Sweet dreams - Lily and May dolls

Sweet Dreams - Lily and May Dolls by Claire Fairall

What is Being Made

This knitting pattern creates a pair of 38cm (15 inch) tall dolls named Lily and May, complete with coordinating clothing and accessories. The design includes two fully articulated dolls with knitted bodies, along with a complete wardrobe featuring a nightdress and pajama set. This is an intermediate-level knitting project ideal for crafters looking to create heirloom-quality soft dolls with detailed garments.

Doll Construction and Design

Each doll stands 38cm tall (not including hair) and is constructed using knitting techniques in the round and flat. The dolls feature a realistic human form with separate body sections that are knitted individually and then assembled. The design includes detailed shaping for the head, torso, arms, and legs, allowing for a proportionate and poseable finished doll.

Clothing Components

The pattern includes three distinct garment pieces designed to fit the 38cm dolls:

• Nightdress: A charming sleepwear piece requiring 34g of yarn
• Pajama Top: A coordinating upper garment using 20g of yarn
• Pajama Bottoms: Matching lower garment also requiring 20g of yarn

Knitting Techniques Used

This intermediate project employs fundamental and intermediate knitting techniques throughout. Crafters will use cast-on methods to begin pieces, stocking stitch (alternating knit and purl rows) as the primary fabric base, and various shaping techniques including increases and decreases to form three-dimensional doll parts. The pattern incorporates knit-front-and-back (kfb) increases for gradual shaping and knit-two-together (k2tog) and slip-slip-knit (ssk) decreases for tapering sections.

Stitches and Abbreviations

The pattern uses standard knitting abbreviations and stitches including:

• k = knit stitch
• p = purl stitch
• kfb = knit front and back (increase)
• k2tog = knit two stitches together (decrease)
• ssk = slip, slip, knit (decrease)
• YO = yarn over (creates decorative openings)
• stst = stocking stitch (knit one row, purl one row)

Materials and Yarn Requirements

This project uses DK weight yarn, specifically recommended as Paintbox Yarns Simply DK or any similar DK or worsted weight yarn. The total yarn requirements are broken down by component:

• Skin tone yarn: 33g (approximately 98m/107yds)
• White yarn for underwear: 12g (approximately 36m/39yds)
• Brown yarn for hair: 25g (approximately 74m/81yds)
• Nightdress yarn: 34g (approximately 100m/110yds)
• Pajama top yarn: 20g (approximately 60m/65yds)
• Pajama bottoms yarn: 20g (approximately 60m/65yds)

Needles and Tension

The pattern requires two different needle sizes to accommodate the different yarn weights used in different sections. 3.25mm (UK10/US3) needles are used for the doll body pieces, while 4mm (UK8/US6) needles are used for the clothing garments. The recommended tension is 28 stitches by 28 rows over a 10cm stocking stitch square, which should be checked before beginning to ensure proper doll and garment sizing.

Skill Level and Project Scope

Rated as an intermediate difficulty project, this pattern is suitable for knitters with foundational skills who are ready to tackle more complex shaping and multi-piece construction. The combination of doll assembly and fitted gar