit in main colour (MC)
(Row 1 will be the i-cord row if you chose to combine and i-cord with
slip-stitch stripes)
Row 3: Change to contrast colour (CC) :
*k1, slip 1* to the end of the row
Row 4: (same as row 3)
Row 5: pick up MC: *slip 1, k1* to the end
of the row
Row 6 (same as row 5)
Carry on repeating rows 3 to 6 until your
work is the required length.
Frilly sleeves
Pick up 24 stitches around the armhole.
Join with first stitch to knit in the round.
Work 9 rows in knit stitch.
Row 10: purl into the front and back (PFB)
of each stitch (48 stitches)
Row 11: purl
Row 12: PFB all the way round (96 stitches)
Row 13: purl
Row 14: Cast off and darn in the loose
ends.
Seed stitch bodice
On the pink dress a seed stitch bodice has been worked in place of reverse stocking stitch. This is worked in k1, p1 sequence. On the second row reverse the order taking care to knit on the purl stitches of the last row so that they are always out of sequence over any 2 successive rows.Shoes
These are knit in two colours: the main
colour (MC) and the contrast (CC) using 4 ply yarn and 2.75 mm (size 12)
needles.
Left Shoe
Using MC cast on 29 stitches.
Row 1: k 14, place marker (M), k1, place
second marker (M), K14
Row 2: kbf, k to M, m1, k1, m1, M, k to
last stitch, kbf.
N.B. all the central stitch increases will
be made between the two markers. Please keep the markers in place for this and
the succeeding rows. The position of the markers will be shown as M for
clarity.
By the end of row 2 there will be 33
stitches on the needle.
Row 3: k
Row 4: kbf, k to M, m1, k3, m1, M, k to
last stitch, kbf (37 stitches)
Row 5: k
Row 6: kbf, k to M, m1, k5, m1, M, k to
last stitch, kbf (41 stitches)
Row 7: k
Row 8: kbf, k to M, m1, k7, m1, M, k to
last stitch, kbf (45 stitches)
Rows 9 to 13: k
On row 9 remove the markers as you knit
along the row.
Row 14: change to CC and k.
Row 15: k
Row 16: k12, SSK (5 times), k1, k2 tog (5
times), k12 (35 stitches)
Row 17: k
Row 18: k7, cast off 21, k7
Row 19: k7, Cast on 20 stitches using two-needle
cast-on method to form the cross bar of the shoe to fasten it with. For now
just leave the other 7 stitches on the other side of the 21 cast-off stitches
un-worked.
Row 20: k (27 stitches)
Row 21: k23, k2 tog, yfwd, k2. NB the k 2
tog, yfwd stitch combination creates the simplest buttonhole to button the shoe
up with.
Row 22: k.
Cast off.
Re-join yarn on the other side of the 21
stitches cast-off, and knit 1 row (7 stitches)
Cast off remaining 7 stitches.
Sew up the bottom seam and the back.
Place a piece of felt where the button is
to be sewed on, and sew the button in place to fasten the strap across the
shoe. Darn in loose ends.
Right Shoe
Follow the same method as for the left shoe
for rows 1 to 17.
Row 18: k7, cast off 21, k7.
Row 19: k 7 stitches on the live-yarn side
of the 21 cast off stitches.
Cast off 7 stitches, and rejoin yarn on the
other side of the 21-stitch bind off at the side furthest away from the
cast-off stitches.
Row 19: (continued on other side of the
bind-off with the right side facing) p 7, turn work so that the wrong side is
facing and cast on 20 stitches (i.e. at the side adjacent to the cast-off
stitches) using the two-needle cast-on method.
Row 20: k (27 stitches)
Row 21: k23, k2 tog, yfwd, k2
Row 22: k.
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