I love making custom-designed crochet dolls for my friends, and I especially love challenging requests. One friend asked me to crochet a set of five yarn dolls that look like traditional Russian wooden nesting dolls, and she wanted them to stack together like the real thing. After much experimenting with different yarns and dimensions, I came up with a pattern for an easy-to-make, stackable set of dolls that also hold their shape whether nested or hollow, with the top resting nice and snug on the base. They look great on display, or would make a fun plaything for a young child!

Dolls’ heights:
--5 inches (13 cm)
--4 1/2 inches (11.5 cm)
--4 inches (10 cm)
--3 1/2 inches (8.5 cm)
--2 1/4 inches (5.5 cm)

Materials:
--E hook (3.5 mm)
--(1) skein Caron’s One Pound 4-ply, medium weight yarn in Claret or another color of same brand (Loops & Threads Impeccable Worsted will also work well)
--(10) 11-inch red pipe cleaners for reinforcing doll base opening and bottom edge
--Wire cutters for trimming pipe cleaners
--Acrylic felt in cream, pale pink, and brown for faces
--Embroidery floss in black and red
--Embroidery needle
--(4) 3mm “Pearls” black beads for eyes (optional)
--“Invisible” nylon thread for stitching felt pieces (looks like fishing line)
--Small “quilting sharp” needle
--Scant amount of polyester fiberfill for baby doll
--One or two 1/2-inch metal screw hex nuts for bottom weight in baby doll
--Yarn needle, large-headed pins, and scissors for finishing off and sewing parts together