FO: Dolly for Daria

Now that I have a niece of my own, I had to make her a fancy Christmas gift :) I made hers first since I had to ship it out and get it to her in time for Christmas. She's still tiny with very few (voiced) opinions, so this was basically a case of "what pattern do I want to make?"

This is the Nightfall Doll by Susan B. Anderson. I bought this pattern when it was released in October of 2021 because it was just adorable and I knew I would make it someday. Enter a new niece and I knew it was time :) I loved the purple color scheme of the example doll, so I hunted my stash to find something similar. I used I Love This Yarn in Grape, Vanna's Choice in Beige, and Everyday Soft Worsted in Snow White - all acrylic and all leftover from many other projects.

The pattern includes 3 different design options - the body can be a plain solid color, have stripes, or have this cute colorwork. You can see which I went for :) I always want to make more colorwork, but being a tight knitter, I'm not very great at it. You can see that I started out much tighter and was able to loosen up as I went. It wasn't so obvious while knitting it, but the stuffing showed the truth lol. I still like it though.

My favorite moment in making this was the hands. You make the whole body and then pick up and knit the arms, then switch colors to make the little hands. I forgot to bring the hand color with me the morning I finished the first arm, so I just put the opening on some of my extra dpns as stitch holders while I knit the other arm to maximize my time. The result was this ninja wizard, lol. Not quite the cuddly appearance I was going for, though.

I added a jingly cat toy to the stomach to add a little more interest for my 2 month old niece. I hope this becomes a toy that grows up with her and she enjoys through the years.