Busy little elves: what are you working on today? Have you found any spring yarn?

Dear Community,

how are you all doing? How’s the weather where you are? Do you have a current project in the works, or are you working on a UFO (unfinished object, a craft project left on the back burner)? Have you found any spring yarn that just had to come home with you while shopping in-store or online? Have you stayed strong and resisted buying any fabric or yarn? What’s going on in your real lives right now?

I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday. 

Dear Josefa,

now that the weather has become more bearable again, I’ve finished knitting my baby pants. Tomorrow they’ll get a wash, and then they’ll get nice and cozy.
Everyone can look forward to it: there will be a pattern on the blog. Here’s a little sneak peek:

Otherwise, I have to tend to the plants in my garden every day. That’s just how it is in the summer.

Best regards, Ina

Hi Ina, wow, those pants are beautiful—they’d be perfect for my dolls, too. ;-) What size will you be sharing on the blog?

This yarn “caught my eye” today—3 skeins of 200 g each at Action. But I don’t know yet what I’ll do with it (probably knit something), because it mustn’t be scratchy.

Dear Regina, 

thank you so much for your compliment. Yes, the pants are already lovely, but once you wash this yarn, the texture and stitch definition will become even softer. 

According to the knitting pattern on the blog, you can knit them in three sizes. Here are a few measurements to help you determine your size in advance. By the way, I knitted with 2.5 mm needles. 

Best regards, Ina

Cool—I bought those too. I’m going to knit a jacket for my daughter-in-law. Let’s see who starts first and how it turns out. I’m excited to see.

Best, Yvonne

Dear Ina, thank you. I have a big baby doll that my grandma gave me when I was a kid; I think—let me go measure it—it’s 51 cm tall. Those pants would be great for it—so, I’m looking forward to the pattern.

Hi Yvonne, did you mean the yarn I bought at Action? It was also available in pink and green—unfortunately, only two skeins of each—but I prefer to buy enough; blue was still there, too. I haven’t started yet because my daughter and her family are visiting—four people—so there’s plenty of other things to do ;-)

Best regards, Regina

Oh, right—here’s the baby doll; I completely forgot about it ;-)

Yeah, the ones from Action. I bought them all in that color—just 2–3 at first (that’s all they had), and then some more a few weeks later. You never know what’s coming ;)

I’m unraveling a few rounds of an RVO sweater for the second time because I got tangled up with the increases in one spot—I increased one too many times. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this until after 12 rounds 🤬. I tried dropping the stitches and picking them up again to get the stitch count right, but it’s just too loose. With size 5.5 needles and a loose knitting style, there’s just too much extra yarn, unfortunately! Hopefully I’ll learn from this: check more often!!! Others might not have even noticed it, but I just can’t overlook it.
Wishing you all a wonderful, error-free weekend 

I don’t like mistakes in knitting either—I can totally relate to that. I’ve even ripped out half a jacket (also an RVO) because a complicated pattern that only started under the arms made it narrower and narrower towards the bottom. But that’s how you learn from your mistakes. If I’d knitted a swatch of the pattern beforehand, I would’ve known that the stitches I had weren’t enough. ;-)

Dear Regina, 

I just posted the blog post about the baby pants online. It should be visible to everyone soon. By the way, your doll looks very cute and nicely dressed.

Best regards, Ina

Hello Ina, thank you, the doll really is quite old already; here’s a little explanation about it:

Baby doll FS&Co 438-15 Franz Schmidt, (date of manufacture possibly around 1920–1925, possibly later? (I don’t know exactly), in my possession for over 65 years. The doll is about 52–54 cm tall, blue sleep eyes, and was played with only a little.

The Franz Schmidt & Co. company made dolls until 1945. It was the first company to make molded nostrils on dolls (from around 1912)

Unfortunately, I don’t know where my grandma got the dolls back then either; there were actually two of this kind—one for my sister, one for me. ;-)

I just looked at the blog post—my goodness, you really put so much effort into it again. With the pattern, basically anyone can manage. And I don’t even have as many thumbs as I wanted to hold up. 

Best wishes, Regina

So, if the doll’s manufacturing date is correct (according to the internet) — I wasn’t even born yet. ;-) *grin*

Dear Regina, it’s lovely that you keep and cherish these old things—of course, because it was your doll. But still, someone always has to look after these treasures over the decades. 

Thank you for the compliment on the blog post. Yes, I always want everyone to succeed with their projects. That’s why it’s so detailed. You can just scroll past the parts you’ve already mastered. A beginner knitter might need just that one stitch or technique explained very precisely and in great detail.

Best regards, Ina

That’s a beautiful doll, and her outfit is just AWESOME!

I’m working on my vest myself—I’m currently crocheting the inserts. I’m adding these crocheted inserts to the right and left sides of the vest, and the shoulders, collar, button placket, and sleeves will also be crocheted.

   My hubby gave me two cakes of this yarn as a gift 

I knew right away what I wanted to knit from it :-))

Best, Inge

Hi Inge, I really like the multicolored yarn, and the solid-colored one goes great with it, too. It’s sure to be another really beautiful vest once it’s finished.

Yes, my doll—knitted by me, too. But I have no idea where it’ll all end up if our daughter doesn’t keep it. By the way, it has the label “FS&Co 438-15 Franz Schmidt” on the back of its neck.

Best regards, Regina 

Hi Regina, I just saw your doll and was really surprised by how old it is. I actually have a doll that’s almost as old—my great-grandmother gave it to me when I was 6 or 7 years old. Back then, she used to keep it on her bed as a display doll. But the doll was already sitting on the bed when my mother, Inge (Akela), was a little girl, around 7 to 9 years old. Its estimated age is probably around 65 to 70 years. Unfortunately, there’s no date, manufacturer, or other information visible on or about the doll. The body is made of plastic, but not a hard material—rather, a softer one that dents when pressed, though the dents disappear again with counterpressure. But I don’t really mind; she’s of immeasurable value to me anyway, because so many children never had the chance to meet their great-grandparents. 

The little outfit she’s wearing is a two-piece set consisting of a wrap cardigan, a skirt, and cute little shoes. I knitted the outfit myself a few years ago—after all, the doll shouldn’t get cold. She was played with a lot and loved dearly, which is why there are various marks on her surface. 

Here’s the picture to go with the text: 

That’s right—it was already sitting on my grandma’s bed when I was a kid, but I was never allowed to play with it

Best regards, Inge

Dolls are such a lovely thing—I have both old and new ones. Here’s what the big doll looks like naked:

and here’s the marking on the back of her neck. I’ll keep cherishing her for now. ;-)

And this is her pram: 

My son asked for a colorful sweater—it’s aaaalmost done...

Bring on Christmas!

God, is that beautiful 🤩

When our boys were little, I used to knit sweaters for them, too.

Now that they’re 16 and 19, they don’t want them anymore 🤷‍♀️

I don’t get it at all. People would definitely ask them about it 🤣

Best regards 🙋‍♀️

My son is 25…🤭

Until last year, he wouldn’t have wanted that either

Hello everyone,

I crocheted this little doll stroller blanket from leftover yarn using the c2c technique.

Your creations and little dolls are so cute.

There are so many doll moms here—maybe you should start your own thread just for your dolls? Every single doll is so pretty and special; it gets a little lost here.

Dear Regina, the doll stroller for your doll looks really great. I took the liberty of rotating the photo so you can better admire the shape, the embroidered fabric, and the blanket—which is probably handmade.

But Andrea's doll blanket is also absolutely enchanting. The colors and the patchwork design match the existing items perfectly. I’m also happy that my sewn bag gets to be part of it.

Ketty’s colorful sweater is also a real eye-catcher. Thanks for sharing it.

Best regards, Ina

Hi Ina, thanks for rotating the picture. I have no idea why the stroller is upside down—the picture was actually right-side up when I posted it. Yes, I have lots of dolls and 4 doll strollers—the one above is the big one, followed by a medium-sized one and two small ones, which hold veeeery tiny dolls ;-). The blanket on the stroller—yes, I made it myself, but I switch it out every now and then. 

Best regards, Regina

I’ve started a thread for all your dolls. If you’d like, you can show off all your dolls there with their outfits and accessories:

Doll Love Summer 2026: How are your favorites doing?

Oh man, man, I’ve been tempted by yarn again today—my husband is already shaking his head. ;-)

I really couldn’t resist. And those were the last three skeins of this kind—bought at KIK.

Hi, I’m knitting a top. I had it almost finished, but then I unraveled the whole thing. The yarn was just too warm for summer. 
So now I’m starting over. This time with a cotton blend. 

Of course, it should have said “unraveled.” 🫣

I’m slowly entering the home stretch with my vest; I’m currently knitting the left sleeve, since I had to scrap the crocheting—my arthritic hands just wouldn’t cooperate anymore. So I’ve now knitted what I wanted to crochet in garter stitch.

Best regards, Inge

Oh dear, using the wrong yarn and then having to rip it out is so sad. 

I sewed myself a book bag. I’m not quite happy with it yet—it’s still missing something. Maybe a few little embroidered flowers around the top

Hahahaha, I know all about unraveling. I’d started a summer sweater with the multicolored yarn (pictures of the “spring yarn” a bit further up). Then I realized it was going to be too tight—despite the gauge. Started over—too wide—now it’s all unraveled and set aside for now. Unraveling it was a real chore, too. ;-)

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