Claire Fairall

Feb 24, 20214 min read

Lilly and May's adventures with Dolly Mohair Yarn

I’ve been having a lot of fun getting to know Dolly Mohair yarn. This yarn is not your usual mohair- it’s spun specially for use in dolls wigs, so it does not shed fibres and you can create really cute hairstyles with it too.

Lilly and May's, and Billy and Joe's knitted hair seemed to me the perfect starting point to begin experimenting with Dolly Mohair yarn. Their hair is already knitted so I figured it would be simple to convert the style.

I used Wild Large loop Mohair from Little Oke Dolls for my first project, I liked the look of the Boucle yarn and thought it would work well and be fairly easy to knit. Thinking it would work in a similar way to DK yarn I just knitted the same pattern as usual- that did not work out well, It was HUGE and used nearly a whole ball of yarn.

So I did what I should have done at the start, and began researching how to use this lovely yarn.

There are some great tutorial online for using Dolly Mohair, however most seem to be for crochet wigs- I can crochet but I prefer to knit, fortunately before too long I found “Nestled under Rainbows” tutorial and after reading her lovely clear instructions I soon started on my second wig for Lilly doll.

Oh and in case you are wondering the yarn does rip back quiet well although the k2tog does need a little encouragement to undo.

Nestled under the Rainbows tutorial made adapting the stitch and row count very easy. And I used a lot less yarn! I had enough left over to knit her hair bunches too.

So here she is, Lilly doll with her curly fluffy wig

I used 1x 50g (approx. 50m) ball of Wild Large Loop Mohair yarn to make both her wig and her hair bunches.

And here’s the pattern –

Lilly and May with Dolly Mohair -knitted wig

Using 4mm knitting needles

R1:CO 38sts

R2-17: stst 16 rows

R18: (k4, k2tog) rep to last st, k1 (31)

R19: p

R20: (k3, k2tog) rep to last st, k1 (25)

R21: p

R22: (k2, k2tog) rep to last st, k1 (19)

R23: p

R24: k

R25: cut yarn with a long tail and thread through the remaining stitches

Hair Bunches

R1: CO7, kfb to last st, k1 (13)

R2: k

R3: (k1, kfb) repeat to last st k1 (19)

R4: k

R5: (k2, kfb) repeat to last st k1 (25)

R6-10: stst 5 rows Starting with a p row

R11:(k2, ssk) repeat to last st, k1 (19)

R12: k

R13:(k1, ssk) repeat to last st, k1 (13)

R14: k

R15: ssk to last st, k1 (7)

R16: cut yarn with a long tail and thread through the remaining stitches

I found ssk was easier to work than k2tog but you can use either method to work the decrease stitches.

Next I simply had to try brushing out the boucle yarn to give dolly some brush able hair. I used my trusty carding brush but I’m sure that a stiff brush would work too ( most tutorials I read seem to say the same) The fibres fluffed up very easily and very few came loose which pleasantly surprised me!

I brushed one of Lilly’s bunches first- just to see what would happen before committing to brushing the main wig. Although I loved the effect, I could see they just weren’t going to workout well as hair bunches.

I took her wig off to brush it out- as I had read that you can get a better finish if you brush the inside edge as well as the whole of the outside. I sewed it back using the dolly mohair yarn then gave is another brush to blend in the stitches and tidy up the style, I reused a bow from her bunches to hold her fringe back, She’s such a different looking character and dare I say it, do you agree that she looks a little older?

Ever one to keep experimenting, next I removed her wig, sewed it back with the parting in the centre of her head and brushed the hair so I could create cute little bunches.

Weir Crafts have a very helpful tutorial which contains great tips on how to brush out the wig and sew it in place. They use a crochet version but the technique is just the same.

Billy doll was feeling left out so I gave him a new hair do as well.

For the Billy and Joe dolI's I used the same wig pattern as I did for Lilly and May- but worked 14 rows of stocking stitch before shaping the crown of the head.

One 50g ball of yarn made two boy size wigs.

Fuelled with enthusiasm after my first foray into working with Dolly Mohair yarn I ordered more (of course!) this time I bought Wild Wool again from Little Oke Dolls

This yarn is created specifically for brushing out, as you can see from the sample ball I knitted, it really does need a good brush to bring out its charms! I liked this yarn, it’s easy to knit and brushes out very quickly and easily too. I found once I brushed it was not as long as the wild loop yarn and I couldn’t make it into bunches. But it does look great on Billy Doll.

The last yarn I’ve played with is Wild Brush able- now I must confess this was my least favourite. I found the texture to be a little harsh and although it certainly does brush out well and longer than the previous yarns, I’d experimented with I found it to be a little thin. Having considered this, I think it’s because I’m knitting with the yarn instead of crocheting as recommended by Little Oke Dolls.

Overall, I’m simply addicted to Dolly Mohair yarn, I love the transformation it gives to Lilly, May and their brothers Billy and Joe.

For me Large wild Loop is my favourite, I like the flexibility of either leaving is soft and curly or brushing it out.