Tag Archives: #dollmaking

March 19, 2026 · 9:19 pm

Day 26 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- Hope Punk

A couple of days ago, I experienced wonderful synchronicities of messages of HOPE appearing like little green shoots bravely unfurling through grotty old snow. Brad Montague, artist, writer and hope-meister extraordinaire (follow him on The Enthusiast and @bradmontague) wrote a wonderful post on his Substack page that introduced me to Alexandra Rowland’s statement: “The opposite of grimdark is hopepunk,” which felt like an explosion of delight and yes-ness. (Thank you!!!)

And, the other wonderful uplifting thing was my brilliant niece, @josephinecrone being interviewed by Anita Vandenbeld for her podcast: New episode of Democracy in Conversation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EtrWeqXAso&t=10s . Josephine is a powerful advocate for the power of hope to change lives. She has survived Stage 4 Lymphoma and is in remission. She is adamant that hope drives action forward and that cynical behaviour is deadly. She gives me so much hope…. and I am so gratefu!

For me, living with chronic illness and a bunch of other challenges, means that hope is an absolute life line and is essential to my very being. That’s why I focus on invoking hope and beauty and sweetness in my work as an artist and a designer.

I had such an ‘aha’ about ‘Hope Punk’… that’s what I am aiming at with my whole spool knitting project and that, oh yes! Is what my Well Well Well Spool Knitted Dolls are absolutely ALL about.

Please stay hopeful! We need our Hope to light up the darkness!

The pattern for the Spool Knitted Well Well Well Dolls is available in my etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/4473549156/pdf-pattern-for-spool-knitted-well-well

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Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, personal stuff, Simple Little Things That Make Me Happy, spool knitter & spoolknitter & spool knitting & spool knitting

Tagged as #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms, #dollmaker, #dollmaking, #handmadedoll, #handmadedolls, #hope, #hopepunk, #spoolknitteddolls, #spoolknitter, #spoolknitters, #spoolknittingdolls, #the100dayproject, #the100dayproject2026, #wellwellwellspoolknitteddolls, @josephinecrone, @noreen.cronefindlay

March 17, 2026 · 1:00 pm

Day 24 of #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms- Well Well Well Spool Knitted Dolls

I designed the Well Well Well Spool Knitted Dolls as a wish that everyone, everywhere, would feel well, and that our precious planet would feel well, and that anyone who makes these dolls will feel well, and happy, and safe and hopeful and live in peace, and equanimity.

As I made them, I asked myself: What does JOY look like today? What does peace and safety look like today? What does this doll want me to know? How can this doll feel like hope or sweetness today?

I invite the doll makers to play with drawing their own unique, one of a kind faces for their Well Well Well dolls and have made a video tutorial to help them do this.

I hope that these joyful, playful, happy dolls will bring all good things to the people who make them, and if the Well Well Well dolls are meant as a gift that they will bring love, light, laughter and hope to those who receive them.

The pattern includes links to 3 video tutorials for how to make your own larger spool knitters as well as videos on how to spool knit in the round, and how to spool knit flat panels as well as spool knitting 2 peg/nail cords.

The pattern has complete step by step instructions for making the Well Well Well Spool Knitted Dolls with yarn and with fabric strips too.

The pattern is available in my etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/4473549156/pdf-pattern-for-spool-knitted-well-well

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Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, eco crafts & green projects, gifts & easy to make gifts & presents, Simple Little Things That Make Me Happy, spool knitter & spoolknitter & spool knitting & spool knitting, the 100 day project

Tagged as #dollmaker, #dollmaking, #handmadedoll, #handmadedolls, #spoolknitteddolls, #spoolknitter, #spoolknitter #spoolknitters #littlelooms #spoollknitting #woodworking #the100dayproject2026 #the100dayproject #100daysofspoolknittersandlittlelooms @noreen.cronefindlay @distinctivewoodworking, #spoolknitters, #spoolknittingdolls, #the100dayproject, #the100dayproject2026, #wellwellwellspoolknitteddolls, @noreen.cronefindlay, Noreen Crone-Findlay, yarn, Yarn Crafts

December 13, 2023 · 9:59 am

Lily Doll has a tutu and shrug for Ballet classes

Once upon this time there is a darling 3 year old, (named Lily) who inspired me to create the Lily Doll Project- a year long celebration of delight, joy and creativity.

When Lily’s Mamma, Elena Kawachi, posted pics of little Miss Lily taking her first steps into the world of ballet, I couldn’t resist designing a tutu for Lily Doll, woven on the Mirrix Chloe loom.

And because ballerinas need to stay warm after class, I designed a wee shrug for Lily Doll, too. The kit for the shrug and tutu are available at LINK

The Shrug also looks great with the Pinafore Pocket Dress (kit also available on the Lily Doll page LINK)

Here’s to the joy of woven dolls and imagination! Hope you’ll join us in the delightful, healing art of dollmaking and make your own, unique version of Lily Doll and her friends! <3

Happy weaving! ❤

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Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, doll clothes, frame loom weaving, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Woven Dolls and Toys

Tagged as #dollmaker, #dollmaking, #lilydoll, #wovendoll, dollmaker, dollmaking, Lily doll, Lily Doll Project, Mirrix, Mirrix Chloe loom, Mirrix looms, woven doll

December 4, 2023 · 11:38 am

Lily Doll has 2 new dresses and a new friend, too

It’ s the festive season, so I designed a party dress for Lily Doll:

And, then I discovered that there is enough yarn in the Party Doll kit to be able to weave the Pinafore Dress (with a pocket!), so, I asked Elena and Claudia at Mirrix if we could add the Pinafore Dress to the Party Dress kit. They thought that that was a great idea. 😀

It struck me that people might want to weave the Lily Doll in a way that is unique to them. I love exploring creative and imaginative options, so I decided to weave a doll using the Lily Doll Pattern, but to change things up a little.

Well, LOL…. I ended up having to weave her arms twice, because I managed to (HUH?!?!) mess them up on the first go. Okay, so I un-picked them and wove them again. Got it right this time. Whew.

Then, I was weaving too late at night, when, thanks to Long Covid, my cognitive function isn’t always at the top of the loop- oops… and I wove the body in plain white, which I hadn’t meant to do. Went to bed shaking my head. Got up the next morning and wove the body using Herringbone technique. (I’ll do another post about weaving Herringbone on the Chloe loom). YAY! Got it right!

Next, I merrily wove her legs using pick and pick in tapestry technique which mysteriously gave her very out of proportion legs. Sigh. Un-wove them and wove them in pick and pick, but THIS time, I used the tabby technique. AND YAY! The legs are totally tickety boo…. whew…..

And, luckily, her dear little head (using the pink and purple yarn and hand dyed silk left over from the Party and Pinafore Dresses kit) turned out perfect the first time round…. so…. here she is!

Lily Doll would like to introduce her cousin, Lally Doll!

and here they are, wearing the Party Dress and the Pinafore with a Pocket Dress:

Ooh, I am so delighted with them! Even though I seemed to get so much wrong on the way to getting Lally Doll right, she was totally worth the effort.

The Herringbone technique is explained in step by step photos in my book: Innovative Weaving on the Frame loom. It, and the kits and patterns for the Lily doll project are all available at: LINK

Happy Weaving! ❤

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Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, doll clothes, frame loom weaving, gifts & easy to make gifts & presents, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, weaving & handwoven, Woven Dolls and Toys

Tagged as #dollclothes, #dollmaker, #dollmaking, #dolls, #handweaving, #handwoven, #wovendoll, #wovendollclothes, doll, doll making, dolls, hand made doll, hand weaving, Lily Doll Project, small loom weaving, weaving

December 2, 2023 · 11:22 am

Vintage Hankie Skirts for Wooden Dolls

I am no longer carving wooden dolls, (health issues).

These One of a Kind Wooden Dolls are all for sale. They are $100 each + shipping.

I spent hours making little fitted shimmery vests, and spent more hours messing around with lace for skirts. Sadly, the lace skirts just didn’t cut it.

So, when a dear friend gave me some vintage hankies, I had an ‘aha!’ moment…. and the skirt dilemma was resolved: Tie the hankies on with ribbons. This is a super simple non-sew skirt option that I came up with decades ago for dolls in my book: Soul Mate Dolls: Dollmaking as a Healing Art. It works so well! And, now, I am happy!

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Filed under carved wooden dolls, carving wood, doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, doll clothes, eco crafts & green projects, personal stuff, Simple Little Things That Make Me Happy, wooden dolls

Tagged as #doll, #dollclothes, #dollmaking, #harcourthouse, #woodendolls, christmas, doll, doll clothes, doll making, dolls, grateful, Harcourt House

November 25, 2023 · 2:09 pm

Tiny Teddy for the Lily Doll Project

I am a dyed in the wool Teddy Bear fanatic. I especially like very very small bears.

So, of course, when I was designing for the Lily Doll Project, the first friend I designed for her is an absolutely tiny Teddy Bear.

These tiny Teddy Bears have my ‘signature’ hugging arms so they can hug back and also hold onto things.

Because they are so little, they are fairly quick and easy to make, so they are a great choice as Pocket Bears, and as Comfort Bears to give to other people.

The kits are available at: https://mirrixlooms.com/lily