Daisy Livingstone Fairy Mark 2

Yesterday I had lunch with Lily and I was supposed to be giving her Daisy Livingstone Fairy. However, on Thursday evening I had a visitor and Daisy Livingstone Fairy walked out the door with her.

An old school friend popped in for a quick chat before taking her 3-year old granddaughter home. Unfortunately I had left Daisy Livingstone Fairy sitting in an armchair ready for me to pick up take to Lily on Friday, and granddaughter saw her and started to play with her. When the time to leave arrived she just did not want to leave Daisy Livingstone behind. So Daisy Livingstone went off to a new home, just not the one that she was meant to go to.

I apologized to Lily and explained Daisy Livingstone's non-appearance. Fortunately I am able to rectify this because I can make Daisy Livingstone Fairy again. And that is what I have started to do. After a lovely lunch together and plenty of chat when I left Lily yesterday afternoon I called in at the local wool shop and bought a few balls of wool to supplement that which I have left over.

Yesterday evening I started work on Daisy Livingstone Fairy Mark 2. I am getting used to following the basic doll pattern now, after all this is the third that I have made, and so far I have completed her feet, the main body section which comprises legs body and head, and her right hand. Her left hand will take about half an hour to knit and each of her arms probably less than an hour so it is likely that this evening may even see me sewing Daisy Livingstone Mark 2 together and stuffing her, assuming that I have enough stuffing. then work can begin on her clothes.

Having made one version of this doll already, I know where the pitfalls are and can avoid them. It is probable that by this time next week I will be adding the finishing touches to Daisy Livingstone Fairy Mark 2 so that I can wrap her up in a bag and put her ready for me to take when next I meet Lily.

Toy knitting has turned out to be quite an enjoyable experience. I like the fact that the pieces knit up so quickly, but I'm not quite so keen on all the sewing up that is required. However, one has to take the rough with the smooth and I can cope with that little problem.

I have decided that my knitting need not be a solitary experience too. After much deliberation, I have decided that I am going to join Stitch London, a group that meets at various locations in London on a weekly basis to knit and chat. It is going to be difficult for me to go somewhere and meet a lot of strangers. But as we will all be knitters, we will have something in common and I am hoping that I can make this a regular thing for the future. Mr Smiley would have certainly approved of that.

Victoria And Her Finery

There and Back has kindly sent me some more photographs of Victoria, who has been named Victoria Plum.

From her curly hair ...
... to her dainty little shoes...
... Victoria is a picture in purple and lilac.

She is normally the model of decorum, but just for you she has raised her skirts a little to show her very ladylike bloomers.
Victoria is very pleased with her colour coordinated outfit which even includes a lovely little handbag in which she can store her treasures.


And she is really proud of her cape which has been edged with tiny beads, each sewn on by hand.


I am sure that Victoria is going to be very happy in her new home.

Meet Victoria

This is Victoria, well that is her provisional name, her owner may choose to call her something else. Yes, she is the doll that I have been knitting and she was finished very late on Thursday, just in time for me to take her to the Post Office yesterday to send her to There and Back, whose birthday it is today. There and Back sent me this photograph since I didn't have time to photograph her myself before she went in the post. She is delighted with her, so I am delighted.

I need something to keep my mind, and hands, occupied so I have already started making another doll. This time her name is Daisy Livingstone Fairy and she is being made for Lily, who fell in love with the picture of her when we met yesterday. So Lily, if you are reading this, I have a progress report. Daisy's feet have been knitted, her legs and body are finished and her head will be completed tonight.

The Ankle Bone Connects To The Leg Bone

I had my lunch and decided to sit down to work on the doll. I had put her aside the other day to spend some time concentrating on the clothes, but I knew that I needed the doll ready for her clothes, so she came out of the bag and sat looking at me. Well she would have done if she had any features.

Her head has now been stuffed to the requisite size and some threads have been drawn up to make her neck. they are only tied in a bow at the moment so that adjustments can be made if necessary. The next task has been to sew her feet to the legs. Her feet are already stuffed so it it quite a fiddly task attaching them to the legs. The first one was attached without too much difficulty. However, having attached the second foot and started to stuff the legs, I realised that the foot had been attached the wrong way round. So the foot has now been amputated and I will have to attach it again. Hopefully, the right way round this time.

Once this bit of surgery has been completed I will need to complete the stuffing of the body and legs, then work on her hands and arms will begin. I know that the hands are going to take a while to complete but it will be worth it when finished. When the hands and arms are attached, I will give the doll some features. Just some eyes and a mouth, but I am sure that she will then have a character all her own. Then her hair will need to be attached. As this has been created in the form of a wig, it will just need to be properly sited on her head and then sewn into place.

The final act will be to complete her clothing. Most of it is now sewn together and just requires the embellishments to be completed. then she can be dressed in her finery and she will be ready to face the world.

Stuffing And A Loss Of Memory

I did it. Last night I managed to finish all the knitting for my knitted doll so all that remains for me to do is put it all together. So far I have sewn the seams on the main piece of the doll, leaving a small gap in the back seam through which I have started to stuff her.

Her head is well stuffed and I have started on her legs. I decided to take a break because I need to find the pair of scissors that I had just half an hour ago and have put down somewhere and now can't find. And I need to find a tape measure. I had one yesterday and again I have put it somewhere and I can't remember where I put it.

I'm not sure whether this loss of memory is the subtle approach of dementia or just me being stupid. I'm blaming it on this horrible cold that I just don't seem to be able to shift. I have to admit that suffering from some form of dementia really frightens me. Living on my own would I realise what was happening to me or would it creep up on me and I be unaware of it? But I don't let it cause me to lose sleep; depression does a good enough job of that without me worrying about anything else.

So, I will go in search of my scissors, they can't be too far away, and get back to work on the doll. I'm hoping that I will manage to get her stuffed and put together this evening. Then I can concentrate on her clothes. There is a fair amount of work to be done on them ranging from sewing in the ends and sewing the seams together, to adding hundreds of beads and sequins for the decoration. And when she is finished I will be able to say that all the sequins were sewn on by hand; my hand.

Tying Myself In Knots

I finished knitting the body parts of the doll today. Two tiny little hands with fingers and thumbs (and having read the instructions they are going to be hell to sew together) and two arms to attach the hands to.

I am knitting the final piece now; it's the wig that forms the doll's hair. It is only 30 rows and with 24 stitches at it widest part but it is taking me forever. This is because of the loop stitch that is used to create the hair is hard on my fingers and I am having to take a break every couple of rows. I'm hoping to finish the wig tonight which will give my poor arthritic left forefinger a rest because it is not used so much in the sewing process like it is when knitting.

Tomorrow will see me start to sew up all the seams on the clothes and inserting the sleeves on the jacket. Then I will be sewing the doll together and starting the stuffing process. I am expecting these tasks to take me a couple of days to complete after which I have to start the embellishment of the clothes before dressing the doll in her finery.

Now I have to publish this post so that I can get back to tying myself in knots with the loop stitch and see if I can get the wig completed this evening. I'm almost halfway at the moment but as the wig is started at the neck edge there are fewer loop stitches to work as I get towards the front of the wig. And fewer loop stitches should make the rows quicker to knit.

Pants!

Actually, they are bloomers rather than pants. Yes, the doll has some bloomers and they are gathered at the knees and at the waist with ribbons; pretty much like the real thing would be.

Her wardrobe is almost complete now. Just her shoes and bodice to knit and a little bit of finishing off on her cape. Yes, there is a lot of sewing together of pieces still to do and all the embellishing but her extensive wardrobe is coming along nicely.

I've spent much of today wrapped up in afghans and a duvet with not much more than my hands exposed in an effort to sweat out this cold. Plenty of paracetamol over the last few days has helped too. A niggling cough has developed but I have my good old standby for such occasions; cough candy.

I'm hoping that I will be over this cold by Tuesday when I have to go for my next psychotherapy session. I just don't want to have to face therapy with a cold making me feel down. So it will be an early night tonight, with a couple of blankets to make sure that I am extra warm. And with a bit of luck I might start to feel a bit more human tomorrow; depressed maybe, but human.

As I Lie Here In My Bed

I have spent all day in bed. It's not the depression (I can cope with that, I think) but the nasty cold that I have that has brought about this state of affairs.

I spent much of this morning sleeping, colds have that effect on me, and this afternoon I have spent my time watching television and knitting. The doll's jacket now only needs its sleeves, and I am working on the first of those at the moment, to finish it.

One of the things that I have discovered about knitting toys and their garments is that they can actually take longer to make than those for a baby. Lots of little pieces that don't necessarily take particularly long to knit but are fiddly and time-consuming to sew together and finish off. However, having said that, I am quite enjoying this foray into toy making and I can't wait to see the finished doll in all her finery.

So I shall spend the rest of this evening half watching television as I work on two little sleeves. Victoria's clothes will hopefully be finished as far as knitting is concerned either tomorrow or Monday. Then the work begins on creating Victoria herself. I have read the instructions and I don't think that she is going to cause too much of a problem although creating her features is likely to be a bit of a challenge as they are embroidered on and I want to make sure that she doesn't end up with one eye higher than the other, or a lopsided smile, and her hair should be interesting. It's made in the form of a wig which is knitted using a loop stitch and then applied to her head.

I am sure that she will look beautiful when she is finished but there is a long way to go yet, so I guess I shall have to stop pounding the keyboard and starting clicking the needles.

Where Have All The Haberdashers Gone?

There was a time, certainly in my lifetime, when just about every shopping centre had a haberdashers. Even the village that I used to live in, which had only about a dozen shops, had one. These shops were often like Aladdin's cave, full of wool, and threads, and lots of other items that one would use to make, and repair, clothing. They also stocked many other things like table runners, pretty little tray cloths and doilies, and often various items of underwear.

In many of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple stories, the elderly sleuth visits the haberdasher's shop in order to gather information while she bought wool for someone's vest, or some tray cloths, or some other such item.

Haberdashery departments were to be found in department stores too. So I felt reasonably sure that I would find the items that I wanted in John Lewis in Oxford Street. I was wrong. I managed to get the lurex yarn that I wanted, but there was no sign of a fluffy yarn or the silk flower embellishments. I did manage to find some wonderful little beads (purple iridescent round beads and bright green bugle beads) which when placed on sequins will enable me to make flower shapes and leaves, unfortunately they didn't have the sequins. So I decided to make my way to Croydon.

So a journey by bus and train found me pounding the streets of Croydon. It has a department store, with a haberdashery, not as good as that in John Lewis, but pretty good all the same. Or it did the last time that I went there. Unfortunately, the store has fallen on difficult times and many of its departments no longer seem to be there, and one of those missing was the haberdashery. So Croydon turned out to be a total failure.

There was one last chance. I knew that I had seen some sequins in the shop where I had bought the polyester stuffing that I had bought earlier in the week so it was another bus journey to that shopping centre. And there they were, some lovely iridescent sequins which will go beautifully with the purple iridescent and green beads.

It has been a long day, there have been four journeys by bus and one by train, and there has been lots of walking, but I think that I now have all that I need to decorate the doll's clothes. It is going to take nearly as long to do the embellishing as it will to make the doll and her clothes so I had better get back to work as I have a self-imposed deadline to meet to get the doll finished. It has to be in the mail in just under three weeks so I am going to have my work cut out, so if I don't post you will know it is because I am hard at work making Victoria (the doll's name in the book that I am working from) as beautiful as possible for someone who I am sure will love her when she receives her.

A Walk On The Dark Side

Tuesday is psychotherapy day for me at the moment. I always wake with a feeling of trepidation (although most Monday nights just recently I haven't managed much sleep) and an awareness that I am going to be tested. Because I have this thing about always being on time for any appointment, I always arrive early, sometimes very early, and today was one of those days. This morning the bus arrived within a couple of minutes of me getting to the bus stop and it seemed that there were not many people who wanted to get on or off the bus because the journey seemed to fly by.

Arriving early this morning meant that I was able to go to the Outpatients Department to make an appointment to see my consultant psychiatrist (I should have seen him last Thursday but as I was an inpatient and seeing the ward consultant, the appointment was cancelled). Unfortunately I won't be able to see him for a couple of weeks as he is off for two weeks, but I can live with that. After having completed this task, I bought myself a cup of tea and went out into the garden to pass the time before my psychotherapy appointment. I had almost an hour to wait, but it was quite pleasant sitting in the sun and I had my Nintendo DSi in my handbag so I could do a few puzzles to pass the time. And time passed much quicker than I expected because when I looked at my watch I found that I only had a couple of minutes to make it up to the 4th floor. There are two lifts, a large one and a small one and only the small one goes to the 4th floor. Usually I have to wait ages for this lift, but today as luck would have it, it was at the ground floor and the doors opened as soon as I pressed the button. I made it to the 4th floor with about a minute to spare instead of being about 10 minutes early as I am normally.

The work that we are doing in this psychotherapy is related to me directing anger at myself rather than at others. I have, for as long as I can remember, tried to bottle up my anger and avoid lashing out at others either verbally or physically. This has meant that I have ended up hurting myself emotionally and mentally. In these sessions I am encouraged to feel anger towards my therapist and not keep it bottled up. Today it happened in a way that it hasn't before and it was an overwhelming feeling.

For the first time, I found myself physically shaking with anger and only finding release from it by shouting at my therapist and taking it out on the arm of the chair. I was a little shocked by how much pain I felt within my body through the tensed up muscles and the difficulty with breathing. It seems strange to be undertaking therapy where the aim is for me to get angry and express it in a way that means that I am not containing it; it is more usual for people to undergo therapy to help in management of anger to contain that anger so that it does not hurt other people.

During the last part of the session, my therapist asked me how I felt after our sessions. I said that I usually feel very drained, often very emotional, and that it is not unusual for me to need a nap in the afternoon to cope with the feelings. Today, perhaps somewhat strangely, I have not needed a nap. I have actually felt quite calm and relaxed, far more so than I have for a long time. It seems that having pushed me to feel anger in a way that I probably haven't since I was a small child, my therapist has started me on the path to letting my feelings out. It's not easy being angry with someone who is a nice person, but I am finding it easier to express my anger as the weeks progress.

After my therapy session I walked to the shops, had some lunch, bought the knitting needles and polyester filling that I need for the teddy and the doll that I am working on, and some extra wool that I needed for the doll's clothes. I still have to buy some bits and pieces to decorate the doll's clothes, but that means a trip to a shopping centre with a shop with a good craft department; perhaps a job for tomorrow. Having managed to get the very fine needles that I required for the doll, I can now start work on her when I have finished the piece of her clothing that I am working on at the moment. Like teddy, she will be photographed in all her finery once she is completed.