Doodad was the first doll I ever made.
At 2 1/2 Sage told me what he wanted in a doll (curly blonde hair and blue eyes, like Sage at the time, and dark brown skin).
Before the doll was even done Sage carried him everywhere in his sling. It took me weeks to get that doll away from him to put on his crazy blonde hair.
I love Doodad.
When Sage had outgrown his doll he gave him to Lupine. But he never got much love from Lupine. Lupine loves fancy. And Doodad, quite simply, was not fancy.
He was even given away to a young friend and after some time came home again.
And then Lupine decided that Doodad was a girl. Named Rose.
And he started wearing dresses and coming to tea parties.
But the hair.
The hair really bothered Lupine. I thought it was fabulous and actually dreaded replacing it. (No pun intended, since those blond locks had long ago turned into dreads.)
Last week we were clearing out a few unloved playthings and I held up Doodad/Rose.
"Can we let her go?" I asked.
"NO! She needs new hair. Long, straight, black hair."
And so I went for it. Right then and there.
First we chose some soft llama yarn from my stash and I got to work. When I say soft, take the softest yarn you've ever felt. It's even softer.
First (and yes, with a heavy heart), I cut away Doodad's old hair.
Next I crocheted a little wig from black yarn.
I don't know how to crochet so my technique is terrible, but since the wig would be hidden beneath the longer hair it didn't matter.
(That was my plug for shaking off your inner perfectionist!)
Using a crochet hook I began looping hair latch-hook style through the foundational wig. Lupine kept making off with her during the process declaring that she was "already the most beautiful doll in the world" and that she couldn't bear to let me finish.
Every few hours I'd wrangle her away and put on a few more strands.
While I'd like to add a bit more hair, I'm calling her done.
Doodad (perhaps the world's first trans-gender Waldorf doll) is a completely different doll.
She is very much a girl, and renamed "Sapphire Rose". An elegant name for our most elegant doll.
As for Lupine she is completely smitten by this doll. She hasn't left my girl's side since I looped in the last strand of hair.
As for me, I'm rather smitten by her as well. To create something completely new out of something old? That's what it's all about.
Success!
