.3524 Moulton Crafts & Hobbies/Needlework /Knitting From the very first stitch, you’ll love combining knitting and amigurumi as you “choose your own adventure” to create an endless array of original, adorable, and sometimes-quirky dolls. Stubble maid, or vampire Knit your way through 9 menus of options • for feet, legs, torso, arms and hands, head, Cool sweater! alternate appendages (wings, tails, and ears), clothing, removable footwear, and accessories Packed with step-by-step instructions, photos, and charts, you’ll get everything you need to make a cast of characters to keep as pals or give as gifts. So grab your knitting needles, unleash your imagination, and get ready to Knit This Doll! NICKI MOULTON is an up-and-coming Jeans with holes ﬁber artist. Her original patterns have been featured in art shows, and two of her knitted dolls have become part of a permanent collection at the Swedish American Museum in Chicago. Cover Photographs: Jodi Bratch Cover Design: José Almaguer $19.99 USA/$23.99 CAN Combat boots Knit This Doll! A Step-by-Step Guide to Knitting Your Own Customizable Amigurumi Doll A Step-by-Step Guide to Knitting Your Own Customizable Amigurumi Doll a basic 15-inch doll with customiz• Create able skin tone and hair from whimsical alterations that turn • Pick your doll into a cat, dog, bear, faun, mer- Swedish ski cap Knit This Doll! Let the Adventure Begin! Nicki Moulton 9780470624401_RB.pdf Knit This Doll! 01_9780470624401-ffirs.indd i 2/3/11 7:08 PM Violet Sydney Seamus Jonathan Antoinette Nicki Milo Greg Max Tabitha Judith Angelica 01_9780470624401-ffirs.indd ii 2/3/11 7:08 PM Knit This Doll! A Step-by-Step Guide to Knitting Your Own Customizable Amigurumi Doll By Nicki Moulton 01_9780470624401-ffirs.indd iii 2/3/11 7:09 PM Knit This Doll!: A Step-by-Step Guide to Knitting Your Own Customizable Amigurumi Doll Copyright © 2011 by Nicki Moulton. All rights reserved. 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Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Credits Senior Editor Roxane Cerda Senior Project Editor Donna Wright Technical Editor Sharon Turner Copy Editor Marylouise Wiack Editorial Manager Christina Stambaugh Publisher Cindy Kitchel Vice President and Executive Publisher Kathy Nebenhaus Library of Congress Control Number: 2011921780 Interior Design ISBN: 978-0-470-62440-1 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-470-92252-1 (ebk) Lissa Auciello-Brogan Printed in the United States of America Cover Design 10987654321 José Almaguer Book production by Wiley Publishing, Inc. Composition Services Note to the Readers: Due to differing conditions, tools and the individual skills, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. assumes no responsibility for any damages, injuries suffered, or losses incurred as a result of following the information published in this book. Before beginning any project, review the instructions carefully, and if any doubts or questions remain, consult local experts or authorities. Because codes and regulations vary greatly, you always should check with authorities to ensure that your project complies with all applicable local codes and regulations. Always read and observe all of the safety precautions provided by manufacturers of any tools, equipment, or supplies, and follow all accepted safety procedures. Photography Jodi Bratch Nicki Moulton’s original patterns are intended for non-commercial, personal use only and may not be used in the production of goods for sale in any quantity. 01_9780470624401-ffirs.indd iv 2/3/11 7:09 PM For Greg, who will always have my heart, no matter how far apart we are. Acknowledgments None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for a suggestion from my sister, Michelle Timian, that I try finding an agent to publish my knitted doll patterns instead of just selling them online. Without her advice, encouragement and support, this book never would have happened. I have endless amounts of gratitude for her. My husband, Greg, deserves more words of thanks than I could express. We have lived one incredible and crazy journey together, and my continued creativity is a product of his love. My mom, who first got me into knitting, always encouraged me to keep developing my craft and never hesitated to help me build my yarn stash! Without those first knitting instructions, this book never would have happened. My agent, Kate Epstein, has been so extraordinarily helpful through this exciting path of getting my first book published! She has been the most wonderful advocate for me, and I always ended my conversations with her feeling like a million bucks. Roxane Cerda and Donna Wright at Wiley were absolutely the most wonderful editors a person could ask to work with. Sometimes I wondered if their enthusiasm for this project rivaled my own. They were always on call to answer my questions and doubts and made the process of book publication a joy. Last but certainly not least, I must give immense amounts of recognition to my technical editor, Sharon Turner, who had the Olympian task of setting my patterns—most of which were little more than oddly abbreviated notes to myself—into a legible format that anyone could read. If you got through this book and completed a doll, it’s all thanks to her talent. 01_9780470624401-ffirs.indd v 2/3/11 7:09 PM Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv Basic Doll Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Feet Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Plain Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Sneakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Combat Boots . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Cowboy Boots . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Mary Janes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Snow Boots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Socks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Flip-flops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Legs Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Legs for Pants and Jeans . . . 24 Legs for Shorts . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Tights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Underwear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Pants, Shorts, and Skirts Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Pants and Jeans . . . . . . . . . . 30 Shorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Skirts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Torso Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 T-Shirt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 V-Neck Sweater . . . . . . . . . . 40 Turtleneck Sweater . . . . . . . 42 Stripes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 02_9780470624401-ftoc.indd vi Repeating Designs . . . . . . . 45 Single Designs . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Hockey Sweater . . . . . . . . . . 48 Polo Shirt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 2/3/11 7:09 PM Head and Face Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Head with Hair Template. . . 54 Hairstyles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Nose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Facial Hair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Freckles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Makeup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Fangs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Hand and Arm Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Hand with Thumb . . . . . . . . 70 Hand with Fingers. . . . . . . . 71 Arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Sleeves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Mythical Creatures and More Anatomical Features . . . 82 Mermaid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Fauns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Angel Wings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Tails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Cat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Dog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Bear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Accessories Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 Messenger Bag . . . . . . . . . . 104 Purses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106 Studded Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Beanie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Floppy Hat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Swedish Ski Cap . . . . . . . . . 111 Scarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Ice Skates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Hoodie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Cardigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Piercings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139 02_9780470624401-ftoc.indd vii 2/3/11 7:09 PM 02_9780470624401-ftoc.indd viii 2/3/11 7:09 PM 02_9780470624401-ftoc.indd ix 2/3/11 7:10 PM 02_9780470624401-ftoc.indd x 2/3/11 7:10 PM 02_9780470624401-ftoc.indd xi 2/3/11 7:10 PM 02_9780470624401-ftoc.indd xii 2/3/11 7:10 PM 02_9780470624401-ftoc.indd xiii 2/3/11 7:10 PM Introduction have always had a love/hate relationship with dolls. When my mom used to give me dolls as a child, I would constantly try to modify them to fit characters I made up. I’d cut off their hair, rip up their clothes . . . even try to draw on them. This tended to frustrate both me and my mom—my efforts never gave me the doll I wanted and my mom spent a fortune on toys that I ended up destroying. I loved my dolls, but I never found a doll that fit exactly what I had in mind. It wasn’t until I picked up knitting that I realized that, with a little creativity, I could create anything I wanted— even dolls. After years of developing my own patterns, I can show you how to create your own dolls as well. The format of this book might be unlike anything you’ve seen before. It’s not a static book of patterns where I tell you which character I think you should knit, but one that will encourage you to explore your own creativity by picking and choosing from different options (or menus) in this book. Instead of one pattern with instructions on how to make one thing, there are a whole slew of patterns that you can mix-and-match to make anyone you want. And as crazy as it might seem, every doll in this book is based on the Basic Doll Pattern (starting on page 2). You don’t have to start with the Basic Doll Pattern—you can build your own doll by jumping from menu to menu. But if you get lost or confused, I Jonathan Head with hair template, p. 54 Hairstyle, p. 55 Hand with fingers, p. 71 V-neck sweater, p. 40 Stripes, p. 43 Jeans, p. 30 Messenger bag, p. 104 Sneakers, p. 13 03_9780470624401-flast.indd xiv 2/3/11 7:10 PM Keeping Track! My doll is going to have… ____________________________ feet, found on page ___________ ____________________________ legs, found on page ___________ ___________________________ torso, found on page ___________ ____________________________ face, found on page ___________ ___________________________ arms, found on page ___________ __________________________ extras, found on page ___________ 03_9780470624401-flast.indd xv 2/3/11 7:11 PM