Mermaid summer

Such a long time since I posted-it has been a glorious summer with much fun with holidays and family and friends. 

My lovely great-niece Isla and her little brother Ollie kept me busy when they spent some weeks in Cornwall. We played all sorts of games, did crafts and told stories, particularly about Cornish ghosts, in which Ollie has the typical ghoulish fascination of an 8 year old. His imagination ran riot here at the old farmhouse!  

Isla adores mermaids -she is in and out of the sea like one herself so I set my mind to making her a mermaid princess in crochet. I have only just discovered amirugumi and the first ever attempt was earlier in the summer when in Wales I made a tiny rabbit for my baby grandaughter (now due in 4 weeks time).  

I used this pattern from  Zan Crochet - such cute bunnies! It worked out perfectly for the size I wanted by using Patons 4 ply cotton and a 2.75mm hook. She is just the right size for little hands to hold. 

Feeling empowered by the creation of 'Lexie rabbit' I was determined to make a mermaid doll. I looked at so many different pictures and patterns but somehow could not seem to find anything that fulfilled my vision of 'Isla the mermaid princess'. In the end I decided to make the head as the rabbit head, and just see where it went from there!! 

After much trial and error...Isla the mermaid princess took shape!

I wanted her to have more of a top than the usual shells so just crocheted it in pale lilac and added a neckline using a vintage edging pattern. The tiara was from a vintage edging design as well then edged with Anchor metallic thread. 

The hair had to be very long like the little girl herself and I did watch a couple of tutorials on the 'wig' method for amirugumi dolls for that. It must have taken longer to make than the whole doll itself but was worth it! I finished off the hair with a few threads of silver metallic chains. 

The little girl in question adored her own little replica Isla! 

The yarn used-Baby Rooster- was left over from a blanket project for the coming baby:

Oh my goodness-discovered Rooster baby Rooster when I found this delicious pattern in Nicki Trench's Cute and easy crochet. Just couldn't resist the delicious colours, and the feel of the yarn is just pure pleasure to work with. 

Having a little of the yarn left and purple being Isla's favourite colour, it was just crying put to be used for the mermaid. The shade Cornish seemed the perfect milky shade for her skin - must have been named especially for her! The shade is just like the delicious clotted cream ice cream the county is famous for-

 Well summer's almost over-hope you have enjoyed some lovely sunny days, warmth and fun. Will be catching up on those lovely blogs very soon!

Best wishes

Alison xx