Secret Santa 2015 Swap Gifts (received)

A few days before Christmas when I came back home I got a big surprise, a package was waiting for me in the hall, my Secret Santa Swap gift. I knew I would receive a package one of those days, but it caught me by surprise anyway. :)

 Anthony and I were probably very good this year to get such incredible gifts. Below are some pictures with the gifts that we received. 

A pair of pants and a very pretty plaid button up shirt.

An elegant coat with a red scarf and a dear toy.

 The harmonica (that actually works) and a baseball glove with a tiny ball

And something for me. I got a brownie cast iron skillet. I already baked a brownie. We ate it with ice cream. It was delicious!!! I had in mind to take a picture but I forgot and it is too late now. :)

Thank you Santa (Julie), for the gifts! Anthony was very happy to open his presents. He received more than we ever could have dreamed for. He is celebrating the Holiday season in style. 

The pants and shirt fits very well. The colors are amazing.

Now he is interested in learning to play the harmonica next year.

Anthony's favorite game is soccer. But he is fascinated by the glove and a ball and wants to play baseball but he will have to learn the rules of baseball. I think he needs a baseball team (Yankee? or Mets?)  players' uniform and a cap too. :)

Thank you Lorraine for organizing the Swap. It was very delightful to participate.

Secret Santa Swap Polar Bear Outfit

I was participating in a Secret Santa Swap for the first time this Christmas and I was very excited about it.
http://sewingforsasha.blogspot.com/p/secret-santa-swap-2015.html

For a few days I thought about what I should knit and came up with the idea of a polar bear on the front of a sweater, looking up or sniffing snowflakes.

I was searching for a chart for the polar bear but could not find the right one. Finally, I decided to use the chart from the "Gift Knits" book by Chris Ranking. My son helped me to decrease the chart to the size I wanted.

I used ZARA merino extrafine yarn for this project.

I like when sweaters for dolls have buttons that makes it easier to take them on and off. 

For the socks I used a pattern from Sasha Doll Clothing and Patterns by Ann Louise Chandler and Susanna E. 

Anthony modeling the polar bear sweater.

The gifts that I sent to Dollmum (x)

Winter Outfit for Sophie

This outfit was created by mistake. I started to knit a Swedish Bohus Pullover (Sasha Dolls Clothing and Patterns book), but soon I realized that my yarn doesn’t fit this pattern, it’s too thick. But I liked how the two yarns blended together and I decided to proceed and see what happened. I ended up with this outfit.  It was totally improvised . The back became the front. The sleeves are 3/4 length because I was afraid to run out of white yarn. 

I used a Cascade 220 Superwash (910 A) and Playmouth Monte Donegal (5866 Flame) yarn.

Also, I think this bag that I bought a year or two ago in AC MOOR looks nice with this outfit.
Sophie wears a pair of Boneka shoes.

For the skirt I cast on 48 sts. I started the skirt with 1 purl and 1 knit, then gradually increased the purl stitches. It can be worn on either side. The skirt has two buttons on the side and I put elastic in the waist area since the softness of the yarn caused the skirt to keep shifting around. Now it stays perfectly. 

I can't say that I am satisfied 100%. But I like how it looks.

A purple drop down waist holiday dress

I knitted the dress from some scrap yarn that I bought at a knitting club yarn auction about two years ago. The color was very pretty and the yarn soft (Bouton d'Or Angora 70). I wasn't sure if there was enough to make anything. It was only 25 g of yarn. I was thinking of a blouse for a doll, but it appears that I had enough for a dress.

The dress is knitted from the top down. I decreased a few stitches to emphasize the waist line. After the drop in stitches at the waist line I doubled the stitches once. I did not have yarn to make the dress longer, but I did not want to do it anyway. I like this length. 

So Ivanka received her new holiday dress. And I love it very much.