Doll Sweaters

A question was asked of me, "where did I get the pattern" for the doll sweaters. Well, I am going to make a long answer to that question. I always start at KnittingFool.com for the Simple Worked-From-The-Top Raglan Pullover Pattern Calculated by the Percentage Method . I use the guage as listed on the ball band, or if using a smaller needle, do a swatch. Then measure the dolls chest, and punch in the numbers. This will give a basic sweater. Then I modify the sweater from there. Things like an open front for a cardigan and color changes. One thing to keep in mind is that you want to make it easy for the child to get the sweater over the dolls head. So one can make the colar opening a bit bigger, or keep it open for about an inch before joining in the round and later add a button or two. Or simply make sure to use a stretchy cast-on.

You can basically do anything with a small sweater, copy from a picture or from a full size sweater you have made for yourself. My Mom has a few good books where ideas have come from. The heart pattern came from a book by Charlene Schurch called Knits for Girls & Dolls. She also recently purchased Matching Knits for Girls & Dolls by Eileen Adler.

It really is simple, quick and fun! And of course, the doll doesn't care if there are mistakes, so I rarely frog, and I use these opportunities to learn more about knit patterns in general.

I have also used up left over yarn from many things like socks. In this picture you can see the sweater and shorts from left over sock yarn from Pat. The shorts are a bit too short, lol, but I really did run out of yarn on them! I practiced my first cabling on those shorts!

Hope that answers your question Paulettel. :-)