Spring pickin's Knit-along

You are invited to participate or lend support in my upcoming knit-along due to take place over in my designer's group on Ravelry.
 

 Debonair Designs for dolls

  A two month long knit-along starting March 1st and ending April 30th working from one of two patterns picked by popular vote

Platanus ~ a fun Poncho-Wrap featuring a textured stitch pattern through, worked from written instruction with option to work to length following chart. No shaping, no seaming, simply add button closure and optional tassels, wrap and wear! A stylish addition for your 18inch doll's spring wardrobe 

Lavernia ~ A stylish peplum cardigan with a picot textured stitched hemline and eyelet row for ribbon adornment for a fun addition to your American Girl doll’s spring wardrobe with three-quarter length sleeves to enjoy the new spring warmth and a flattering shawl collared neckline

Color Palettes Part Two

Part Two ~ for this part I chose a favorite color combination which also served as the basis for a new pattern addition designed with the upcoming Spring season in mind and designed for the 18" American Girl Dolls and the comparable 18" Gotz Dolls like my models Elisabeth & Jessica from the 2003 Precious Day Collection
 

Pink paired with Grey

  




For my new pattern, Lavernia (link takes you to my Etsy Store) rather than work the colors combined into the outfit, I chose to work one in grey and one in pink








 

 Lavernia ~                A stylish peplum cardigan featuring a picot textured stitched hemline and eyelet row for ribbon adornment for a fun addition to your doll’s spring wardrobe with three-quarter length sleeves to enjoy the new spring warmth and a flattering shawl collared neckline

 These completed knitted outfits are currently available for sale in eBay listing                       

Debonair Designs at Tekayintl

For more color combinations, pop on over to my new Pinterest Board called Color Palettes

 

Hello January

A brand new year beckons, my head swirls with delightful thoughts of casting on something new for my dolls, maybe even for myself too! Purged through my knitting basket for inspiration as I slowly recuperated from a family filled holiday home along with an un-welcomed flu virus that held my family and I hostage for the new year . . . .ugh

Opening up my emails was at first daunting, soooo many to read after my computer died from an overworked, small capacity hard drive failure, thanks to my dear hubby for coming to the rescue with not only a newer hard drive but one that has much more capacity I have not had for a couple of years now . . . yay! this new year is looking brighter each day.
One particular email caught my eye, an event I actually had forgotten all about, the debut of the 2015 American Girl of the Year, Grace Thomas 

This was exactly the inspiration I needed, something new, something different to cast on my needles for, thanks also to a January knit-along currently happening over in the American Girl Knitters group over on the ravelry forum.

I set about to the knit-along challenge of creating a outfit using three different patterns and chose a Parisian City Chic style for my 2006 American Girl, Jess.

For her sweater I made use of my raglan jersey sweater pattern Sequoia paired with an adorable ruffled skirt by Janice Helge where I added a bow befitting of the chic style I was going for, topped with a stylish beret, and finished with fingerless-mitts also with added bows. . . overall I am very pleased with the outcome, as is Jess too!

 

Thanks for looking, be sure to check out my listings for this completed outfit and more via my eBay store my husband and I have had for many years ~ Deb

Thankful for my knitting

 

I am thankful for my knitting ♥ because . . .

• It fills my life with color.

• It expresses my creativity.

• It keeps my hands busy.

• It connects me to friends alike and introduces me to new friends ♥ who share my love for the craft.

As I take a moment to give pause to all that I am grateful for, I am also pondering what's next for my knitting needles, and look forward to create more of what I love doing, knitting and designing for 18 inch dolls


 







 

 

What's next for my knitting needles?  . . . 

the upcoming winter season for one, along with Christmas holiday celebrations

Feel free to visit my Pinterest Mood Board  for more of what inspires my knitwear designs and color picks

Follow Debonair's board Debonair's Mood Board on Pinterest.

Jewels of the Sea by Debonair Designs

'Jewels of the Sea' worked to showcase both my latest pattern Anyah, this time worked for summer wear, that Julia preferred wearing sleeveless, along with Jessica's pick ~ a jaunty short-sleeved sweater, taken from my 2011 summer collection and paired with her favorite style of hat, a trendy Newsboy Cap.

Knitting Pattern Note:
 Jessica's sweater Meridian, is currently in the process of being updated with new pictures to follow.

Both outfits were inspired by the stunning colors found in * sea glass 







* Sea glass is a physically and chemically weathered anthropogenic glass found on beaches along bodies of fresh and salt water. These weathering processes produce a natural frosted glass

 

Thanks for looking ~ Deb & Dolls

Spring forth with Anyah

Spring? . . . here in the Pacific Northwest I can happily say that spring has arrived, my daffodils are clear proof along with the heavy pollen count too. Needles to say, for many, the prolonged winter white and grey still looms large, so to add and spread spring joy I was inspired to create an American Girl version of 'Nuala', a sweater dress I had created for the 18” slim all vinyl girl dolls like the Kidz n’ Cats® dolls

 presenting . . .

Especially designed to fit American Girl Dolls & the comparable sized 18” Gotz Dolls

‘Anyah’, a textured stitched sweater dress, that makes use of an easy to work slipped stitch textured pattern throughout, along with classic ribbing and featuring front pockets with two options for working the pocket fronts; a versatile addition for the spring transition.

Anyah: English: Gracious, befitting of the spring blossoms arriving in my garden.” ~ Deb   

Pattern Now Available ~ Buy Now 

  

Pattern Features: Formatted with written out line-by-line instructions given throughout. An easy to achieve slipped stitch textured pattern is worked throughout, along with a deep ribbed welt that is also worked for the cuffs and crew neckline. Incorporated pocket liners are worked at the same time as the main body with pocket fronts worked at completion from held stitches with two options.

Construction: Worked flat: back and forth in rows. 

Worked from the bottom up in one piece to armholes, including back button bands (added for easy dressing), then each section is worked individually to neckline, created from picked up and held stitches. Pocket lining worked at the same time as main body using the knitting on cast-on method, pocket fronts added at completion from held stitches. Set in long sleeves worked from cuff edge to sleeve cap, seamed and sewn into place.

 

Option 1 Pocket Front

Option 2 Pocket Front

These completed hand knitted outfits are also available for sale
 via my Etsy Store 

Valentine's Surprise

As I watched January quickly slip by, my thoughts turned to brisk winter walks, and my favorite Gansey stitch patterns, what better way to showcase this new knitting pattern than a Valentine's surprise from a bashful Jaden to Jess.

presenting 'Yukon'

a Unisex Textured Stitched Sweater & Ear-Warmer knitting pattern

designed to fit American Girl/Boy Dolls & the comparable 18” Gotz Dolls

"Here she is . .  Sit . .  good boy Rembrandt." ~ Jaden

 

Pattern Now Available ~ Buy Now 

  
Pattern Features: Formatted with written line-by-line instructions given throughout. Horizontal ribbed stitch is featured around the neckline and top of sleeve cap with classic single ribbing worked for the welt and cuffs along with a textured stitch worked for the main body, including the matching ear-warmer or headband.

"Aw! Thanks Rembrandt, that's so sweet." ~ Jess

Construction: Worked flat: back and forth in rows.

Sweater worked from the bottom up in one piece to armholes, including button bands for back button closure for easy dressing, then each section is worked individually to neckline. Horizontal ribbing is featured for a classic crew neck, created from picked up stitches. Matching sleeves worked alike and sewn into place.  

Ear-Warmer worked in one piece to circumference with a single buttonhole closure.

'What a great view!" ~ Jaden. "Sure is, thanks Jaden." ~ Jess

These completed hand knitted outfits are also available for sale via my Etsy store  


My new 18" Madam Alexander model has also been busy making her Valentine cards, here she is showing a pink version, completed outfit is also available for sale via my store

 

Giving Thanks

Warm wishes and toasty thoughts along with sweet blessings for a safe, and joyous Thanksgiving.
As for my plans? I have a new pattern in the works, projects yet to be completed, but before I do, we (my husband, kids, mother-in-law & I) are going to take a break by stepping out of town and into nature, we intend to treat this holiday weekend as a chance to be, to change the pace a little and explore this new territory we moved to back in spring.

On a designer's note, and a shameless promotion, check out my Etsy store for completed outfits, with more to come along my self-published knitting patterns available in my Craftsy Pattern Store and not forgetting my two recent knitting pattern books


On a knitter's note, check out this awesome sale happening on Craftsy right now

Fall for Ayanna

Before embarking on winter themed outfits, I would like to share highlights of recent Autumn inspired outfits I have completed, using my faux fair isle sweater dress pattern 'Ayanna', read this post for pattern details

Designed to fit: American Girl Dolls & the comparable 18" Gotz Dolls like my models that share the same body type

Pattern Features: The faux fair isle is achieved with the use of slipped stitches, thereby avoiding the traditional stranded color work, written out with line-by-line instructions given, including back buttonhole placement. Set in 3/4 length sleeves and a ribbed stitched turtle neck worked from picked up stitches complete the look.


 

See my Etsy store for completed ensembles

Fall, the most inspirational time of the year for me, inspired also by my love of fair isle stitch patterns, ‘Ayanna’ is worked without the need for experience in stranded color work, as I made use of slipped stitches worked in pattern throughout to achieve the look of fair isle for this stylish sweater dress,  along with line-by-line written instructions.  ~ Debonair Designs

My inspirational picture, for 'Ayanna' in Yosemite