Thursday, January 10, 2008

Girls, their Dolls, and Buttons

American Girl, Nikki, models sweater & cap set designed by Dee StanzianoWhen Mini~Dee received her American Girl doll, Nikki, from Santa this past Christmas, I knew it would be just a matter of time before I would ask if Nikki would mind modeling for me while Mini~Dee was in school.  Lucky for me Nikki was game!  

As I held Nikki in my hands I wondered, what would be the first garment to come off my crochet hook?  I had to wait; the right time, and the right fiber would soon reveal itself to me.  Fortunately, the wait wasn't long.

Yesterday my CGOA Chapter held it's monthly "Coffee, Crochet & Chat" session at our local Borders book store. Joining us for the first time was Judy, a mom from my children's school.  As Judy worked on a beautiful baby ripple afghan she was improvising, with a tiny "C" crochet hook and fingering weight yarn, we got talking about our daughter's obsession with American Girl dolls. As we chatted, I decided I would design and crochet up an "American Girl" sweater set in honor of her daughter's upcoming birthday.

Fortunately for me, the right yarn had arrived the day prior from Herrshners!  It's Universal Yarn Inc's "Twister" and is a blend of polyamide, wool, acrylic and cotton.  (Herrshners has it on sale, and is presently offering free shipping; yes, I do plan to order more!)  Using an size "H" Graydog crochet hook, I set to work, weaving in the last of the ends at midnight last night.

The only thing that is missing to make this gift set complete is the perfect closures on the sweater.  I spent this morning rummaging through my button collection and found nothing that says, "YESSSSSSSSSS!" -- so I'll be off to my local Joanns later this afternoon to see what they have available. I'm hoping the perfect buttons are there as Judy's daughter's birthday party is on Saturday -- not enough time to comb the Internet and see what's available in the whole wide world. Wish me luck. :)

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