A Boy Doll Diary - The photo story about a man living with his boy doll

Dear Diary, Jesse :  On 31 December 2016, I wrote a post about Boy Story, a doll company working to breakdown stereotypes regarding which genders are allowed to play with dolls.  Since then, I decided to go one step further and show my support of their efforts by purchasing one of their boy dolls, Mason.  Rather than ordering through the company's website, I bought the doll directly from one of the retailers which sell them.  It seemed to be a good way to show the retail market that people want this kind of doll. Mason has been at my house, in his box, for quite a while now and I finally decided it was time to take him out of the box and to have a good look.  I'll share here my opinions on what I found. The Box The box is a nice presentation box with a book cover style lid. Inside the front cover are suggestions on how to play with Mason: The back of the box talks further about the possibilities of play with Mason. The Doll Ma...

Dear Diary, Hans :  Mein Vati has knitted some colourful waistcoats for me. Made with Peruvian Alpaca yarn. Made with NZ Merino wool. Made with Peruvian Baby Alpaca. Made with NZ Merino wool. Made with unknown knitting wool purchased at a charity shop. Made with unknown knitting wool purchased at a charity shop. "Look, Daddy, I'll knit while you sew." And yet, still no new trousers!  I'm going to hide the knitting needles in the hope he finds the sewing machine while searching for the needles.  

Dear Diary, Armand :  Everyone knows by now that I've had a severe accident and I'll never walk again unaided.  I'm an active kind of boy and this doesn't sit very well with me.  I asked Pops for a motorised chair so I can get around.  I had this in mind: But, I was more than willing to settle for something like this: And, this is what Pops bought for me: Not exactly what I had in mind.  But, never mind, it does come motorised: "Push faster, Adam!  Faster!" And, it's far preferable to this option: "I feel like a trundler of groceries!"

Dear Diary, Jesse:  Beware of temptation - it's always waiting around the corner to ambush a person.  No matter how strong the resolve to not buy another doll, here it goes again! While cruising on Pinterest where I thought I'd be safe, looking at Kathe Kruse dolls, I found one which interested me a lot. When I looked into it, I discovered that it was from an auction house and the doll was going up for auction in 30 days.  It seemed harmless enough and the opening bid was low enough, so I decided to watch it along with three other Kathe Kruse Deutsche Kind boy dolls.  Naturally, I thought that if he went at a reasonable price I'd bid and maybe win him.  I should have determined then what a "reasonable price" meant; the day of the auction I kept raising my reserve bid.  In the end, I won this doll for far more than I had ever planned to pay. That's ok because I liked him then and I really like him now. I'll come clean and confess that I have to fig...

Dear Diary, Jesse :  I have had the intention of keeping Hans' clothing more traditional and in keeping with the original outfits produced by Kathe Kruse.  I search the internet regularly, mostly Pinterest, to look for photos of original dolls.  Not long ago, I found this photo: Kathe Kruse made the dolls' clothing both in her factory and out-sourced it to the cottage industry.  For this reason, there are wide variations in the original clothing but the  high quality of the fabrics and their manufacture is consistent.  It is impossible to be 100% certain that this outfit is all original but given its overall look and feel, I would say it is.   Then, I happened on a pattern on Etsy for a very similar jacket, except it is done in a plain knit.  Naturally, I had to knit it for Hans' wardrobe. The pattern is easy to follow and the garment makes up quickly.  It is actually a combination of stockinette stitch plus garter stitch. ...