Things You'll Need
Instructions
Gather two skeins of yarn in colors that you like. Use one color for the doll's body and head and another for its hair, eyes and belt or waistband.
Begin unraveling the yarn you plan to use for the doll's body and head. Wrap the yarn around the long spine of an 8- or 9-inch hardcover book 40 times. Cut the yarn with a pair of fabric scissors after the 40th rotation. Cut a 2-inch piece of the same color yarn off the skein, slide it under the 40 revolutions of yarn, between the yarn and the book cover. Bring the ends of the yarn up above the book and tie a double knot in the piece of yarn, securing it to the grouping of yarn wrapped around the book.
Gently slide the yarn off the book. Use a pair of fabric scissors to cut the yarn at the end opposite the knot that you just tied.
Cut another piece of yarn measuring 2 inches long out of the other color of yarn that you selected. Wrap the yarn around the larger grouping one inch below the first knot you tied while the grouping was still wrapped around the book. Make a double knot in the yarn to create the doll's head.
Separate off about five pieces of yarn from the grouping and tie a double knot in another piece of 2-inch yarn 3 inches down from the head to create an arm. Repeat for the other arm.
Measure 4 inches down from the neck and tie a piece of 3-inch yarn around the doll to create a waist. Let the yarn hang free to form a dress for a female yarn doll. Divide the yarn below the waist into two segments and tie 2-inch pieces of string 1/2-inch from the end of the doll to create pants or legs for a male yarn doll.
Gather 12 to 15 strands of the opposite color yarn that you used for the doll's body and cut them into 6-inch long strands. Place the strands atop the doll's head. Wrap a 2-inch piece of yarn that is the same color as the doll's hair around the hair along the same path that you used to create the head to secure the hair to the doll's head.
Cut three pieces of 1-inch long yarn that is the opposite color of the doll's body. Separate out two pieces of yarn in the middle of the doll's head and tie one piece of 1-inch yarn to each of them to form eyes. Make a double knot in each piece and cut off all the slack with a pair of fabric scissors. Pull out one more piece of yarn from the doll's face and tie a third piece of 1-inch yarn about 1/4-inch below the eyes. Tie a double knot and cut it close to form the doll's mouth.