Knitting the Queen

I saw this book a couple of years ago and thought it was so cute but just recently decided to take a break from knitting my other things to make the Queen and her corgis.

 

It's written by Fiona Goble and from the book, "Knit Your Own Royal Wedding". Kate and William's - not the other three. So you know it's a few years old but still you can knit the members of the royal family. You don't have to do the wedding.

 

I just wanted to knit the Queen and her corgis because I was already knitting some doggies on a larger scale.

I did a two inch yarn sample to get the size right on these. I don't always have the right weight yarn in all the colors I want so sometimes I split my yarn into different plies to match the pattern scale. It was pretty important with these patterns because the book comes with a cardboard backdrop of the balcony so you can pose your dolls after you finish them.

I separated 4 ply cotton into 2 ply and had to go down to a size 1 knitting needles to get them just right. The shoes are knitted from embroidery floss so if you don't get the scale right on these then your shoes won't fit the dolls. Nowhere in the book did I see that the finished size was about 7" tall for the Queen but that's what mine measured out to be.

It does take time to sew all the pieces together and finish them out with all the little details but it's so worth it. It took me about 3 days to make her. I did go shopping twice for supplies and do my dishes... and a few loads of laundry and mop the floors - so I didn't spend more than a few hours at a time working on her but you could probably finish her in about two days if you had nothing else to do or were really driven... or faster than me and know where all your supplies are.

I had to stop several times to gather and collect my supplies to finish her. I had to find my little pearl gems... I had to drag out my embroidery floss... didn't have an old earring for her brooch so I had to go buy a charm... find the chalk to color her cheeks... had to stop and search for gold seed beads... etc.

I love everything about her and yes, I'm a royal watcher! I think they are much more interesting than the past and present few presidents we've had to contend with in the last decade.

I love making the little hats! I dug out some old faux trim fur and fiber yarns when I made art dolls and the fibers are so gorgeous they look perfect on these hats. Mostly mohair and eyelash yarn with viscose fibers and fancy ribbon trims. Perfect for fancy hats! So I thought instead of a balcony scene wouldn't it be cute to make the Queen's hat store? She could go shopping with her corgis... yes she could. She's the Queen, she can do what she wants, right?

UPDATE: Here's the first Corgi...