Crochet Turtle, Cupcake and Pokeball

The end of the school year is coming, and the kids are amping up their crochet requests. Many are making it to the prize-box and I’m feeling generous. I’m granting their requests if I think I can finish them in time. One 5th grade boy has gone around the prize chart three times and he didn’t want anything from the regular prize box. He earned two prize-box items and asked if he could trade them for something I could make. He just wanted a Pokeball. That was doable.

Done!

After the small turtles, a bunch of the Kinders asked me to make a bigger turtle, so I did some stash-busting and finished a rainbow turtle.

Done!

It’s already reserved for a little Kinder. She begged me not to let anyone else have it since she was only one star away. I agreed and discovered she was four stars away. She’s a little Transitional Kinder and they often make that mistake so I agreed to keep it for her, but she has to work hard to get those stars before the end of the year. She only has ten more days!

Before I even finished the turtle, another Kinder made it to Ultimate Prize-Box and she wanted a crochet cupcake. I’d never made one before but I thought I could whip one up.

Done!

She told me exactly what colors she wanted and it had to have yellow sprinkles. She was over my shoulder asking me again and again if it was done yet. Clearly it wasn’t done! But then it was, and she wasted no time playing with it. It’s always the best when they see me finishing something up. I think it makes it more special for them.

Happy camper. 🙂

Someone else asked for a turtle but I can’t remember who. I’m pretty sure it was a boy. He better make it to prize box soon so I can get it done. 🙂

Winner Announced!

It’s time to announce the winners for my first Giveaway! Thank you so much to those who participated (and to those that would have entered but couldn’t because of geography). I sooooo appreciate that you took the time. And to those who couldn’t really use a baby sweater or toy but who still stopped by and had a looksy or left a kind word, I appreciate you all!  🙂

And now for the winners!

The Flat Doll

Tami of Tanglewood Knots, you are the winner! Please email me your address and I will send him out right away.

The Baby Sweater

Sparkscrochet at Crochet and Crafty Cuteness. You are the winner! Please email me your address and I will send it out right away.

 

This was so much fun and I hope I can do more giveaways in the future.

Craft Fair is Coming!

I was inspired by a fellow blogger to start thinking about the yearly craft fair that happens at the school where I work. I’ve done the craft fair on and off since it’s inception way back when my son went to school there (he is now a big senior in high school). I’ve had various successes and failures and every year, I’m not sure if I’m going to do it or not. When I do decide to do it, it’s always at the last second and then I start crocheting furiously trying to make sure I have enough things to show. It’s a hodge podge and there’s no consistency. I have a little bit of everything. I guess that’s not true. The consistency is that it’s all fun things kids would enjoy. Toys, dolls, purses and cases. I have had hats and beanies but they are always kid friendly.

This year, I’ve started my old tricks. I had decided I wouldn’t do the fair this year and then changed my mind a dozen times. But have I started any projects for the fair? Noooo, I have not. So then I read Brenna’s post about a craft fair she’s doing at her daughter’s school. It inspired me to think about the impending craft fair at our school more seriously. I should start making things NOW, even if I don’t do the fair. It’s better to be ready and not need it than to need and not be ready. So in that spirit, it’s time to seriously think about the things I should make.

Yellow Crochet Emoji Hand Puppet

So this happened.

What happened?

It was supposed to be a heart emoji puppet. I made it a little differently than the other puppets. I’m trying out different mouth techniques until I find one I really like. I want it to feel comfortable in the hand and open nicely.

I messed up on the heart eyes. I wasn’t getting it right so I had the brilliant idea of tracing a heart directly on yarn as a guide. The plan was to embroider the eyes and cover up the marker. Yes, I used a marker. Foolish. It bled through the yarn! Anyway, I digress.  That didn’t look right either so I went back to the drawing board and crocheted the hearts, but now there’s an outline of the marker! I pretended it wasn’t there and the kids haven’t mentioned it so I’m going to keep pretending I don’t see it. 🙂

Open wide!

He started looking less like an emoji and more like Pac Man and then morphed into a yellow frog with red heart eyes. Can’t win ’em all. The kids still like it though. I know this because they keep grabbing it, running away and squealing. So into the ultimate prize box it goes.

Yay! Ultimate prize box!

Crochet Jeffy The Puppet

Jeffy is done and my student said something that made me glow all pink and rosy today. I don’t think he was necessarily giving me a complement (I’m not sure a 5th grade boy is capable of that, even if he’s thinking it) but it was a complement just the same.

I’ve been letting him play with the puppet in all its levels of completeness (or incompleteness as was the case) and it’s been great watching his genuine joy at seeing the puppet develop. Today, I finished it and he and his buddy were having an absolute blast with it.

I got a couple of candid shots of them playing with him.

I took a group of kids to the restroom and while we were waiting on some of the kids to come out, he said to me that he thinks this is the only homemade puppet that actually looked like the real thing. That it was the best one.

Well now.

Queue the glowy glow happening. You might be thinking that I directed this conversation and was fishing for complements but I wasn’t even talking about the puppet or even talking to the student. It was unsolicited! It was just true happiness on his part that he had the best puppet! Of course, there’s no way to prove his theory on that, but the fact that he believed that only showed how much he loved it. Believing he had the only existing homemade Jeffy the Puppet that looked like the real thing, well, that made my whole year.

Do I think it’s the best and most accurate homemade representation of Jeffy the Puppet? Uhm, no. He could have been better. The eyes are too poppy and I never gave him hands. No shoes either. But I will say this, when  I looked him up to do my research, there were only a handful of images of the actual puppet. I didn’t see any homemade representations out there, period, never mind crochet. Mine might be the first crochet version out there, at least that I could find. So my student might be right. That means I’m ahead of the curve!

Was he a success? For my student, absolutely! For me personally, maybe. I know he could have been better. I definitely learned I like making puppets, almost as much as making dolls. I might just make more puppets (not Jeffy though) of all varieties.

And just a reminder of the real thing.

 

Freebie Friday – Crochet Graduation Cap

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.

How I make them

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.

Progress Last Minute Crochet Projects

The Crowns

The crowns are done and my queens loved them. They picked really cool yarn colors that worked out really well. They keep trying to convince me to let them wear them now. Nope. They have to wait until it’s their week to be queen. Cruel, I know. 🙂 But in the meantime, the doll gets to wear them.

I get to wear the crown!

I might keep this one.

Jeffy the Puppet

This is what I’m working with. (Image courtesy of Pinterest) My version of Jeffy will have no diaper or pencil shoved up his nose. I refuse!

I started work on the easiest part of the  puppet, his t-shirt. I made a yellow tube in single crochet and embroidered his name on it. The yellow yarn I picked might not be exactly right but I think it’s close enough. In some pictures of Jeffy, the shirt looks bright yellow but in others, the yellow has more of an orange cast. I don’t think my student will complain about the color of the yarn.

My first attempt at the shirt came out a little wide so I ripped it back and tried again. I made it smaller, was happy, added the name, and then realized the first attempt was better. 😂 Oh well, I’m committed now.

The arms and legs came next. I didn’t feel like stuffing arms and legs, so I crocheted rectangles and rolled them up. Gives it dimension without having to stuff. I probably should add hands but I’m not sure I will yet. I guess it depends on how much time I have. He is supposed to have shoes but that might not happen either.

Don’t be alarmed by my headless body! It’s in the works.

I’m leaving the head for last. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it yet. Different ideas are marinating in my head and I’m almost ready to get started. I’ll probably take this part back to work with me and finish the head there. That will give the student the chance to say something about the hands and shoes. If he doesn’t, it stays the way it is. 🙃

 

 

Knackered Life-Size Crochet Doll

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.

Freebie Saturday – Crochet Emoji Video

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.

Life-Size Crochet Doll is done!

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. 😁