Nesting Dolls with a pinch of Yarn

I have a "slight" passion for Matryoshka dolls. (aka Russian nesting or stacking dolls)

They are by far the most popular Russian national souvenir and I'm facinated by them!

I love that they have pretty much taken on a life of their own.

If you Goggle them you will find not only the traditional style, but also more retro ones. I've even seen ones painting like Star Wars characters!

The first nesting doll was made in 1890 in Moscow. Apparently the name, Matryoshka was a popular female Russian name. The name also stems from the Latin words meaning "mother." That's why the first and largest of the dolls is thought to be the "healthy & portly" looking mother of the large peasant family :)

L'bug and I went to a place in Chesterfield, called the Painting Paw.

It was awesome! They sell unglazed pottery which you paint, they fire, and then after a few days you pick up your finished product. They have everything you can image... I was very close to selecting a fun garden gnome with a mushroom, when I happened to glance up and what do you think I saw??

Russian Nesting Dolls of course!

It took me two trips to finish painting them. L'bug actually did really well with letting me work. Thank you Jesus for Puffs & Mum-mums! I tried to get her interested in helping me paint them, but she only wanted to eat the paint brush... which I thought wasn't the best of ideas.

So, I ended up holding her hand so that she could make a few brush strokes :)

I would highly recommend going!

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I'm alwasy making things for L'bug and I would say that my house is tidy and clean, however I have been known to misplace things from time to time. (just ask my husband *hehe)

Anyways, the other day I was looking for a pair of L'bug's booties.

I looked high and low to no avail!

So, I was going to make her a new pair, however the pattern I used was a collection of a couple of patterns - basically I made it up - and when I realized that I hadn't written the "new" pattern down... I was so annoyed at myself for loosing the booties in the first place that I started looking for a new pattern.

(new patterns always make me smile)

To be budget aware I looked at crochet pattern central for a free one, but I didn't like anything they had.

Next stop... etsy :) :) :)

HELLLOOO CUTE SHOES! and a happy mamma :)

I found this pattern from Hook Candy - love it! And if you crochet, the pattern is totally worth it! Her format is easy to read and has detailed pictures!

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I'm throwing in this last picture because it cracked me up, and you can kind of get a feel for how L'bug plays while I'm crafting :)

Enjoy!