Doll clothes: Smali & Olivia set

Who’s best in show? The Icelandic sheepdog of course! Unfortunately he didn’t make it to the show: he was far too busy watching after Olivia and Theodóra when they went and picked up blueberries in the Icelandic mountains! Olivia wasn’t really probably dressed to pick up blueberries but what a stunning coat she was wearing! In the second episode of The Adventures of Theodóra, “Leading the way”, find out how Theodóra and Olivia became friends and what a good dog Smali is!

The dog’s pattern is a special collaboration between Hélène Magnússon and best-selling authors Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne. It took four prototypes to make it right: the very first dog was a very cute little bastard! The last one, on the other hand, is a pure breed of Icelandic sheepdog!*

* more about the Icelandic sheep dog: http://www.icelanddog.org/

Olivia’s stunning lacy coat and felted boots were made for her by Hélène. She tells us about it: “ The coat is not just a pretty thing for a doll. A full size lace coat made by Adalbjörg Jónsdóttir whom I’m working a book about inspires it. Some of you may recognize the coat in question for having admired it at some shows and exhibitions I was participating in. Now is the opportunity to try your hands on the lace stitch pattern before you can knit the challenging full sized one! But the book won’t be out before the end of 2012 so you will have to be patient!”

The adorable accessories (scarf, mittens and hat) were made by Hélène’s daughters, Theodóra, 8 years old, and Sylvia, 9 years old: they are perfect little projects to teach your daughter or grand-child how to knit or to learn Magic-loop!

Theodóra is a charming little doll designed by Hélène and that the poem by Theodóra Thorodssen, “Ten charming little meys” inspired. She gets new pieces of clothes regularly. She has friends and family and comes alive in The Adventures of Theodóra, shorts stories written by Harpa Jonsdottir.

Pssst., a little secret…Theodóra and Olivia are best friends in the adventures of Theodóra but in real life too!

The designers

Muir and Osborne got famous when Lady Diana made an appearance wearing a sweater they designed, with a black sheep. Sally and Joanna have since then continued extending their wide range of luxury cashmere sweaters and are along side publishing pattern books for their doggy friends. Their very last book, “Best in show” (Collins & Brown, 2010), features adorable knitted miniatures of many different dog breeds.

Muir and Osborne website: www.muirandosborne.co.uk

Hélène Magnússon likes to put a modern twist on traditions. She is best known for her research into the traditional Icelandic intarsia that was mostly seen in knitted insoles in the past centuries. Her book, Icelandic knitting: using Rose Patterns is available in three languages. She is a French native but a true Icelandic knitter and has an Icelandic family. Hélène abandoned a law career in Paris for the love of Icelandic nature. She worked as a mountain guide for many years in Iceland and studied textile and fashion design at the Iceland Academy of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited in numerous countries and her patterns appear in many publications. Under the label The Icelandic Knitter, she publishes the little online magazine dedicated to the Icelandic knitting heritage and organises knitting tours to Iceland.

Size: one size to fit doll Theodóra 35 cm/ 14,5 “ tall
Dog: length 18 cm / ; height to top of head 16 cm/ 12.5”
Lace coat: 12 cm/ (necline) x 38 cm/ (at the largest part) x 19 cm/ (height)

Needles: Circular needles (using magic loop) and/or double ended needles in sizes 3, 3.5 and 4 mm/ US 3,4 and 6; crochet hook 3 mm/US D3

Gauges:
10×10 cm/4×4”= 24 sts and 32 rows in st st on needle 3 mm/US 3 using Léttlopi
10×10 cm/4×4”= 27 sts and 32 rows in st st on needle 3 mm/US 3 using Einband-Loðband

Yarn and material: Léttlopi from Ístex, 100% pure Icelandic wool, light spun, medium weight, 50g/skein, 50g = ca.100m/109 yds

MC #9427 (brown): 20 g (dog)
CC #0051 (white): 20 g (dog) 10 g (accessories) = 30 g
#9420 (blue): 10 g (accessories)
Einband-Loðband from Ístex, 70% Icelandic wool, 30% wool,1-ply worsted, 50gr/skein, 50g = ca. 225m/246 yds:

# 0059 (black): a tiny amount for eyes and muffle
# 0008 (blue): 25 g (lace coat)
Stuffing: carded Icelandic wool, white, about 25 g
Darning needle, markers.

Techniques: intarsia knitting, knitting in the round, short rows, lace.

Pattern: once you’ve made your payment, you will receive an email with instructions on how to download the pattern. It comes as a PDF file. We don’t send pattern by snail mail.

Errata: a mistake was unfortunately found in this pattern. Look for the errata.