A Little Golden find

Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Child's Garden of Verses' is a favourite of mine and I have a small collection of them. I'm always looking out for more so was delighted to find this Little Golden Book in a thrift shop a couple of weeks ago. The book was printed in 1972 and has beautiful illustrations by Eloise Wilkin.

I love all R.L.S. poems but the one entitled 'Rain' seems particularly suitable for the summer we've had here in north-west England

I thought I'd show you illustrations by four different artists from four of my books. They all depict the 'Rain' poem.

The rain is raining all around

Eloise Wilkin chose to illustrate the first line with a little girl and her dog watching the rain falling on the street outside the window (poor dolly doesn't look too happy does she!)

Below is the same poem illustrated by Tasha Tudor who chose the second line

It falls on field and tree,

Hilda Boswell chose the third the line

It rains on the umbrellas here,

And finally, Brian Wildsmith worked his colourful magic on the fourth line

And on the ships at sea.

 

Returning to Little Golden Books . . . . . they are loved around the world and it's easy to see why. There are hundreds of titles to choose from and the books are the perfect size for even the smallest hands.

Merrily Ann has been a most welcome arrival in the playroom as she loves amusing the younger dollies and reading them stories. Jack and Jill are too young to read but it seems something has caught their attention in the bottom corner.

Meanwhile, Belinda Jane has been busy with other matters. I found her with a Jane Austen novel, a basket of knitting wool and some strawberries. What can she be up to? 

It turns out she's seen a very tempting blog post with a fantastic givaway. The items that you see in the picture with Belinda are not the giveaway but there is a connection. So do pop over to Millefeuilles and take a look.

Two new dolls

Thank you so much for the nice comments you left about my new dolly named Merrily Ann. That's her, sitting on the right. I've been working very hard to get her finished and thanks to a typically rainy August here in northern England I've made good progress.

If you are a knitter of dollies you might be pleased to hear that I've made a second doll as a friend for Merrily Ann. She has gorgeous auburn curls and the sweetest smile and is named Belinda Jane. That's her on the left.
Both dolls measure 45cm (18in) from head to toe so they will be the largest dolls in the playroom.

Belinda Jane wears a warm cardigan over a sleeveless top and skirt. Merrily Ann has a shorter cardigan worn over a dress and apron. All clothing (except shoes) can be removed.

The dolls are knitted in DK yarn on two needles. The patterns are easy to follow with plenty of pictures to guide knitters through the various stages. You will find the patterns for both dolls in my Dollytime Etsy shop. If you live in the UK, or wish to pay in pounds sterling, then you can purchase patterns from my UK shop.

My other dolls have already met Merrily Ann, but they know nothing about Belinda Jane so they are in for a big surprise .

Do you ever get the feeling you are being watched?

 It's impossible to keep anything secret round here!

Think I'd better go and restore order in the playroom!

The empty chair

Way back in June I wrote a post about the playroom chair. The dolls constantly complain that it is much too large for them and they would dearly love to have a large doll come to live with them. Someone who would be just the right size for the chair.

They set their heart on having Raggedy Ann. Nothing else would do apparently.

Although I was shown numerous pictures of Raggedy Ann I explained that I didn't think she would come to live in our playroom.

But the dolls didn't give up and last week they hatched a plan.

They placed a cosy blanket on the chair and every night they left a piece of cake with a glass of juice just in case Raggedy Ann should visit in the night. But of course nobody came.

But the little rascals didn't give up and yesterday morning Kate suddenly shouted loudly and everyone ran to see what had happened.

During the night someone had drunk the juice and eaten the cake (well most of it, there were just a few crumbs left).

And so last night, just before bedtime, the dolls placed their Raggedy Ann story book on the chair. More juice and a piece of fruit cake were placed alongside together with some smaller books that Raggedy Ann might like to read..

Oh my goodness! What a surprise they had this morning when they discovered this sweet doll sitting in the empty chair happily reading one of the story books.

They knew at once who it was and one by one they ran to greet her.

As you can imagine there has been great excitement in the playroom all day and the new doll, with an enormous smile on her face, has been surrounded by a large family of very happy dollies.

I think I can safely say that this little lady has come to stay.

She has such a big smile that everyone is certain she must be very merry.

And so, as she looks such a merry doll we have given her the name

Merrily Ann.

Note for knitters.

I'm hoping to get a knitting pattern written for Merrily Ann fairly soon. It should be in my Etsy shop by the end of August.