Emerging

Like a freakish butterfly emerging from its cocoon..





"Just taking a breather.."





I've adjusted the body shape some. This is the doll pattern I used to make Chloe last week. I shaped her sides and neck. Somehow I managed to attach her arms at an angle and she looks perpetually ready to either hug or dismember anyone in proximity.





Side by side, "I don't understand why my sister thinks I'm prettier, at least she has a face."





They both can sit, the new one a little better than Chloe. When I quick fixed the head to fit the neck, I didn't fix the whole seam, so her head's a bit pointy on back. No worries, that's what hair is for!

Faces

I often leave doll faces blank. It could be laziness, but I'm more fond of the idea that the doll needs to show her personality and sometimes I don't know what it is yet. I left the Olive and Archie dolls' faces blank for years, and one day MissB drew on hers and I just evened it out. The face is just right.

This doll is a replacement.. Years ago, I dismembered MissA's doll. I hadn't realized that it was so loved.. I'll really have to dig to find that post. Anyway, so I chopped up a doll for her pattern. I enlarged it, cut out the pieces, then had it tucked away to work on during TJ's guitar classes. Then TJ started riding his bike to class and my stitching remained unseen. Until last week. While Grandma (my MIL) was here, I came across the bag and stitched up the doll with the machine.

MissA was set to the task of drawing the doll's new face. She had several practice goes and came back with what she wanted: a unibrow. Oh dear.

Pasta

Since I've been off my feet, I've been an insomniac & just fatigued all day. My foot is finally feeling better. The bump near my toe joint (?) went down a day or two ago & I've been wanting to try this recipe for a while. It's been years since I made pasta!

Yes, I do prep work with the Little Guy on my back. He loves watching the mixer do its deed & has a much better view up there than on a chair where his fingers are at risk. This also happens to be the best way to get a tired baby to sleep when all needs are satisfied. I'm holding him. He's content, safe, in the conversation, and capable of seeing what's going on. After all, if I ignore him, I'm just a hair tug away! & I hate hair pulling!

So, pasta! The recipe is a basic egg pasta recipe, so perhaps the length of kneading time helps it more, or that substitutes not using the crank at the end. It does call for flavorings in the pasta, which most don't. I don't have the Italian pasta flour, so I'm trying this with cake flour (big no no? I don't know). If this doesn't go well, I'll give it a go with all-purpose. I like whole wheat, but figured that I need to learn the "art" before I get too crafty. Maybe I'll pull out the old pasta book I have & make green spinach pasta..

The girls are "doing teamwork" to work the dough. The dough seemed a bit dry, but with a good pressing, it's come together nicely. TJ put a stockpot of water on to boil & we'll be enjoying our "House-Made Pasta" in no time!

Delicious!