Bee-in-Her-Bonnet Crocheted Hat for Blythe

Materials:
Medium Weight Yarn (4) in Three Different Colors - I used Yellow for the Center, a Variegated for the Flower Bottom and a Solid for the Flower Petals
Size H, 5.00mm Crochet Hook

Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Estimated Time to Complete: 2 hrs.

Flower Center:
Ch 3. Join to form a loop. Ch 2.
Row 1. 13 DC inside of loop. Ch 2.
Rows 2. 2 DCs in the first stitch, 1 DC in the next stitch. Continue until row is complete.

Flower Bottom:
Row 3. Switch to Variegated Yarn by pulling it through to form a loop and then tying off the loose end. Ch 2. For this first row, you will be working in the back of the stitch of the last row of the Flower Center saving the front stitch of this last row to attach your Flower Petals. Proceed to start your flower bottom by doing 2 DCs in the first stitch, 1 DC in the next stitch. Continue until row is complete. Ch 2.
Row 4. 2 DCs in the first stitch, 1 DC in the next stitch. Continue until row is complete. Ch 2.
Rows 5 - 7. 1 DC in each stitch until the row is complete. Ch 2.
Row 8. 1 HDC in each stitch until the row is complete.

Flower Petals:
Using your second solid color yarn, join it up where your stitching ended on the Flower Center by pulling through a loop and then tying off the loose end. SC in the next stitch followed by a HDC in the same stitch. DC in the next stitch followed by a TC and then another DC in the same stitch. HDC in the next stitch followed by a SC in the same stitch. So you'll have 2 stitches in one stitch, followed by 3 stitches in the next stitch, followed by two stitches in the next stitch to form one petal. Continue this pattern all the way around the FRONT stitch of the Flower Center that you left open when you joined your Variegated yarn and started your Flower Bottom.

Bumblebee:
I used a chenille stem that was made of two different colors (black and yellow) to form my bumblebee. I found it in the kids section or the basics section of my local craft store with the other chenille stems. I cut it in half and wound it around a wooden shish kebab skewer to form the body making sure the stripes showed and then tucked the remaining wire inside the bee's body. I made the wings out of a very gauzy white fabric by cutting out a small piece in the shape of a peanut and then gluing it to my bee's body.

I hope you can figure this all out from what I have given you here so far. I am not an expert crochet artist and do not use/follow manufactured patterns so sometimes it is hard for me to explain. I will take some more photos when I make my next hat to show you each step.

Enjoy!

Oh MY Gosh! Look What I FOUND!

Ugh yeah, I think Eloise is giving me a hint of some sort here with her brightly colored, neatly made note. I'm thinking that she's thinking that we just have too many girls around here and that it might be time to do a little re-homing. So as soon as I get a chance, I'm going to write up some adoption papers. Plastic Paradise has been keeping me very busy despite the addition of some capable mods there.

So look for a post hopefully this week from me in the Castaways section.

Cleaning Spree, New Cameras and More - Oh MY!

So I've been slowly organizing and cleaning out my Blythe stuff. I've got a bin for clothes, a bin for shoes, a bin for hair accessories, a bin for customizing supplies, a bin for just general accessories - what in the world did I do before the invention of bins? And the dolls I have neatly placed in three very large decorative boxes. Maybe when I'm all organized it won't take me a gazillion years to set up for a photo shoot! Right - I'm dreaming!

Now on top of all my cleaning, I got a new camera. I had been using a FujuFilm A820 for most of my pictures and sometimes I would use my Kodak Easyshare Z740 for shots that required a zoom lens. Well I wanted to combine that technology but I didn't want to go as far as getting a digital SLR because frankly, I'm a geek but a lazy geek and I could just imagine myself fumbling with all those lenses when I wanted to get a quick shot of something. So I ended up getting a Canon SX10IS and I'm pretty happy with it so far. I had to turn off the continuous focus function though because frankly it drove me crazy. It is pretty windy here so whenever the wind blew the trees behind one of my dolls when I was taking a shot the focus would try to compensate for the bending branches and shaking leaves. The other drawback is it is much HEAVIER than my other cameras so holding it up with one hand for a long time can be tiring. I really should pump more iron and eat less Twinkies. In that shot, I was just holding her out of my car window with one hand and taking the shot with the other. I was actually surprised with how it turned out.

Anywho, if I get my act together maybe I can also finish those two hats I started crocheting! I'm sure my Blythes would appreciate that as we are so hat poor. Did I mention we have a HUGE bin just for HATS?

From Here to Ipernity

So I'm testing out Ipernity.com for photos. I still have my account on Flickr that I deleted then regained with some aggressive begging. Yeah, if you're on there you will notice that I got my "s" back on the end of my username (woohoo!) and my "Pro" status has been restored. So there are "Pros" and "Cons" to each I think. The software for both is basically the same so there is no learning curve when transferring to Ipernity. They have that handy dandy upload feature that lets you upload your entire Flickr account from Flickr or if you have all your Flickr photos in one folder on your computer's hard drive, you can upload them from there as well. I did 200 photos in one night and it took about 14 minutes using Semi High Speed Internet (100kbps). I wouldn't recommend that for someone using Dial-Up but I did notice they have a .zip file feature too. So maybe that would work for people in that type of situation. The other thing that I really, really enjoy there is that you can customize the way your page looks by personalizing it by changing the colors and adding a background. Also, you not only have your own home page with your photos doing a continuous loop in a slide show but you also have your own Blog which, hey, I need ANOTHER place to goof off and run my mouth so that's always a plus. Anyway, I'm testing it out and maybe by the time my Flickr Pro account is up for renewal next year there will be more Blyther's at Ipernity and I'll make it my permanent home.

My Plastic Princess

Welcome to my Blythe Blog! This blog has been about six months in the making. But the title has changed a gazillion times, my creativity comes and goes, and then there's the whole thing about knowing WHAT to write.

I just started collecting Blythe dolls in May 2008. I had two as a child and my love stems from my memories of them. They became misplaced over the years and now I'm reliving my childhood by playing with them again! Apparently, there are a lot people out there like me who love them just as much.

Some sad news for me yesterday was when the company announced they would stop producing dolls with the SBL face because the actual mold they use to produce them had become warped over time. I have only one "true" SBL doll left. She's slightly altered with her make-up removed and a haircut so this Blog is really based on her because she really does think she's a princess and the company's announcement makes her that much more special to me! So this Blog is really named for her, My Plastic Princess, Eloise. My other dolls will be featured here as well along with FREE patterns, dolls that may need to be re-homed and an occasional closet clean-out.

So enjoy and if you can put up with my rambling visit often!