Alert Janeite Allison T. found a “sock creature” named Bingley on Etsy. Yep, it’s that Bingley. Sort of.

Bingley is a big-time Jane Austen fan. He has read every book she has written and can’t wait for her next great literary work to be published. He has been watching the newspaper for word of a book signing to attend, but none has appeared. Although disappointed, he would wait forever to meet his idol.

Oh, so would we! And we think Bingley is adorable.

There, that oughta raise some eyebrows.

Alert Cub Reporter Heather L. sent us a link to some new cross stitch designs at Heritage Crafts…”Charles” looks awfully familiar. And come to think of it, so does “Thomas,” in a way.

Since we received two e-mails from Alert Janeites last week, though this is not a new item, we thought we should repost for the benefit of some of the newer AustenBlog visitors.

Alert Janeites Baja Janeite and Lynne both sent us links to the Jane Austen Little Thinkers doll, to which they both reacted with the general attitude of What the Ferrars? We own this doll (being a huge Jane nerd) and think it’s so ugly it’s cute. She sits on our bed and looks quite pretty there. And if you look at the rest of the Little Thinkers dolls, they look pretty much the same, so it’s not a cut on Jane. (We also have the finger puppet, which we use to terrify our co-workers. JANE SAYS REDRUM!)

Baja Janeite also sent us a link to the lovely paper doll of Jane Austen at Legacy Pride Paper Dolls, which we also own (did we mention we’re a big Jane nerd?) The artist has created paper dolls for all of Jane Austen’s heroes and heroines–do check them out, they are gorgeous.

ETA: And of course we can’t forget the fabulous Jane Austen Action Figure!

Baja Janeite also found an article about a young lady who makes Barbie dolls into characters from literature, including Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. We think that must be Lizzy right there in the front of the photo in the pretty blue spencer. And wheee, Horatio Hornblower! We see him there with his sword drawn. Her dolls are on display at the Sumner Library in Sumner, Washington, through the end of March.

Alert Janeite Julie P. sent us a link to a new cross-stitch sampler called “The Daughters of Longbourn.” (Here’s a larger photo of the finished sampler.) The sampler is the first in a series of five Austen-inspired samplers…as Julie P. pointed out, which novel will be left out? Or will there be five P&P samplers? Hard to tell.

ETA: We probably should make it perfectly obvious that the vendor is selling only a chart–you would have to purchase your own fabric, thread, etc.

Samplers are a very 18th and 19th century needle art, by the bye; all little girls (even Catherine Morland) made a sampler while learning to sew. The March/April 2008 issue of PieceWork magazine (an invaluable publication if you like historical needlework) had an article about collecting schoolgirl needlework such as samplers; 18th and 19th century pieces sell these days for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the magazine has had several interesting articles on schoolgirl needlework in the past few years.

Speaking of handmade items, Paper Menagerie’s Etsy store has some Jane Austen items, including greeting cards and a really lovely Moleskine journal painted with the classic Austen silhouette. (Found via Moleskinerie)

A while back, we linked to Mari’s lovely Jane Austen teapot cookies; apparently, our Gentle Readers then badgered her for politely requested a tutorial, and Mari has now obliged us. These cookies really are a work of art.

(We wonder if it’s possible to make the little silhouettes separately on the wax paper and place them on, say, an iced cupcake? Hmm.)

In case you saw the post below this one and thought the Editrix was losing it by designing a Jane Austen doily (you ain’t seen nothin’ yet…wait till we break out our tatting patterns!), check out Noreen’s crafty Janeite goodness…a Jane Austen spool knitter (buy them here) to go with her Jane Austen crochet hook! And you can purchase the pattern for her knitted “Homage to Jane Austen” doll, too!

The Editrix has finally gotten around to putting the pattern for her Jane Austen Cameo Doily on the web. It is inspired by the silhouette of Jane Austen. Whether or not you believe the silhouette is really of Jane Austen, it’s a recognizable symbol of our favorite author, and we made it into a filet crochet pattern that has proven rather popular amongst our acquaintance when we bestow a doily made from it upon them. (Click on the thumbnail for a larger image of the doily–though we should point out that that is a photo of an earlier “beta” version, and the pattern version is slightly different; mainly the edging is mirrored top to bottom and side to side.)

It’s a revoltingly humongous PDF file, but if you like to crochet (especially doilies), we would appreciate you downloading and taking a look (right click on link, Save Link/Target As). Being very inexperienced at writing patterns, we’re not entirely sure it will make sense to anyone but us. We would love feedback! Please note that U.S. crochet notation is used throughout and make adjustments as necessary.

Also we might have a doily to give away soon here on AustenBlog. Stay tuned!

Alert Janeite Laurel Ann pointed this out to us. She seemed a bit alarmed, but we love our Barbie dolls and gasped in amazement at this beautiful one of a kind doll.

Alert Janeite Vicki (Baja Janeite) sent a link to Mischief Mari’s gorgeous cookies featuring a design of Jane Austen on a teapot-shaped cookie. We noticed the mention of Jane Austen cookies for Mother’s Day and went digging, finding the classic silhouette design. These are fantastic inspiration for your Jane Austen’s Birthday party goodies! We were going to make cupcakes last year with a Jane Austen design but never got around to it…cookies might be even better.

The Tip Junkie blog has directions for making a bracelet and necklace featuring several characters from adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels. We imagine one could easily substitute one’s favorite characters if they don’t appear here.