Bouncing in

When Chloe and Max were visiting York in September 2020, they came across a little shop in The Shambles which had a delightful window display containing all sorts of interesting things. They spotted miniature dogs in the window, the Fox terrier in particular appealed to them. However at the time the coffee and antique shop was closed (it was early evening on a Sunday) so it wasn't possible to find out more. My daughter went back another day to see if the dogs were still there and they were. Sadly, since then with the second lockdown in November, the shop has closed permanently.

My photo of the 3 miniature dogs in the shop window.

My daughter's photo of the café & antique shop when it was open

My daughter's photo of the dogs in the window

On Christmas day, among many other lovely gifts under the tree (from a box of gifts my elder daughter posted to us), there was a small package for me to open and the little fox terrier bounced out of the wrappings. My friend Janet has a full sized live dog just like this miniature doggy, his name is Bouncer, so I decided to call the miniature dog Bouncer after Janet's pet.

Bouncer was interested in the ball

Bouncer jumped up towards Chloe

Chloe bent down to stroke Bouncer as Max tried to calm him down

Chloe and Max stroked the excited Bouncer 

Bouncer leapt into Chloe's arms

Chloe gave the wriggling Bouncer a cuddle before putting him down in Max's lap

Bouncer calmed down a little with Max sitting quietly on the floor

Chloe gave Bouncer his ball

Bouncer started chasing his ball

Bouncer and his ball

Later, Bouncer met baby Theo who loves dogs (his favourite Dollydoodles sleepsuit has Snoopy and Woodstock on it). Theo is the Sasha Baby Woolly which my younger daughter won in the 2017 Sasha Celebration Weekend raffle.

baby Theo and a bouncing Bouncer

A slightly calmer Bouncer with baby Theo

I have no idea who made the miniature Bouncer (there is no maker label) and sadly the shop in York has now closed permanently. Even his little ears are posable, he is a dog with real character.

Chloe and Max discover York

 After 6 months of no outings or nights away from home due to the pandemic, it was strange to venture out and travel to another city. However some items needed to be delivered to my elder daughter who had just moved from one singing job to another, now that choral singing is permitted again (under strict health and safety conditions), so I braved the motorway and took a pair of Kruselings for the journey.

It was a cool, grey Sunday morning in late September when Chloe and Max found York Minster and the heart of the city.

York Minster and the heart shape in the West window

Max and Chloe found York Minster on the map

The real York Minster towered above them as they stood on the bronze map

On the south side of York Minster, the Christian Roman emperor Constantine the Great (274-337) languished on his seat of power, the sign nearby explained that he had been proclaimed Roman Emperor nearby, in 306.

Max and Chloe stood at the base of the ancient Roman column which was found inside the south transept of the Minster in 1969 during excavations.

Max and Chloe were impressed by the ancient Roman column

The Roman column towered above Max and Chloe

Inside York Minster the rows of chairs for the congregation had all been spaced well apart and faced the temporary altar at the West end, so the congregation would sit with their backs to the choir.

The York Minster choristers, songmen (lay clerks) and choral scholars have to sing in a much larger space than they normally take up, 2 metres apart, with their own music stands and currently without the pipe organ which is undergoing restoration. However at least they are allowed to sing again after 6 months of no choral singing in churches and they made a wonderful sound.

Max and Chloe were impressed with a beautiful illuminated map of York Minster in an ornate carved frame.

The illuminated map of York Minster with Max and Chloe 

The York city wall provided some wonderful views of the city and York Minster

Max and Chloe admired the view of York Minster from the city wall.

At Monk Bar (a large gate in the wall) was a model shop with some wonderful displays

The Tour of Porkshire (Yorkshire) featured pigs riding motorcycles!

York has Christmas all year round because it has a branch of the famous Kathe Wohlfahrt shop, housed in an ancient Tudor building (1434)

The window display of the Christmas shop was stunning

Max and Chloe particularly liked this miniature Children of the World music box

Some of the wooden Christmas decorations were truly astonishing

They could not resist visiting The Shambles, a very old Tudor street in York

 

Chloe and Max discovered a miniature Mongolian Ger (Yurt) in the room where they were staying overnight. It was a bit too small for them to creep inside.

The miniature Mongolian Ger even had the samovar for making tea to welcome guests

The two Kruselings enjoyed their visit to York and its famous Cathedral to hear live choral singing once more.

Llama jacket for Maciak and Kruseling dolls

I enjoy doing miniature knitting. I've previously designed a miniature sweater/cardigan and hat for my Heather Maciak dolls Jenny and Lexie and shared the patterns on Ravelry (sweater and hat).

Recently in a Sasha doll group on Facebook, my friend Janet challenged us to a competition to knit Rosemary Shortell's Llama jacket for Sasha dolls. I commented in the group that I really wanted to scale down the pattern for my miniature dolls and didn't have the time to knit the Sasha version for the competition deadline as I was studying. During February half term in a short trip to Belgium with my family I was able knit in the car and channel tunnel journey as my cousin did the driving, so I got started on the Llama jacket (I had scaled down the pattern, using my previous spreadsheet chart for the Maciak doll sweater to get the sizing right). The jacket and hat is knitted with 2 ply yarn and 1.5mm needles.

With a short break in between courses in March, the big change to working at home and social distancing with the global pandemic raging (resulting in cancelled examinations for my younger daughter and some evenings which we have used for family movie nights), I have taken the opportunity to do some evening knitting.

Lexie looks pleased with the result (and Chloe the Kruseling has tried it on too, the sleeve cuffs need an extra row of rib for the Kruseling dolls).

Theo (wearing a Rosie Laird sweater), Louisa (wearing a Janet Myhill-Dabbs outfit) and Lexie wearing her Llama jacket and earflap hat

Lexie wearing her Llama jacket and earflap hat

Side view of Lexie in the Llama jacket and hat

Theo, Louisa and the back view of the Llama jacket

Theo, Louisa, Lexie joined by Sofia in the sweater I knitted for Lexie in 2016

Chloe the Kruseling in the Llama jacket and hat

Chloe in the Llama jacket and hat

Chloe and Sofia the Kruselings in my miniature knitting for Lexie

Lexie in the Llama outfit

Lexie in the Llama outfit

Lexie in the Llama outfit

Back view of the Llama jacket and hat, on Lexie

The pattern is available on Ravelry at https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/llama-jacket-for-jenny--lexie

CC BY SA NC 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ DollMum http://dollmum.blogspot.co.uk/

This pattern may be used and adapted for non-commercial purposes only without contacting DollMum. If you wish to use it for commercial purposes (e.g. if
you wish to sell what you make from the pattern) you must contact DollMum at dollmum@yahoo.co.uk for permission and a fee may be charged

Christmas in Norwich

This year we had a few days away from home over Christmas as we were visiting my elder daughter in Norwich where she is currently fulfilling a singing role. We took a potted Christmas tree, some lights and decorations to use in the Air BnB we had booked for our stay. I also took the Kruselings because they are small, portable and pose-able.

Sofia was very excited about Christmas

On Christmas Eve we attended the Christmas Procession (nine lessons & carols) service during the afternoon in Norwich Cathedral. Sofia and Michael came too. After the carol service (which was wonderful - the music was glorious), the Kruselings explored the Cathedral.

Our view of the Choir area and organ just before the Christmas Procession service on Christmas Eve

Michael and Sofia in the choir stalls

Michael and Sofia walking along the choir stalls

The Nativity scene in the nave of Norwich Cathedral on Christmas Eve

Michael and Sofia peered through the railings at the Nativity Scene

Sofia and Michael with a Christmas Floral decoration and an angel in Norwich Cathedral

The Christmas Angels were much bigger than Sofia and Michael 

The Advent wreath, Christmas trees and Nativity scene in the nave of Norwich Cathedral

The advent wreath suspended from the ceiling of the Cathedral was so pretty 

The Advent wreath was decorated with lots of beautiful baubles

In the cloisters Michael and Sofia stared up at the floodlit spire of Norwich Cathedral on Christmas Eve

At the AirBnB some Christmas tree decorating had been happening. The Kruselings family had grown somewhat(!).

The original 6 Kruselings consist of 4 girls (Luna - dark hair, Sofia - brown hair, Chloe - red hair, Joy - darker skin and curly hair and Vera - blond hair) and a blond boy (Michael). In my view there are never enough boy dolls made. It worries me that toy manufacturers perpetuate the idea that dolls are only to be played with by girls, stereotyping the types and genders of dolls produced along the lines of 'only girls will play with baby or child dolls' and the only time boys will be interested in dolls is when they play with 'action man' (the complement to Barbie or Sindy dolls), therefore most dolls made tend to be girl dolls and are sold in 'pink' aisles in toy stores. Some manufacturers are starting to realise that this creates a very unrealistic view of the world and limits the story lines which children can create with their dolls (the real world is not one gender only) so are starting to add boys to their commercial collections, but there are still are not enough boy doll characters made in proportion to the range of girl doll characters.

In a previous post I explained how I turned a Luna Kruseling into a boy for the Myanmar trip by cutting his hair.

I've gone further though - I subsequently bought the following to bring my Kruselings collection to 10 dolls of 5 girls and 5 boys:

• a second 'Sofia' (in a different outfit) and cut the hair to a shorter style and redressed and renamed the doll (Max)
• two 'Chloe' dolls (in different outfits) and cut the hair of one to a shorter style, then redressed and renamed the doll (Joshua)
• two 'Joy' dolls (in different outfits) and cut the hair of one to a wild shorter style, then made the boy a special outfit to commemorate a recent important sporting achievement for South African rugby and renamed the boy (Kolisi)
• the blond 'Vera' doll in her party dress to complement the blond haired 'Michael'

Michael and Chloe decorate the doll sized Christmas tree

Joshua and Vera decorate the doll sized Christmas tree

Joshua and Vera

Max, Joshua and Vera

Zarni San, camel and Thet Khin relaxing on Christmas Eve 

Max, Joshua, Vera, Michael, Chloe and Sofia with the Christmas tree

I had bought Joy in her baseball outfit as I liked the detail, the outfit emphasises that Kruselings are very pose-able.

When the South African rugby team won the World Cup in 2019, although I'm not especially interested in rugby, I was inspired to commemorate this milestone (the third time SA have won the Championship) by making the 2019 team outfit in miniature. So I bought a second Joy (in the casual outfit with a yellow hoodie) and cut the doll's hair.

I made the shirt (and painted the badges on with fabric paint), the shorts, a pair of knitted socks and some rugby boots (Kruselings plastic shoes don't fit over the knitted socks). I bought an SA rugby ball key ring which was the perfect size for the scale. I named the doll Kolisi, which is the surname of the SA rugby team captain (Siya Kolisi), it resembles his young son more than it does him, as it aims to epitomise and celebrate how SA rugby has moved on from the days of apartheid SA when it was a whites only game.

Kolisi in his SA rugby shirt, with painted badges on his right shoulder and chest

Kolisi in his miniature SA rugby shirt, showing the painted badges on the chest and left shoulder

Close up of Kolisi's miniature SA rugby ball

Kolisi the Kruseling in his SA rugby outfit

Kolisi and Joy - the sporty Kruselings - in Norwich at Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas in Norwich (I attended both choral services on Christmas Eve and both services on Christmas Day in Norwich Cathedral, we sang with members of the Cathedral Choir at Norwich Open Christmas at lunchtime on Christmas Day and enjoyed our own dinner in the Air BnB in the evening when we finally unwrapped our gifts after 2 days of superb music).

My ever patient younger daughter setting up the Kruselings for their photo shoot in Norwich Cathedral