Arne and Carlos Knit Dolls - Here Comes Nancy!

If you've never heard of Arne and Carlos, they are definitely google-worthy.  This Scandinavian duo have created some truly unique knit patterns, my favourite of which are featured in their book, Knitted Dolls: Handmade Toys with a Designer Wardrobe.  This book caught my eye when I was picking up something on the holds shelf at the library.  Not above perusing other people's reserved books, I picked it up and was immediately captivated by the pictures.  I went home and put the book on hold myself. I liked it so much that I bought my own copy and a year later I have knit four different dolls and quite a few outfits.

The first doll I knit, I named Nancy. The pattern suggests extremely small, 2.5 mm (US size 1.5) needles, but the smallest I had at the time was 3.5mm needles which resulted in a slightly larger doll.  Because I knew I wanted to make a sleeveless dress for the doll, I decided to knit her with black tights and no shirt.

I used 100% acrylic yarn from my collection with the exception of her hair.  Her gorgeous locks are the 100% wool Thick and Thin yarn I had leftover from my Slouchy Hat Kit from MelonHead KnitWear.

The first thing I knit for Nancy was a little purple halter dress.

The dress is made from Paton Stretch Sock Yarn in the colour plum.

Then using the same type of yarn, but in the colour olive, I knit a little shrug to go with the dress. Big thanks to my mom who gave me a huge collection of little buttons that are the perfect size for doll clothes!

Still taken by the dress pattern, I made another one, this time using the leftover 100% merino wool yarn that I used to make the little tunic for Fiona. It's from Tanis Fibre Arts and the colour is deep sea.

Now that Nancy had a wardrobe, she needed some friends . . .