Whoa...not a pretty sight

Well, I am experiencing a steep learning curve here. I finished the first prototype Waldorf doll and it was not a pretty sight!

Think Crash Dummies: The head was not all chubby and round and curvy, but rather rectangular -

I had made the head skin too tight so it was squishing up the stuffing too firmly. However, I do like the positioning of the features, but I will do slightly darker mouth next time.

The, doll sat very nicely in her own, so I had got the levels of stuffing right:

I had wanted a nice, rounded, huggable body, but the pattern left me with a doll body more suited to a male Olympic swimmer - all muscular shoulders and slim hips!

Strangely, though, I have not been obsessing about the mistakes. I have been doing lots more research and have felt confident enough to actually make my own pattern up.  However, that will have to wait until I can get more doll coloured thread.

In the meantime, 

I have started on these little knitted gnomes in the Waldorf style. They are made out of cotton and merino wool yarn, and they are stuffed with wool:

This is a very tactile little doll and knitted up quickly. I would have liked a collection of them in my class when I was teaching reception.

These are a couple more colours I will be knitting up. Although it doesn't show up in the photo, the red is a lovely mellow colour.

My concentration is not brilliant at the moment, so these little gnomes are ideal.