Using different yarns and needle sizes enables you to knit this doll in different sizes. Gauge should be tight, so the stuffing does not come out!
You can use self striping yarn, or yarn in different colors to achieve stripes.

Just found a mistake in the pattern:
Leg decrease down from 24 sts to 16 sts needs to be (K1, K2tog) instead of (k2, K2tog)
It is fixed now in the pattern.