Admit it . You agree with me.  They do look like Sonny & Cher. Or, at least, she looks like Cher. It’s not just the hair. It’s that somewhat vacant “come hither” look in her eyes. Well, maybe I’ve just been living with this pair too long. They sit among my knitting books.

They are “Eclectic Ethnic Dolls,” a copyright 1992 Kristin Nicholas pattern released by Classic Elite Yarns. My pair used to be a large pile of Classic Elite Tapestry yarn, kitted up with the pattern booklet, all tucked into a wicker basket and wrapped in cellophane. The booklet says it’s “an adventuresome knitting project worked in Tapestry Wool Mohair from Classic Elite Yarns for experienced knitters.” Nicholas encouraged what she called “adventuresome” knitting and departure from patterns before lots of designers encouraged that. My bit of adventuresome was to add a colorful shawl. And the wild “Rasta” hair, complete with braids worked in. The earrings were my idea too.

In those days, Classic Elite had many of these kits, almost all worked up in Tapestry. They were all Nicholas’s signature colorful knits.  In my stash of patterns there’s: Peruvian Ch’ulla, Ethnic Gift Collection (Christmas stocking, farmers, chicken, cow, sheep and pig), Inspired Interiors (pillows and bolsters), Moroccan Fedoras, Vivaciously Vibrant Vests, Magnificent Mittens, Wild Wooly Headgear, and Whimsical Tea Cozies, Tea Box Covers, Trivets and French Press Coffee Cozies. I managed to work them all up, except for the vest and the pillows. In fact, I still have about 6 skeins of Tapestry in my stash from one of the kits. For many years my mom or her sister Joan would buy me one of the kits as a birthday or Christmas present.

All Nicholas’s booklets offer this back page advice: “Please do not photocopy these instructions. By doing so, you would jeopardize the employment of fellow knitters in yarn companies and in yarn shops throughout the U.S.A.” Good advice then, and now.

All fun knits. Fun memories too.