Paul O'Grady knitted doll

Well, here's an interesting break from the knitted birds: it's much-loved TV host and funny guy Paul O'Grady and his lovely dog, Olga. I was asked to knit them by his TV production company, and the dolls should appear on his ITV show sometime after today.

This was the first time I have ever designed and knitted a dog, so it was pretty nerve-wracking knowing that the finished woolly hound was going to appear on a major TV channel!

Peter Capaldi as Doctor Who

Here's Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor Who - you can download the knitting pattern from my Etsy shop and knit a grumpy timelord of your very own. He's about 12 inches tall, and knits up on 4mm straight needles - no knowledge of knitting in the round needed. He's got a felt waistcoat and jacket lining, and poseable arms and legs.

Wayne Kramer

Here's my knitted Wayne Kramer, legendary guitarist from the MC5. He's got a felt version of his trademark stars and stripes Fender guitar. First time I'd ever knitted flares, so that was a crafting milestone!

I'm going to be taking a break from dolls for a while so I can focus on birds for my book, but while I was making Wayne's frilly shirt it struck me that this is just the sort of shirt that a knitted Jon Pertwee Doctor Who would wear... and now I really want to make one. Why aren't there more knitting hours in the day?

Skrillex doll

Thought I would take a break from the knitted birds and knit a doll - the result was this Skrillex doll; an early Christmas present for my daughter. I liked him so much I ended up writing up the pattern and you can download it from my Etsy shop.

Skrillex is about 10 inches tall and has removable felt headphones and a tiny cigarette.

I revised my previous basic doll pattern for this one, using some simplified shaping techniques that I'd picked up while knitting a tufted duck, of all things. If you ever wondered what the connection between water birds and dubstep was, well, there it is. I do like making patterns simpler and more elegant - less is more in my book when it comes to shaping.

Spock doll

A knitted Spock! He's a one-off custom order for an Etsy customer. This is the first time I have made a doll with ears, which, let's face it, are an intrinsic part of his Spock-ness, aren't they?

Bellatrix Lestrange

After gallons of black coffee and faffing around with PDFs, I have finally added my Bellatrix Lestrange knitting pattern to my Etsy shop. I think this has been the most-requested pattern from the past couple of years, so, if you've been waiting for it, I hope it was worth the wait!

Bellatrix is around 12 inches tall and is pretty simple to knit. If you can't find thick, crinkly chunky wool for her hair, you can always knit up some black dk or chunky yarn on large needles, wash it in warm soapy water and let it dry for a few days. When you unravel it, you should have nice, curly hair.

I can't believe I just described Bellatrix Lestrange's hair as "nice". Sorry. That should have read, "evil, curly hair".

Morrissey doll

Just finished Morrissey, and he's looking for a new home.

He's around 12 inches tall and is hand knitted by me, from my own pattern. I'd like to think of this as a Hatful Of Hollow circa-1984 type Morrissey, with his off the shoulder shirt and bunch of gladioli.

What's he stuffed with? Misery and bad poetry. Actually, no, it's polyester stuffing but the other things sound better. His shirt isn't sewn into position so you can have fun adjusting it into various angst-ridden poses. It's not removeable though as the bunch of flowers are attached to his tiny knitted hand.

Hmm... now I've finished him, I'd like to knit a Johnny Marr *adds idea to knit list*.

Severus Snape knitting pattern

If you fancy knitting your very own Severus Snape, you can now buy my knitting pattern for my Snape doll as a digital download from Etsy.

Once you've checked out, you'll be able to download the pattern straight away and get knitting! Magic!

L Lawliet Death Note doll

I started knitting L from Death Note about 6 months ago, when I began experimenting with using wire supports inside my dolls to give a greater range of postures. With his unique sitting style, he seemed like the obvious choice.

I tried to knit him sitting in his trademark crouch, using stiff florist's wire as support. It didn't really work but I ended up with a bad case of Knitter's Block and couldn't work out what the problem was. He sat on my desk for the next few months, eyeing me balefully.

Over Christmas I watched the entire Death Note dvd boxset and finally worked out what was wrong with him. His legs were way too short. His trousers were way too tight. His eyes were a tiny bit too small. A little bit of remodelling, and here he is, sitting, rather than crouching.

One of the things I like about L (apart from his genius intellect and his ability to eat nothing but sweets and cake without putting on weight) is how his facial expressions veer between manga pretty-boy handsomeness and just plain weird. I think I've caught him somewhere in the middle.

Ziggy Stardust

 

Time to knit another David Bowie! Actually, when *isn't* it time to knit another David Bowie? Here is knitted Ziggy Stardust wearing his one arm / one leg bodysuit and a little felt cosmic disc thing on his forehead.

Ziggy was a one-off custom order but I may well be making another one so watch the Etsy shop!

Peter Davison doll

Here's the latest in my series of Doctor Who dolls - Peter Davison. He's wearing his cricket jumper and long beige coat with red trimming. It was really hard finding a yarn which was the right colour for the blonde Davison locks, but my trusty vintage stash came up trumps in the end. Now I know why I hang on even the tiniest amount of unusual vintage yarn...

If you'd like to give Peter Davison a home, he can be found in my Etsy shop.

Now, the big question is: which Doctor do I knit next?

Tom Baker doll

Here's my new Doctor Who doll! Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, scarf-wearing hero of my 1970s childhood.

He's wearing his trademark scarf, which I knitted using vintage 1970s yarn from deep in the depths of my yarn stash. You know you sometimes inherit ancient bits and pieces of yarn from friends and relatives? Hang onto it, this is what it's useful for.

I made his curly hair from alpaca wool, which holds a curl beautifully and looks pretty much like the Tom Baker mop in both colour and texture.

Tom Baker is currently for sale in my Etsy shop and I have also made another Matt Smith doll, also for sale. More Timelords to come!

David Bowie doll

 Here's the first of my new doll designs for the autumn: say hello to this David Bowie doll, created from my own pattern. He's approximately 11 inches long and is based on the Diamond Dogs cover.

I was inspired to knit him because I have been knitting Doctor Who dolls over the summer and it struck me one afternoon, while listening to Bowie and knitting Matt Smith, that during his prime, Bowie was actually a sort of Time Lord. He regenerated into something completely different every few years, with Ziggy Bowie being as different from Let's Dance Bowie as Patrick Troughton is as different from Peter Davison. Everyone has their favourite incarnation. (Sylvester McCoy would probably be Tin Machine. You have to be a rather dedicated fan to like either).

If you'd like to give this rock Time Lord a home, he is currently lounging around my Etsy shop.

Oh yes - one bonus feature of this doll is that if you want to have a knitted version of the pre-censorship album art, you can put Mr Bowie's tail between his legs and you have an anatomically correct dog. If you know what I mean...

Dr Who doll

I have just finished knitting Matt Smith as Doctor Who as a custom order. I love the way he turned out! He's about 10 inches tall and is preparing to launch off into space (well, OK, the USA) only he is going to have to travel by cardbox box, rather than TARDIS. Sorry, Doctor.

While I was knitting the Eleventh doctor I started thinking how great it would be to knit them all... I'd probably start with Tom Baker and Peter Davison as those are the Doctors I grew up with. Will definitely add this idea to the knit-list.

Eddie Izzard doll

Here is knitted Eddie Izzard! He was a special one-off custom order and he left for his new home in the USA this morning.

Knitted Eddie's outfit was based on this real-life Eddie ensemble of high-heeled boots, black sparkly skirt, basque and pink jacket.

There was a horrible mid-knitting moment when I was reminded of Dolores Umbridge's pink tweedy outfit in Harry Potter, but once the black accents were embroidered on, normality resumed. No-one wants to think of  Dolores Umbridge in a basque.

If you'd like a custom doll made, then you know where my Etsy shop is. Just take the second left then follow the internet until you can hear the sound of knitting needles. It's not far.

Long John Silver

Here is Long John Silver as played by Eddie Izzard from the Sky TV production of Treasure Island. He's a one-of-a-kind custom order with a bright pink parrot, rather than the red macaw from the TV show.


I'm starting to think that maybe all pirates should have a pink parrot. In fact I'm feeling rather sorry for any buccaneers who have to put up with anything less. Pink parrots for all!


Long John Silver was great fun to knit: the first time I've ever attempted anyone with one leg + Eddie Izzard is my second-favourite comedian = knitted pirate win.

Adam Ant

I've been wanting to knit Adam Ant ever since seeing the original Prince Charming outfit in the V and A last year - and here he is! 12 inches tall and stuffed full of new romantic naughty intentions (otherwise known as polyester stuffing).

If you'd like to give Mr Ant a home, he's currently strutting around my Etsy shop, doing that Prince Charming dance. You know, that one.

Captain Jack Sparrow doll

The very talented Simon Dack came and took some photos of me and my Pirates of the Caribbean dolls yesterday. Here's a few of Captain Jack enjoying a windy day on the beach in Worthing - I think the bluster gives his hair a real action hero look.


Which is more than can be said for my hair, in most of the shots I looked like Professor Trelawney's unkempt cousin. But I like this one of me and Jack hanging out in a rusty beach shelter on the prom.

I'm working on the pattern for Captain Jack at the moment and hope it have it in my Etsy shop very soon.

Jane Austen costume drama dolls

One for the Sense and Sensibility fans - here's my Colonel Brandon doll, accompanied by Marianne Dashwood. Both are for sale in my Etsy shop - you can see more photos of them there, too. I'm thinking of working on more Jane Austen and costume drama characters in the future. The costumes are just so much fun to knit up.

If you're an Alan Rickman fan, you may also like my Severus Snape doll, who you can visit over at the Slytherin House Knitting Club, along with my Lucius and Draco Malfoy, Voldemort, and Harry dolls. You can buy patterns for all of the Harry Potter dolls from ye olde Etsy shoppe.

The Queen is a shape-shifting Reptilian

The Queen is a shape-shifting reptilian. One way up, she's a respectable monarch - but turn her upside down and pull her skirt over her head and she magically transforms into her true form: a reptilian entity who has come from another dimension to enslave you with fear.


You can knit the shape-shifting Queen using scraps of DK yarn on 3.75mm knitting needles. I'll email you a simple to follow PDF pattern with many colour photos and clear step-by-step making-up instructions. First page of pattern is shown as a photo.

This double-ended doll is a potent reminder of the dark side of power that lurks within every leader. She's approx 7.5 inches tall when completed.


You're buying a PDF pattern only, not the completed doll - pattern will be emailed to you within 24 hours, usually quicker. Buy my shape-shifting Queen doll pattern now on Etsy for £3.50!