First Dolls
This was inspired by the ‘Knit Your Own Rock Star’ project in Debbie Stoller’s ‘Stitch ‘n’ Bitch Nation. I ordered a copy of the book, but got bored waiting for it to arrive, so I set about making my own pattern. After a few attempts,(the variations in which resulted in The Knitted Smiths)....
.... I standardised the basic doll pattern as follows.
The doll is knitted in double knitting (sportsweight in US) on 3mm straight needles.
Tension (gauge): I make it about 10 stitches/16 rows to a 4cm square of work, using double knitting. This doll turned out about 13” tall, excluding quiff, but slimming down your needles or yarn will vary your size of doll if you wanted to make a group of different-sized figures to represent a band.
Cast on 40 stitches, in double knitting (jeans colour) on 3mm needles. Work 2 rows in k1/p1 rib. Now work 8 rows in stocking stitch, ending with a purl row. (Add a couple more rows if you don't want such low-slung jeans)
Next row, knit 20 stitches, then transfer the remaining 20 stitches onto a stitch holder. On the 20 stitches you have already started to work, turn and work another 7 rows in stocking stitch, ending on a purl row.
Next row, decrease 1 stitch at each edge of the the row. Work another 7 rows in stocking stitch, ending on a purl row.
Next row, decrease 1 stitch at each edge of the row. You should now have 16 stitches on your needle. Work another 25 rows in stocking stitch without further shaping, ending with a purl row.
Break off jeans colour yarn, leaving a decent length of loose yarn for making up the garment. Attach boot colour yarn and work 2 rows in stocking stitch , ending on a purl row.
Next row (shaping the foot). *Knit 8, then turn and purl 8 back to the beginning of the row. Now knit a full row of 16, then turn and purl a full row of 16 .*
Repeat * to * twice more.
Next row. Knit 1, slip 1, pass slip stitch over, knit to end of row.
Next row. Purl 2 together, cast off remaining stitches in purl.
Return the 20 stitches you have on the stitch holder onto the needle. Knit the second leg identical to the first until you come to the shaping of the foot. The shaping should be worked to be the mirror image of the first. I find it easier to attach the boot colour yard with the wrong side of the work facing me, thus starting with a purl row, and just reading ‘purl’ for ‘knit’ on the above instructions.
Top Half
Torso panels (knit 2 identical). Cast on 18 in flesh colour on 3mm needles. Work 8 rows in stocking stitch, ending on a purl row. *Next row, increase 1 stitch at each edge, then work another 7 rows in stocking stitch, ending on a purl row* Repeat * to * 1 more time. You should have 22 stitches on your needle. Transfer the torso panels to a stitch holder or a spare needle for later. Break off yarn, leaving sufficient loose yarn to make up the garment.
Arms cast on 12 stitches in flesh colour. Work 8 rows in stocking stitch, ending on a purl row.
Next row. *Increase 1 stitch at each edge, then work another 7 rows in stocking stitch, ending in a purl row.* Repeat * to * twice more. You should have 18 stitches on the needle.
With the first arm you knit, transfer these 18 stitches to a stitch holder or a spare needle for later. Break off yarn, leaving sufficient loose yarn to make up the garment. With the second arm, don’t break off the yarn; instead, turn and knit 18 stitches, then knit one of the torso pieces back off the stitch holder. Add the other arm in the same way, then the second torso piece. You should have 80 stitches on your needle and your work should resemble a line of washing. Turn and purl the next row. You are now ready to start the upper body shaping. This is a pain and you have to keep count of what you’re doing, but it’s only 16 rows, plain purl rows included.
Work 4 rows in stocking stitch, ending on a purl row. That’s his neck.
Head Shaping
The object is to get our 16 stitches upto 32 for the head width, then back down to 8 to finish at the crown, whilst minimising increase/decrease stitches on the doll’s face.
Work 4 rows st st without further increase, end on a purl row. (suggestion: add/subtract a couple of rows here if you want a longer or rounder face to your doll.)
K3, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k to last 10, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k3 (28 st)
Purl 1 row
K3, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k to last 10, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k3 (24 st)
Purl 1 row
K3, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k to last 10, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k3 (20st)
Purl 1 row
K3, k2tog, right across row (16sts)
Purl 1 row
K1, k2 tog, right across row until last s. K1. (11 sts)
P1, p2 tog right across row until last s. P1 (8sts)
Break off yarn and tread cut end onto a needle. Pass end though remaining 8 stitches and pull taut.
Making Up
Work with the garment inside out unless stated.
Start with the feet. Attach the two bottom corners of a foot and stitch along the toe seam. To give the foot its curve, it's been knitted into an asymmetrical shape, one side longer than the other. Compensate for this as you sew the side seams, ensuring that both sides change to the jeans colour at the same point (see photo). Now sew the inner leg seam. Repeat whole process on other leg. Leave the waistband and 'fly' open. Don't tie and snip the yarn ends yet.
Now sew together the edges of the head, neck and the open rear shoulder seam (see photo). Sew up arm and side seams. Leave hand-edges unsewn, but leave a piece of yarn attached to the end of the hands for sewing up later.
When you're happy with your sewing-up (turn the pieces right way out and check before proceeding), fasten ends and snip off excess, EXCEPT for at the hand-ends as described above and for the piece of yarn dangling at the crotch ( where you re-attached the yarn to knit the second leg) and the piece left from where you first cast on the jeans. You'll need all of these later.
Turn work right way out. Sew up the hands, trying for a spatulate shape. Fasten off, snip and conceal yarn ends.
With the work turned the right way out, partially stuff the two halves; this makes it easier to judge the stitch placement when attaching the pieces. Stuff firmly, or you may have to unstitch and re-do it later.
Very carefully, with the bottom of the torso inserted two or three rows deep inside the waistband of the jeans, so that the two halves of the doll overlap, using the yarn-end with which you cast-on the piece, attach the two halves of the doll.
Neatly fasten-off end (don't snip it yet). Now resume stuffing via the open fly until finished. Use the piece of yarn from the groin to stitch the fly. Fasten-off end. Tie together the two remaining yarn-ends and thread them on your needle. Conceal them down the front of the jeans.
Hair, Fuzzy Bits and Buffness.
Nipples. Anchor a thread under the armpit - you won't see this later, as the thread'll be hidden beneath armpit fluff. Push the needle into the body via the armpit and bring it out where you want to place the nipple. Thread the bead onto the needle and secure with three or four stitches. When it's fixed, bring the needle back out through the armpit, secure and snip off the excess. Repeat for second nipple.
Now for the navel; make a concealed anchor point for the thread ( you'll need a navel-appropriate colour) inside the back of the waistband of the jeans, then pass the needl through the body, bringing it out where you wish to position the navel. Draw the thread firmly before embroidering a navel using three or four stitches on the same spot. Pass needle back through the body to the anchor point, adjusting the tension on the thread to ensure an indentation shows at the front.
Elastication. I used the very fine knitting-in-type elastic to give the torso better definition. Anchor as for the navel and slip the needle through the back of the stitches, circling inside the torso as many times as needed for the desired shape. You might also want to elasticate the neck fo better chin definition.
Chest and Tummy Spiders.
Make the loops as shown, using far more yarn than you'll eventually leave on the doll, as this fluff gets cut-to-shape afterwards. Armpit hair can be knotted in, then cut and brushed to fluffiness. I used double knitting, split into its three strands and I looped it in a strand at a time. Note the placement;the needle slips under the horizontal line of stitching BEHIND the visible stocking stitch, so it looks like it's growing out from the knitted fabric. Carefully snip the body hair down to a a fuzz.
Hairdo.
Use lengths of split double knitting as for the body hair and loop it in the same way, in a combination of single of double stands to achieve the desired hairline. The hair strands should be long; below shoulder length. Starting at the bottom, insert the hair into the centre-back of the head and out at the hairline. The final front sections are drawn back (loosely, for the purposes of quiffing) over the crown on a large-eyed needle and pulled beneath the woven strands.
If you prefer the spikier quiff from my first attempt ( see ‘Smiths’ photo), don’t spilt the threads. Leave the ends of the wool at the front and crown of the hair free to be hacked into shape.
If using beads for eyes, anchor the thread to the back of the head (beneath hair) and tension the beads to imply eye sockets. Embroider eyebrows with split yarn and mouth with embroidery silk.
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And here's another doll I made, on a slightly stockier version of the same pattern. It's my take on Boz Boorer, Morrissey's musical director and guitarist with The Polecats.
This doll was recently given to his inspiration. Who seemed rather bemused. As was I when a photo of the doll turned up on the artwork of his new album cover. :D