I haven’t done a Freebie Friday in a while, mainly because I haven’t had as much time to dig around the internet for cool patterns (or write up my own). But since I was tasked (forced) to make something for CYC course, it seemed like a no brainer to share it. Ok, no one tasked (forced) me. Making your own pattern was optional, but since I went ahead and wrote up my own pattern, here it is. 🙂
Tunisian crochet mobile-phone case
I was going to write a post about how I’m doing on Level 2 of the teaching certification but I’m back at work and have spent the last week getting ready for the return of the kids on Thursday. On Friday, I got to sit down for a few minutes (and I do mean a few) and was crocheting shorts for the life-size doll. Why does she need shorts I hear you ask? Well, this new crop of Kinders really went to town playing with the doll.
You can almost see the pulled eyebrow.
Since they didn’t see me make her and since I haven’t been as concerned with her well being like I was last year, they’ve been dragging her by the arms, legs, hair and anywhere else they can pull her from. She’s about their size so I know it’s hard for them to pick her up. One of her eyebrows has been pulled out (I need to get around to fixing that). In the process of all this pulling, her shorts keep falling off. They were a little loose to begin with so I decided to crochet her some shorts that will be sewn in at the waist.
As usual, I got some curious kiddos coming over to check out what I was doing. They all want to help and so I let them. Here is their idea of helping me.
They were unrolling the yarn for me. LOL Normally I don’t let them tangle up my yarn like that but it being the second day for my Kinders, one of my little helper was a little sad and missing her parents. It made her happy to ‘help’ me so I let her do it. It was easy to wrap it back up when it was time to put it away.
It’s never a dull moment. 🙂
It’s done! I can finally wear it when it’s cold again. I really like this one. It feels great and I’m happy with it’s length. My friend saw it and says she wants one. She’s been telling me she wants one since I made the first one (which I’m still plugging away at, literally, plugging up the holes), the second one, which I gave to my sister, and now this third one. Maybe I’ll give it to her and start a fourth one. Or maybe I’ll start a fourth one and pick my favorite and give her the other one. We’ll see. 🙂 Oh, and another one I promised my other sister! I better get busy!
I’ll be warn come winter although I was roasting in it for the picture. It was 90º!
There’s the back.
You can see the shell edging I did at the end of the sleeves and around the the bottom and up the front of the coat.
I’m still thinking of adding a pocket. It was a mistake on my part not to have built the pocket in when I was sewing it up. It would have been so easy. Now I have to cover up one of the squares in order to add it on top. That’s the only thing stopping me from doing it but my hands instinctively want to go in a pocket so I just might have to do it.
I’ll be joining my fellow bloggers in being a sponsor at the Giveaway over at kellysdiy. Sounds really fun and I can’t wait until the giveaway gets started on July 17th. Head on over there and check it out. You might even want to participate. 🙂
I didn’t know about her blog until I started seeing it pop up in blogs I follow and saw that others were joining in. I checked out her blog to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn’t necessarily going participate but I ended up really liking her blog. She is super creative and has some fantastic ideas. I have to come up with a lot of projects for the kids at work and many of her projects are kid friendly. They will come in very handy when I go back to work for the new school year.
Here is my contribution.
I handed over my finished puppet to her new 5th grade owner after a day of celebrating our 5th graders. I said a few words about how much I will miss them, because I will. Two of them have been with me since kindergarten. That’s six years with the same students. It’s always bitter sweet to see them go, knowing most of them will disappear without a trace as they move on to middle school. Sometimes, they come back to visit or I run in to them when I’m out and about, but for the most part, on the last day, they’re just gone. I give them a big hug on their way out the door and wish them well.
So I said a few words, said my farewells, handed them their crocheted graduation caps and we partied with cake, pizza and a movie.
I finished the puppet and handed her over to my student before she went off to summer glory.
She didn’t turn out exactly as I pictured her but she’s alright.
She’s kind of sassy!
My student seemed happy with her and I know the puppet is going to a good home. This particular 5th grader has become a great crocheter and wants to take crochet with her to her new after-school program next year. Some of our 5th graders from our school continue on in our program at our sister school. I had started crochet there years ago when I worked the summer program. Many of the students loved it but it died out quickly with no one left to run it. This 5th grader certainly has the chops to get something up and running over there. She has leadership qualities that I know she’ll put to good use to teach the students there how to crochet.
When we go back in the fall, I’m going to hook her up with the supplies she needs to get started. Hopefully that means I’ll still see her sometimes and she won’t disappear without a trace. 🙂
I saw the superhero illustration below in an email newsletter I receive from Lion Brand. I loved it instantly. It would have been even better if they were crocheting instead of knitting but I’ll take what I can get. It reminded me of a funny moment I had with one of my Kindergarten boys.
When I saw this illustration, it was love at first sight! But where is Superman?
One of my co-workers was having a conversation with one of my Kinders. They were talking about superheroes and my co-worker said to the student, “We have a superhero right here.”
The little boy said, “No we don’t. Where is he?”
My co-worker pointed to me and said, “Mrs. Sherman is a superhero.”
“Nuh uh, what’s her superpower then?” he smugly asked, sure in his conviction that I was not a real superhero.
Without missing a beat, I said, “Crochet is my superpower.” He giggled.
“That’s not a super-power,” he countered.
I wasn’t bitter about this. Not many people know crochet is a superpower. I had my counter argument ready.
Well, I said it was a super-power because I could make anything with crochet. You can imagine the silly conversation that ensued about what I could and could not make. Days later, he was mumbling and giggling at the same time about whether crochet could be considered a superpower. This is why I love working with kids. Where else can you have such ridiculous arguments?
Speaking of superheroes, I’ve made some of my own. There’s Superman!
At the end of every school year, it’s become a tradition that I make our 5th graders little crocheted graduation caps in our schools colors. It’s their last year at our school as they are ready to move on to middle school. The year has flown by and we are at the end once again. I made five little caps this year and I thought it would make a nice Freebie Friday post.
The caps are super simple to make and the kids love receiving them. The hat is just a square and a rectangle sewn together.
I use a large hook size like an I or a J. I grab whatever hook size feels good with 2 or 3 strands of yarn.
The top portion of the hat is just a small square. I eye-ball it every time but usually end up with about 5 or 6 single crochets per row.
I make the same amount of rows as I have in single crochets per row. For example, if I have 5 single crochets in each row, I make 5 rows as well. I fold it corner to corner to check that it’s a square.
On my last row, I leave a really long tail so I can sew around the edge of the square. It gives it a little finishing touch. Sometimes I single crochet around the edge.
Then I make the lower portion. Again, I eye-ball it but usually end up with about 13 or 14 single crochets per row and I make 3 rows. I sew the ends together and then sew the tube to the top part of the hat. I add a button and a tassel and I have a hat.
Here’s a video showing the process.
In case anyone wants to know what the life-size crochet doll is up to, here’s an update. She’s knackered! The kids are getting into full swing playing with her and it ain’t pretty!
Ok, this is kinda pretty.
Lately, I’ve been making quick projects that I know I can finish in a work day. Now that the life-sized doll is done, I want to take a break from the big projects. I like showing the kids the different items they can crochet, from the big elaborate ones, to the quick and easy ones. Here are some quick and easy ones I made this past week.
We have a star-chart as a reward system in our after-school program and the very last section has morphed and changed over the year. At first, I tried gift cards as the last gift, but it being a new incentive, I hadn’t worked out all the kinks. Later, I only gave certain, nearby choices or instead of that, the option to get two items from the prize-box. Then, it morphed again when I saw that many of the students were still asking me to make things for them (even though they knew I wasn’t doing that anymore). Instead, I started crocheting the items they were requesting and putting them in what I started calling The Ultimate Prize Box. The emojis are always popular and the kids started picking those pieces right away even though I don’t have many items yet. But I hope to have a spike in inventory now that the projects are quicker and easier. Continue reading
It’s done! It’s done! I had to take her home to finish her legs because I just didn’t have enough time at work. During our Spring Break, I worked furiously. When the legs were done and attached, with a jolt, I realized I wouldn’t be working on her anymore. There’s a lot of energy expended when creating, and suddenly, there’s nowhere for that energy to go. But that feeling didn’t last long (there’s always another project waiting to monopolize my time).
Once I got her dressed, I left her on my bed until I was ready to take her to my car. What a surprise to walk back into the bedroom to find my hubby pumping her legs up and down like she was running and then playing patty cake with her. He looked at me with a huge grin and I burst out laughing. What a scene! I had a good belly laugh. He kept right on playing with her. Wasn’t this the same man who knocked her over and threw a jacket on her so she would stop scaring him every time he walked into the house? Well, he did say he loved her even though she scared him. 😁 Continue reading
yochet 