This post is part of the My Knitted Doll Blog Hop. For other other stops on the blog hop tour, please see the links below:
Monday 10th October – Sneak Peek at My Knitted Doll with SewandSo
Tuesday 11th October – Interview with Louise Crowther on SewandSo
Wednesday 12th October – Eskimimi Makes
Thursday 13th October – The Creations of Crazy Dazy
Friday 14th October – Planet Penny
My Knitted Doll, available from SewandSo for pre-order is full of fresh, modern doll designs with a very contemporary twist. The simple body shapes and interchangeable clothes and accessory details allow the knitter to create a dolls that is truly personalised to the recipient.
I was very taken with My Knitted Doll from the outset. I love the ragdoll-style body shapes and simple, cheerful aesthetic of the patterns. Small details such as the intarsia hairstyles (making for a safer and more robust doll) give the included designs a simplified yet charming look.
Though the entire collection of dolls is based on the same basic body format, the dolls are far from dull, and opportunity for personalisation from the range of included accessories is great. Clever tricks to create everything from a knitted-in beaded bracelet to cute little mary-jane shoes allow for a wide wardrobe of clothes that can be mixed and matched to any of the girl dolls, which make up 11 of the 12 doll designs.
As the vast majority of the doll designs and accompanying accessories are for the creation of female dolls there is perhaps a bit of a lack of diversity in the included patterns. I adored this book, and this is the only reason that I decided, after a bit of deliberation, not to knit one of the designs for Baby Awesome.
Though I could very easily have made some adaptations to have styled a doll to have looked more like my son, and could have likewise devised a few more boys’ style clothing choices, with movements such as the wonderful Let Toys Be Toys campaign it would be nice to see more advancement in boys’ dolls. Though I would absolutely have no hesitation in giving Baby Awesome a female doll to play with, the charm of this book is, I believe, in creating a doll that looks like the recipient. With this in mind there is also a lack in ethnicity diversity within the doll set. Though there are a few skin tones pictured within the range of dolls, they are all relatively fair. Textured hair options would have been another relatively simple modification inclusion that would have further extended the appeal of the dolls to a wider audience of potential recipients of mini-mes.
I have hope that there may be further garment and hair options made available for download or in a future volume, giving a greater number of children a chance to love their very own knitted doll version of themselves.
Please take a moment to have a look through the charming doll styles that are included in the book preview below. My Knitted Doll is available to pre-order for November.
I am looking forward to seeing what I am sure will be a whole raft of innovative modifications from knitters who I believe will take the foundation designs included and let their imaginations run into all many of wild and wonderful unique characters. Anyone who does make their own creation from this charming book is encouraged to use the hashtag #MyKnittedDoll on social media to show off their work!
Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of Louise Crowther’s ‘My Knitted Doll’ to review. All opinions are entirely my own.