Crochet Princess

We had bought a load of yarn online from Jo Ann some time back. When we received the package, I was a tad disappointed because the type of yarn was not necessarily for babies. But then again, I had intended the yarn to be used by the kids to make tiny creations for their soft toys and dolls.

Back in 2005, I had made for both S and N ragdolls, as a consolation for not getting two china porcelain dolls that were offered to them by some Malaysian brothers who had bought them by mistake. We told the girls that those dolls looked too alive, and as a consolation, I told them I would make them a doll each.

Happy with the alternative, they acquisced, and I set to work making these two rag dolls after looking on the internet for ideas and basic instructions.



The dolls were really customized, as I had asked them how tall they wanted their dolls, what color hair they wanted, what face shape they wanted, and what kind of smiles they preferred on their dolls.

S's Anisah, wearing the newly crocheted dress S made.

After the dolls were done, they named them, S's Anisah, and N's Farashah. I didn't make clothes for the dolls except for one or two. I have trouble finding enough time to make dresses and abaya for the girls, I wasn't about to spend time I don't have making clothes for their dolls. Finding decent clothes that are not belly button friendly is pretty frustrating in this country.

The girls had lamented over the lack of clothes their dolls are faced with, so I told them to try and make them themselves, since both girls had taken free sewing classes at our recreation center.

N's Farashah (she had chosen that to be the hair color)

I permitted them the use of my threads and needles. It was not without problems though, as I had found pins on the carpet more than a few times, but I hope those were 'learning from mistakes' moments they would heed.
I started to introduce to them the art of crocheting back in 2006. I had crocheted when I was about S's age, because my stepmother was into it and so did everybody else in our neighborhood, but I didn't really remember how to crochet, so as is usually the case, we checked out crochet books from the library!

I hate reading crochet recipes/instructions with all the short forms. I practically forced myself to go through them until we could do a very simple stitch. The first time I taught them to crochet, they couldn't really do it, especially N and H. S managed to crochet a pretty decent chain, but she was still relatively struggling, to the point of not even wanting to do it. So we dropped it, that is until, I stumbled across Mahar Dry Goods. That started the crochet craze.

However, that activity soon dwindled for a bit, and picked up again when we joined the Sew Giving Blanket Drive. And while I'm still struggling trying to make blankets, S is exploring on her own, reading the crochet recipes on her own, and coming up the cutest expanding wardrobe for the dolls and their soft toys. To my pleasant surprise, one after another, she crocheted a vest, a shorts, a dress, and a tutu in progress. Mashaallah! (I guess this is probably another result of applying the unschooling concept, of course without me realizing it)

I was trying to make sense of a crochet short form one time, and in frustration, I called S.

"S, what does this mean?" I asked her.

She actually explained to me what it meant, much to my surprise, and like a good student, I followed her instructions and had my 'ohh' and 'aha!' moments.


So here you go S, this post is dedicated to our Crochet Princess: S. May Allah bless you with skills that are blessed by Him. Ameen.