Shall we do a toy today? I’ve only got the one, but I do think Matryoshka Japonais is pretty adorable: a set of three dolls adorned with, for the larger two, stranded colorwork snowflakes/flowers, and for the smallest, a smidge of lazy daisy embroidery. The clever details on these include beginning with circular bottoms based on π, bodies worked in the round (best for colorwork, anyway), then heads worked back and forth for the dual purposes of having an opening for stuffing and creating adorable little faces with intarsia (much easier worked back-and-forth). So, good techniques to know in squishy little packages. The littlest doll is perfect for grabbing with tiny, baby fists, and the larger sizes are just right for cuddling.
I dreamed these up when my youngest was a toddler, and they were inspired by a set of nesting dolls my older daughter was gifted by a Russian friend plus a beautiful kokeshi doll the younger daughter received. The blue and white palette of the original dolls was inspired by Japanese sashiko and indigo-dyed fabrics, hence their being japonais. My girls have more or less outgrown dolls, but each one still has her own set of these stuffies tucked away on a shelf.
Any worsted weight yarn would do (great for using up scraps), and I have long thought about making a teeny set by using sock yarn and appropriately smaller needles. Grab your copy for half off with the code ADVENT2021 in either of my shops:
Until tomorrow…
xxoo, Kathleen
P.S. This is the place for the poly-fil you couldn’t use yesterday ;)
Hi, I’m Kathleen Dames, and this is The Knit. It’s completely free to access and read, but if you would like to support my work, please consider a paid newsletter subscription for $5 per month or $50 annually. Thank you! Your support helps me create more knitting patterns and fun content ad-free. Thank you so much.