all about Ethel

Last Christmas, Jacinta received a doll from Santa.
She is a little cutie (as far as mass produced, plastic dolls are concerned), and Jacinta loves her dearly.
Daddy named her. Ethel.
Mostly we just call her Baby, but lately Jacinta has being calling by her name more often.

As cute as Ethel is, and as much as Jacinta loves her, I have my heart set on one day getting her a gorgeous custom handmade doll from Little Jenny Wren...I even have a name picked out - Gracie, since Jacinta's middle name is Grace. Ahhh one day - anyway what does the dream of Gracie have to do with Ethel? Well yesterday Jenny posted a tutorial on her blog about how to make a very simple knitted vest for a doll.

As you know, I have only just begun my journey to learn to knit and crochet, but it sounded simple enough. Today I retreated to the sanctuary of my room for an hour of so, and (despite constant visits from the little ones) managed to make a little vest for Ethel.

It didn't go to plan - I decided to crochet it, but as it turns out, I couldn't crochet a square if my life depended on it! What ever I was doing, was gently tapering the piece inward - but that was perfect for my vest! Instead of attempting to work out what I was doing wrong (which I still must do before I tackle my dishcloths - they really need to be square!) I went with the flow. I made the front, and added a shoulder strap, then I started the back - I suspect I'm not stitching into the ends of each row properly, as (thankfully) the back piece also displayed the same tapered effect as I worked it - perfect!!!! Surely the only thing better than learning form your mistakes, is being able to keep making them and using them to your advantage! After the addition of another shoulder strap, and some pretty dodgy chain stitch type arrangement to join them together, Ethel had a cute little vest - nothing like what I was trying to make from the tutorial! It looked pretty silly with just her little (permanently attached) romper, so I stitched up a simple dress to go with it. The dress is OK, but- tomorrow I think I will turn it into a skirt and add some little bloomers and a shirt to her wardrobe.

Ethel looks so grown up now in her proper clothes. Jacinta said "ahhh Effel coot Mummy, baby pwetty, fank ooo Mummy" its not perfect, but I love that she loves it - her sweet little thank you just melted my heart!

What else does a girl do with a new outfit - off to play of course...
a little reading perhaps,


a few kisses,


and a lot of wandering around tucked safe under a loving arm!

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