Fern and Flora - new dolls

Two new little dolls arrived in the playroom today.

The sun had been smiling on us all afternoon and the little sisters had decided to go for a walk in the wood to search for flowers to pop into their tiny baskets.

Not surprisingly their baskets had remained empty as our woodland flowers have yet to bloom.

So who were these little girls?

They both made a polite curtsy and introduced themselves as Fern and Flora.

But it is only February and surely much too cold for the two sisters to return to the wood. Kind Tilly was the first to ask if they'd like to live in the playroom with the other dolls. Fern looked very pleased with that suggestion.

At which point Kate couldn't resist giving little Flora a big welcoming hug.

In no time at all the newcomers had made themselves at home and were surrounded by lots of smiling friendly faces.

I've always loved Waldorf dolls with their plump cheeks and tiny noses but have never tried making a knitted version, until now. Fern and Flora are the result. Inspired by the Waldorf method of shaping heads, these little dolls have a shaped knitted inner head that is covered with an outer head.

If you are not familiar with the way Waldorf dollies are created then this method might sound complicated. But my step by step pattern is easy to follow and there are plenty of pictures to guide you. However, if creating chubby cheeked dollies in this way isn't for you then you can follow the same pattern and simply omit the head shaping (details given in the pattern).

You will find the pattern for Fern and Flora in my Dollytime Etsy shop