Crochet Pikachu

One of my students asked if I could sell her a Pikachu so she could give it to her brother for Christmas. I had never made a Pikachu before but I told her I would try. I didn’t have much time since our Christmas break was looming and I only had few days left before then. Add to the mix that I had about another hundred projects I needed to finish but I really wanted to get this done for her. She and her mom are two of the sweetest people I know. I just had to get it done.

I approached the project in my usual way. I spent two days thinking about it. I know! I had no time to waste but it was a necessary step. I looked at cartoon illustrations as well as

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Sun emoji or sunflower

There’s never a dull moment when working with elementary school kids. I’m always learning something from them. Take, for example, the ‘laughing so hard it’s crying’ emoji I made.

The laughing so hard it’s crying emoji

Yes, that’s what I kept calling it when the kids asked what I was making. Lucky form me, the kids know best. They referred to it as the ‘laugh out loud’ emoji. Admittedly, that made more sense. I started calling it that when it changed again. The student who claimed it out of the prize box was calling it the ‘L-O-L’ emoji. That was even better! My title for the emoji suddenly sounded so foolish. And to their credit, no one pointed out my silly name. They just called it what they thought was a better name. I don’t always get away unscathed. 😂

Another opportunity to be schooled by my students happened with my very next emoji. I had planned to make the sun emoji. The LOL emoji was born because one of my Kindergarteners wanted me to make it. The sun emoji was all me and the kids weren’t too enthusiastic about it. I was minding my own business and selected an orange yarn instead of yellow for this one. I had my two orange circles and the face done and was ready to start the edging to join the circles when another Kindergartner asked me if I was going to use the yellow yarn for the sunny edging. I asked her if I should and she said that absolutely I should. So I did. And I had to agree it looked good.

The edging was made using single crochets and picots.

More Emoji’s! (and Pokeballs)

I’ve gone emoji crazy. I made another one and plan on making many more. They are so easy to make and whip up so quickly with the added bonus that the kids love them.

 

A kinder wants me to make the emoji that’s laughing so hard it’s crying so that will be the next one.

For good measure, I also made another Pokeball. The Pokeballs are almost as quick and easy and popular as the emjois so there will probably be a few more of those rolling around soon. The kids want different colors so I made this purple one. I added the M because apparently it’s Mega ball or something. How am I supposed to know that?! They keep me on my toes. 🙂

Freebie Friday – Emoji with Sunglasses

I was talking on the phone with hubby and my hands felt idle. It was the perfect opportunity to grab some yarn and make an emoji. I had the idea rattling in my brain since one of my students requested (turned into a suggestion, no more personal requests 🙂 I make one. It was an easy and quick project to work on while gabbing away. I almost got it done by the time we hung up. We do talk for a long time. Love my hubby.

This one didn’t last long in the prize box. It was snatched up right away. There’s nothing worse than making something I think the kids like only to have the poor item sitting in the box for months and, eek, forever. I always feel a little thrill when they pick one of my pieces and run around with it. It’s all about the little pleasures. 🙂

I plan on making more and experimenting with different faces and edgings. These seem so natural for the prize box.

Eli the Firefly

I love crochet challenges. Crochet challenges have been lobbed at me from family, friends, the kids at work and me. A recent challenge came from my hubby. He is a graphic designer and has many samples of products he’s worked on laying around. One of his current projects included a cute toy called Eli the Firefly. His client is a dentist who created a book and a plush lighted toy that inspires kids to brush their teeth properly. Hubby asked if I thought I could recreate the toy in crochet. As if there was any doubt, of course I could! What kind of question was that? And if so, would I? He thought it would make a nice gift for his client. It was a fabulous idea and I accepted the challenge.

This is a sample of Eli that shows what he looks like.

Freebie Friday – Mermaids Everywhere!

I have always been partial to mermaids. I love mermaids and I often wished I could be a mermaid. I love stories and books about mermaids and I’ve even written stories and poems about mermaids. Don’t run for cover! I wouldn’t subject you to my mermaid writings. This is a blog about crochet after all. I WILL subject you to my mermaid inspired crochet. 😉 I’ve made four mermaid dolls (two were cute but the other two were questionable).

I’m the cute one.

Freebie Friday – 10 Crochet Toy Patterns

Crochet toys are my favorite. I enjoy making them and combing the internet looking for pictures. I don’t know why they grab my attention more so than other crochet projects but I guess we all have our niches that we like to work in. For this Freebie Friday, I thought I’d share some of the cute crochet toys I found. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. The patterns can be found by clicking on the titles.

Groot!

His smile makes me smile.

Freebie Friday – Mario Rag Doll

Mario is finished and waiting to be given to his new owner. His new owner still needs a few more stars on the chart to earn him but he’s close 🙂

Aside from having anxiety about getting the face and hat right, he wasn’t as hard as I was worried he might be. 

More Crochet Rag Dolls in Progress

I have two more dolls I want to make at work before the end of the school year. I’m hoping they’re my last two student requests. I guess I should say I’m planning to stop at these two dolls because the request never stop coming. But I might get suckered, I mean convinced, to do more. 🙂 One is a Mario rag doll from Super Mario Brothers. I’ve been putting off doing this one because it seemed more complicated. Not the doll itself but getting the face and the hat just right so that it looks like him. The other request was for a Spiderman doll and I almost started on that one because it’s not that hard to make it LOOK like Spiderman even if it’s not perfect. But I put Mario off too many times and I finally went for it.

I looked at different sources to find a look I wanted to work with. I actually combined different looks from different sources. I used Minecraft versions, Lego versions, and the actual image from the game. The trick is to go as simple as possible, at least with these dolls because the idea is to get them done quickly while still clearly recognizing what they are supposed to be. If the child doesn’t think it looks like the character, then they are disappointed. So far, I’ve been pretty successful with student happiness but this one had me worried for some reason.

The progress so far.

I thought  a lip on the cap would make it more recognizable.

The emblem had me worried but the kids knew what it was right away. Phew!

Not sure this looks like Mario but the kids seem to think so.

Freebie Friday – “I’m Batman” Crochet Rag Doll

So one of my students reached prize box and couldn’t find anything he wanted in there. I asked him if he wanted a jumbo candy (another prize point on our chart) instead and said he couldn’t have candy. I asked him if there was something in the prize box he wanted before and that I could buy and he said no. I asked if there was something he wanted me to make and he said Batman! I obviously walked into that one but I did offer so I went off to do some research.

Turns out if you look up a character and attach the word Minecraft to it, you can find a Minecraft version of almost anything. I did just that and found this:

I showed it to my student and he liked it. I looked at a few other options for reference but this one worked best as a guide since it lends itself so well to my square rag dolls.

Most of my rag dolls are made from squares and rectangles. The head and body are made with two square panels and some color-work. The arms and legs are made from one square (or rectangle) and folded over. I sew up three sides. Then I assemble my doll by sewing the pieces together.

All rows in all the pieces for this doll had 10 single crochets per row.

The back of the head was done with 10 rows all done in black. The front was done with 7 rows in black and 3 rows in beige (or tan). I made the eyes before sewing and stuffing the head.

The body was done with 5 rows of grey, 2 rows of yellow, 1 row of black, 2 rows of grey, black, grey color work.

Here is my version before assembly: