Spring has sprung!

It’s so nice to see and feel Spring in the air. I took Penny outside to our backyard for a few photos after knitting her a new hat. I followed my own pattern to a tee so be sure everything is correct, so hopefully your hats will look just (or almost) like this when you’re done. 🙂

It looks much more lush and jungle-like to Penny, but this is really just about two to three-feet high of growth. I love all the greenery in our backyard! We’re still slowly moving things and cleaning up inside the house, but now that the weather is better and the days are longer, I should start working on the backyard too. I can’t wait to spend more time outside!

Happy Spring, everyone.

Emma thinks you should go download our latest pattern and knit a hat (or two, or more!) for your Blythe girls!

I’ve been knitting this basic hat for Blythe dolls since 2006, and finally decided to write it down and share it. This hat pattern for Blythe uses DK weight yarn that’s fun and easy for an advanced-beginner. It’s probably faster if you use Worsted weight, but IMHO the DK weight is better in scale and proportion.

You will need to know basics such as cast on, bind off, the knit stitch, the purl stitch, simple decrease (k2tog), some experience with DPNs, and make a pom-pom. The end result is a super-cute knitted hat!

Have fun and let me know how it turns out! ^__^

Phew, I finally got a chance to sit down and sort things out a bit. So most of you know that I’ve moved! Not far from where I was, just a little bigger house and now I have my very own office/craft/dolly room! Yippee!

We officially moved about a month ago and it took a while to put things in their rightful place, and that includes my room too. There are still a bunch of boxes in here and things are still in disarray, but I’m slowly getting them organized.

A few corners of my new room:

The dollies moved into their new space last weekend. Finally a doll cabinet after nearly 9 years! It’s the IKEA SMÅDAL Bookcase with drawer and optional glass doors. I love it! The drawer on the bottom fits all their designer outfits too! I also bought them new Kaiser doll stands (metal, so no melting of feet/shoes into the plastic stands). The KBs and BLs are on the top shelf, followed by the EBL and SBLs, and the third shelf has all my RBL girls.

I’m so happy to have them all out and protected by dust. Can you tell there are 27 dollies in there? Most people (including doll friends) can’t believe I have this many dolls. Like the typical crazy doll lady that I am, I say hi to them when I come into the room! It just makes me smile to see their cute little faces every time I walk into my happy space. I haven’t been taking photos of them in a while – now that they are all out on the shelf where I can see them every day, I hope to spend some time giving them all outfit changes and hopefully lots more attention 🙂

Oh and if you haven’t noticed – xoxoBlythe.com has a new look and a new home! I decided to move back to Blogspot.com after some maintenance issues with my webhost. I like it here so far. It’s been fun to set everything up!

Abby and I want to wish you all a lovely Valentine’s Day!

xoxo

. . .
Headband by Rob & Sioux
Dress by Liz / Woollyrockers
Shoes from Volks/WTG

“Ahoy, mateys!”

Paige and I are back from Portland with such fond memories and so much more love for Blythe and the community. This was my first BlytheCon, but definitely not my first time being a vendor. I’ve attended quite a few handmade craft shows as a vendor, and I have to say BlytheCon was a smashing success and I could not have asked for a better experience!

It was so amazing to finally meet friends I have known since I started this hobby back in 2003. But as soon as we met, it was as though we’ve all known each other forever. Chun, Jordana, Sherri, Rebecca, Ruth, Katie, Diem, Valerie, Julie, Mayzie – meeting in person was just a formality! And it was also fun when I actually heard someone’s voice and I expected them to sound different. 🙂

I was so happy to see some lovely folks again – Paul & Melissa who flew up to Portland with me, Leah who shared a table with me, Poohie whom I hadn’t seen since 2004, Becca when she came to LA for a visit, and all the LA peeps too! And it was so great to meet all the new friends I’ve come to know on Flickr, Twitter and Facebook. So much excitement and happiness all crammed into two very short days, I wish it could have been a whole week. To be honest, I didn’t get to see much of Portland at all, but boy did I leave my heart there with all the great people and wonderful memories.

 

Paige is all packed and ready to head to BlytheCon 2011! We are SO excited to attend our first BlytheCon and can’t wait to meet old friends, new friends, and friends we have known for so long but have not yet met in person!

I decided to go to BlytheCon in February, and in March I decided to sign up as a vendor. Three months later I (hopefully) have enough to bring to BlytheCon! Here are the xoxoBlythe items I’ll be selling, along with their special BlytheCon prices:

Knitted baby doll dresses. All hand-knitted by me with love, using 100% Peruvian Highland wool in delicious colors, finished with a velvet ribbon accent and metal snaps. $35 each

 

Knitted tunics. Hand-knitted by me with love, using 100% Peruvian Highland wool in delicious colors, finished with metal snaps. $25 each $20 each (20% off original Etsy price)

 

Vintage button or floral headbands, hand-stitched by me, using vintage buttons from my personal collection. Finished with foam or wool felt leaves, velvet ribbon, and elastic band. The floral buttons are made with vintage fabric petals that I cut out and stitched together, finished with felt leaves, glass beads, velvet ribbon, and elastic band. $10-$15 each

Last but not least, a few cropped coat & dress sets, in red, white, and blue colorways made exclusively for BlytheCon. Made with 100% cotton fabric and finished with metal snaps. The bodice of the dress and the coat are lined with plain white cotton. $45 each

That’s all! I gotta get packing so I can get ready. I will be hopefully posting photos to my Flickr during my travels. Hope to see you at BlytheCon!

 Happy Easter everyone! A few girls and I went to the Spring Fling Blythe meet at Verdugo Park in Burbank yesterday and had a great time. The L.A. Blythe folks are so creative and made some amazing dioramas as well as some great spring outfits and bonnets for their girls!

As always, there are lots more photos in my Flickr – click on the thumbnails below to see more!

Paige, Dru and Taylor went to the meet and came home with some great prizes! Dru is wearing an Easter egg nest bonnet made by Barbara/DollNo9, and Taylor is wearing an Easter bunny hat made by Penny/BlytheGalaxy! We enjoyed some great mini cupcakes, chocolate, eggs, and we also brought a homemade banana pudding trifle.

Thanks L.A. peeps for making the meet another fun one!
xo

Ahoy, mateys! Dru is modeling a set I’ve just completed, The Little Sailorette knitted hat and dress set, which will be a raffle prize at BlytheCon 2011!

I had a lot of fun knitting this set – the dress is of course the style I have been working on for the past few weeks, but the sailor collar took a lot of experimentation and hours of staying up late. I tried several different styles and finally ended up with this one. So glad to finally figure it out as part of the dress! It’s just not a sailor dress without the signature collar.

And of course, the hat was somewhat of a headache because I worked without a pattern and it took a while to figure out the exact gauge and number of stitches needed. This was actually attempt No. 2. My first attempt was an actual sailor-style hat, which turned out way too big and the style just wasn’t quite right. After much research, I decided on a more versatile hat style but with nautical colors, and I am really happy with how it turned out!

The yarn used is Spud and Chloe Fine (80% wool + 20% silk), one of my favorite yarns to use for Blythe knitting. I used the color “Snorkel,” and knitted it up with size 1 needles. Needless to say, the hat took FOREVER! I always forget how big Blythe’s head is compared to the rest of her. LOL!

Here’s another photo of Dru who worked really hard to make the dress look cute ^_^

I am really proud of this little set and I can’t wait to see who will get to take it home at BlytheCon 2011!

Dear Friends,

xoxo, Blythe is proud to present a hand-knitted outfit set: Red and White. This retro-inspired outfit set is one-of-a-kind, hand-knitted by me to fit Takara/Kenner/Licca-bodied Blythe dolls.

Both bonnet & dress are hand-knitted by me, with size 1 needles in a pale cream-colored 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. Delicate lace pattern repeats throughout. The dress is decorated with a red velvet ribbon and a red vintage floral button. Snap closure.

100% of the auction ending amount will be donated to the Red Cross to benefit Japan. Japan is near and dear to my heart, and when I found out my work is doing a 2-for-1 match, I want to raise as much money as I can to help.

 

This is a 5-Day auction and will end this Sunday, April 10th, at 2pm PST.

Here is a handy time zone list – I hope I got most of your time zones here.

Auction ending:
California, USA – Sunday, April 10, 2011 @ 2PM

Time Zones:
Chicago, IL, USA – Sunday, April 10, 2011 @ 4PM
New York, NY, USA – Sunday, April 10, 2011 @ 5PM
Sao Paulo, Brazil – Sunday, April 10, 2011 @ 6PM
London, UK – Sunday, April 10, 2011 @ 10PM
Paris, France – Sunday, April 10, 2011 @ 11PM
Helsinki, Finland – Monday, April 11, 2011 @ midnight
Singapore – Monday, April 11, 2011 @ 5AM
Tokyo, Japan – Monday, April 11, 2011 @ 6AM
Sydney, Australia – Monday, April 11, 2011 @ 7AM

Thank you so much for your generosity and support!

I am so happy to share this with you guys – I am going to be a vendor at BlytheCon 2011 this June! I will have knitted babydoll tops, dresses, and these really sweet and (of course) vintage-inspired fascinators/hairbands! Made with classy velvet ribbon, craft leaves, and a vintage button from my personal collection, each hairband is lovingly hand-sewn by me, and each is one-of-a-kind. I love these so much and I hope you (and your Blythe girls) will too!

I will be offering these exclusively at BlytheCon, and if I have any left, they will go into the Etsy shop. I am so excited about going to BlytheCon and can’t wait to meet everyone!