Skipper Ski Outfit

I've been revisiting my pattern binders and pulled out the House of White Birches leaflet Crochet Wardrobe for 11 1/2 inch Fashion dolls to try Ken's pants for Barbie to go with her poncho. I discovered I needed Ken's pants while reading the 2021 post about Skipper's Ski Outfit and it reminded me this could be a quick set of outfits for the older members of Barbie's family. Since I'd pulled up the notes I had for Skipper I decided to start with her outfit.

Notes:

I used a C hook for this outfit.

The purple is a no longer available Babe cotton yarn that I'm trying to finish off. I'm thinking of using this on Barbie's poncho pattern for a smaller version for Skipper as well. The yellow is Knit Picks Pallette yarn.

I added an additional row to the pant legs. These seem to be short on both the Barbie and Ken patterns for the modern dolls.

I added one 2 dc in one dc in next row for the hat after reading my previous project notes and I found this made the hat fit better with the doll's hair.

Due to the change in yarn I needed to finish the back and neck which added more of a mock turtleneck look than the sweater I'd made previously. I liked the look.

Water Bottle Carrier

This carrier is based on the water bottle carrier I made several years ago from Leisure Arts All About Cotton book.

One of the biggest changes that has occured since I made the last round of these carriers is that refillable water bottles have gotten quite a bit larger than the disposable water bottles that this pattern was originally designed to carry. It makes sense people are focused more on hydration so carrying more water is important. However, the original pattern needs a wider bottom to accomadate the larger bottles.

For this particular bottle I did a base of 32 stitches. I worked Rows 1-3 as written. DC2 Dc in next 6. This gave me my 32 stitches to start and then I followed the pattern accounting for the extra base stitches until I reached the height I wanted for the larger bottle.

Since this was a gift and I didn't have access to the bottle, I used a food canister I had that was about the same size to make sure it was forming the size I wanted and checked it before adding the strap.

I have two types of straps I make for these bottles. The pattern starts with 100 chains which works as an over the shoulder or hand carry strap. However, when I made mine I wanted a cross body strap as I find stuff tends to fall off my shoulder when I most need my hands free. I settled on a starting chain of 160 and that is what this bottle has as the person getting it wanted a cross body option.

I used an I hook for this project and Lily Sugar and Cream Psychedelic. I've started on a second one that is still larger than the original pattern but smaller than this one so we will see how it works out.

Barbie Poncho and Pants

I have written about several of the Michelle Ratman patterns I purchased for both the Barbie and 18 inch doll donation. I'm slowly working my way through them adding new items to the doll bags.

This outfit combines Michelle's poncho pattern that can be purchased here with a pants pattern found in an out of print White Birches leaflet Crochet Wardrobe for 11 1/2 inch Fashion Dolls.

Notes:

While the pattern calls for cotton 4 weight yarn for the poncho I went with acrylic because I either have "kitchen" cotton or sport weight for my ami's on hand. I don't have a brand or color because this was a great project to work on using up a left over ball of yarn from a previous project.

The worsted acrylic required a change to an e hook to fit this Barbie model.

The last time I made the pants from the House of White Birches pattern for Barbie in 2021 her sister Skipper ended up with them and I made a note to try Ken's pants to see if the fit would be better. Barbie sizes change over time and this Barbie fits the Ken size better than the pattern written for Barbie. I'm hoping to make the complete winter sets for Ken, Barbie, and Skipper in the near future.

I used a C hook for the pants crocheting over an elastic band. The pants are made with Knit Picks Palette fingering yarn.