Working on Her Majesty

Once I found Fiona Goble's pattern for Queen Elizabeth, I knew I had to make at least one for someone I know would enjoy it. So I began following the pattern and much to my surprise Her Majesty has been coming together rather rapidly.

The pattern starts by making a doll underneath the dress. The arms and hands are knit as one unit; so are the feet and legs. There are two pieces for the body and head. Her eye pupils are small buttons and then a cream coloured chain is slipped around it. I used the blush from my makeup kit to colour her cheeks. Once all the pieces are sewn together and stuffed she looks like this:

Her Majesty without adornment

(Paul says this photo is disrespectful, so I only took one. Your Majesty, I did not intend to show you this way to be irreverent, it's just the way you came together.)

The hair was fun to knit and was done in one piece. The stockinette stitch (K 1 row, P 1 row) naturally curls and the pattern takes full advantage of this effect. Unlike the pattern, I put a hat on her head rather than a crown and I found in my stash just the perfect shade of blue for her dress as well as for her shoes and purse.

But like everything in life the devil's in the details. I have the Queen wearing pearl (small luminous beads I've used in the past for sugar crystals on my knitted doughnuts) as the necklace and earrings. The gold adornment for the shoes (yes, they are on her shoes) and necklace were found in a Loonie or Dollar store. I simply had to remove them from a string of beads and sew them in place.

Additionally, I have found a way to help support the Queen in a standing position. Using a short and relatively flat plastic jar covered by a knitted platform cover, I pushed bamboo skews through the bottom of the jar into her legs and up into her body. She appears to be standing on a small stage. I am pleased with the final product well enough that I intend to make another one.

Fiona's Queen Elizabeth

My Queen Elizabeth

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