High Country Hiking Set

The High Country Hiking set is a big hit!   I love how versatile it is - the pants roll up to be capris, the hat changes from a sunhat to a rainhat....

I really like the t-shirt too, but my favourite parts of this set are the backpack and shoes!

The backpack can hold a lot!  But its major charm for me is all the teeny-tiny buckles and straps.  LOL  Seriously, it seems like it has all the fasteners of a full-size backpack!

The shoes are similarly realistic:

If it doesn't rain, Nieceling and I have plans to take Saila out for a short hike Wednesday and Thursday evening.  She says Saila can carry our snacks for us in her backpack!  ;)

Birthday Presents....

I made a couple Rainbow tunics for the Birthday Girl, with Saila modelling one here:

This is from the Ready for Spring Top and Tunic for 18 Inch American Girl Dolls pattern on Ravelry. I really enjoyed this one as it was simple, and very well written. I'm often knitting in ten-minute-bursts before the next interruption, so something that I can pick up and know where I am immediately is a boon. 

The other thing I really enjoyed about these was the yarn!  I've admired the Knitpicks Chroma for some time, but it's more expensive than my usual yarn.   So it was lovely to have an excuse to buy it!   I just love the gradual colour changes - there's no worrying about switching yarns, or weaving in 400 yarn ends when you finish, just smooth, cheerful colour.

Once the birthday presents are done, I will definitely be making Saila one of these to keep. :)

Here's what it looks like on a Journey Girl:

A little looser, but still good!   I also found that the pants I got the other day from Etsy fit the Journey Girls really, really well, much to my surprise.  :D

Saila's Settling In...

So Saila has arrived, been opened, and has tried on all her gear.  I have to say, I'm utterly thrilled with her!

I found her the most appealing of the dolls in the company photos, but in person she is so much prettier.  Look at those eyes!  Her outfit is very well made too.  The jeans are lined, the zipper on the vest works smoothly, there are working pockets... even the non-doll-person in the apartment was pleased with the quality.

Her hair is very nice - smooth, sleek, and with good coverage.  I  played around with her hair a bit and didn't run into any place where the wig cap showed through.  Coming from the land of BJD wigs, this is practically miraculous!  LOL

See?  Her hair braided easily, and I think it looks very realistic. You can also see that I quickly tried a few outfits on her.  The shirt is from an outfit from QTπ Doll Clothing on Etsy, which I quite like.  As I'd read ahead of time, it takes a bit of patience to get American Girl doll pants over the backside of the Maplelea dolls, but it's worth the extra minute!

For the first order, I only got one of Saila's official outfits, though I'd love to have more eventually.

The Katajjaq Giggles outfit is charming.   I really like the dress, which is simple, with just enough detail to be interesting.  Once she was out of her kamiik and into a different pair of shoes, she stands quite well, I found.  I had to try out the ability to "lock" her two hands together which makes for a cute pose.   I really like the shoes that came with this outfit;  I think they should go with just about any dress, and they are an excellent fit.  The silver detail looks like it's embroidered on, which is much nicer than the metal I thought they would be.

These dolls have a reputation for being hard to photograph, but I actually find the opposite with Saila, at least, so far.  Obviously, I have some practice to do, as they are very different from the Fairyland BJDs who are my usual subject, but I really think she is quite photogenic!

Who could resist that little face?  I was really impressed by the coat.  It's fully lined, and honestly it seems like a pretty perfect miniaturization of a real child's coat.