Crochet Caddy

For those who read my post on crochet/yarn hacks, you know I wanted to make a crochet caddy. The sad truth is that there are many, many things that I want to make that get forgotten or, due to lack of hours in a day, never get made. But this is a post about what did get made so, YAY!

I guess I really was pumped up about that post because, not one, but two crochet hook caddies was born and are already in use. There was the added desire to have something pretty to store my new Clover Armour crochet hooks I got for my birthday.

At this stage (below), this one was in two pieces, the outer bottom and the snug upper layer. There was no top and it looked pretty nice but I wanted to give the hooks more separation.

Almost done!

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Plugging Gaps

Been working on plugging up those holes in my sweater. I dread doing it. I get home so tired from work that I  look at my bag with the sweater peaking out of it and all I can think is that I’ll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow is so elusive. It never comes. Then one day I feel inspired. I grab and start plugging away. Yay! I finished a square. Now just 74 more to go! Yeah, then I ignore it again but at least now I have six squares finished. There are moments I think of undoing the plugs I already did and just leaving the sweater as is or finding a different way of lining it. But, alas, I like the purple splash of color. It’s taking so long to complete but I’m actually loving the result. Sooooo, I will plug away until it’s done, even if I won’t be wearing it until next winter.

In case anyone was wondering why I’m being such a whiner, here are some of the plugs I’ve made so far.

 

 

Does it look like a massive blob of yarn? Yeah, to me too. That’s why I keep ignoring it.

 

I’ve bundled them in groups of 8 to convince myself to grab a bundle and finish one square. It works sometimes. 🙂

I give myself credit for making and bundling all those plugs. I take that same credit away since now I have an overwhelming pile that’s being ignored (mostly :-)). And that’s not even all of them! I need to make more.

But here’s how it’s turning out. I am insane for doing this but it will be well worth it in the end.

Yes, those cascading squares on the side haven’t been plugged yet. There are so many!

Student Corner

I can’t describe the pleasure of seeing how many of my students have caught the crochet bug. I have a new 5th grade girl who picked it up very quickly and got very excited about making things as gifts. I didn’t get a chance to photograph her first finished piece before she gave it away but I have it on good authority (her mom) that it came out very nice and the recipient really loved it.

Today’s post will be about the current work the students are doing to highlight how proud of them I am. One of my 4th grade students finished this cute pillow over the summer.

Nice job!

She also made this cute purse (below).

A 5th grade girl finished a rag doll she started last school year and finished it up this year. Way to go!

So Cute!

And here are my students hard at work on new projects!

Looking fantastic girls!

Freebie Friday – Red Pokeball

A sure fire way to get students interested in crochet is to make fun things in front of them. Since I tend to make fun and whimsical things anyway, my maniacal plan works perfectly. Just recently, I was making something for the prize box that many of the students wanted. A student who never expressed an interest in crochet suddenly wanted to learn the craft. Seeing me crochet helps them to envision themselves making all sorts of things they didn’t think were possible.

The students were all very excited when they saw me making these.

I’m not taking personal requests from the students anymore but I am taking suggestions (they are personal requests that I turn into suggestions) on what to make. So far, I have made an  emoji with sunglasses,  a YouTube pillow (I had to ask for clarification on that one), and a Pokeball (this was the project that inspired my student). They were all simple to make and worked up fairly quickly.

Reading Glasses Clip

My eyes are getting old. I need reading glasses. I hate to admit it. I don’t want to believe it. But alas, there it is. Pulling things I need to focus on further and further from my face isn’t working anymore. I look ridiculous scrunching my eyes while simultaneously holding the offending object I am trying to read in my outstretched hand as far as it will extend…and still not being able to focus. If my son is at hand, say we’re shopping and I need to read the ingredients list of something, he’s gotten very used to me handing him something and saying, “Read that to me. Is there any wheat in that?”

But then, I don a pair of reading glasses and it’s all crystal clear. It makes me feel better that the magnification I need is still relatively low. That means my eyes aren’t that bad, right? I don’t need glasses for seeing in the distance so that’s good too, right? Anybody with me? I used to be able to get away with all that arm stretching but now I’m resolved to stashing reading glasses all over the place (my sisters do too so at least I’m in good company :-)). Oh lovely reading glasses, let me count the ways: the bathroom, the kitchen, my bedroom, my purse, my office, at work, and my crochet bag. I even have one of those large magnifying glasses that my kids loved to play with as children. It sits right next to my computer and I use it when I don’t want to put on the glasses. The family always pauses to look at me when I’m looking at something through the thing. No, I don’t look silly at all trying to avoid putting on the glasses.

Saddest of all, having all these strategically placed glasses in every nook and cranny is no longer good enough. Before, when I needed a little extra seeing help, I could reach for a pair. Now, I need that little push more often. I need a more permanent solution to keep a set ON me. I attempted to crochet a cute cord/necklace thing to do just that but I didn’t like it. I found myself looking for a better solution. I went internet browsing and came across some cute solutions.

I discovered magnetic eyeglasses clips/holders.

Freebie Friday – 2nd crochet tooth

My second attempt at a crochet tooth is more in line with the vision I had for the project. I shall call him Bumpy.

First off, I made sure I had plenty of yarn to finish him. Plenty of yarn! Bumpy was done in a similar way as Prototype but I added an extra stitch to my increases and had some strategic decreases. So instead of two single crochets in one stitch, I had three. To keep the pattern as I did with Prototype, I had to decrease some stitches in the next rounds. This had the added bonus of making the fabric pucker in just the right way. It was looking pretty good. I was falling in love with Bumpy. I added the face, made the chains that divide the head (for making the roots), added some stuffing and then started on the roots. I was still in love with Bumpy.

Freebie Friday – My Design Crochet Tooth

In looking for ideas to make a crochet tooth for my son’s dentist, I looked over the patterns I found and  thought them confusing. I probably could have figured them out if I had invested more time but I was busy (lazy). I watched some videos to see how others made a tooth.  I was inspired but decided to go my own way. I wanted to work in the round but didn’t want the rounded look for the molar. What I ended up doing was clustering my increases together instead of evenly distributing them as you would typically do when crocheting in the round. I was hoping to get four bumps on the top but what came out was a more square top with no bumps. I still like it better than if I had just crocheted in the round in the usual way (even though it still looks pretty round in the picture :-)). Ultimately, my tooth looks a lot like the other teeth out there but I think my pattern is simpler than what I was looking at. One video I saw was pretty easy but I thought it was too easy. I’m satisfied with what I created.

I’m Prototype 🙂

New Crochet Doll

Now that the school year is coming to a close, I’ve stopped taking requests for making rag doll characters from my students (I don’t want that kind of pressure!). I still find myself itching to make something, as well as continuing to crochet to encourage them to continue crocheting. When they see me crochet, they almost always ask if they can crochet too.

I decided to make crochet doll that would represent our after school program (World Academy). I wasn’t sure if the doll was going to be a toy the kids could play with or a decoration for our room but the kids, mainly the girls, kept asking me if I was going to let them play with her.

I got to work figuring out what she would look like. I wanted her to represent all of us in the program and she was loosely based on me. The staff wears a World Academy t-shirt as part of our uniform. I have several colors but the one I was wearing that day is a bright pink and we had pink in our cupboard so pink was the choice for the shirt. I was going to give her blue pants (I’m always wearing jeans) but the kids wanted a skirt so she got a skirt. I gave the doll brown curls made out of spirals. The kids pointed out I had black and white hair, not brown! They didn’t even comment that my hair is definitely not curly.

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.

The Little Mermaid Crochet Doll

One of my co-workers had finished two small crochet squares at work that she abandoned in our unfinished pieces box. She was learning to crochet and had picked it up pretty quickly. I asked her if she was interested in making one of our rag dolls and she gave it a try. I don’t think making toys is her cup of tea so she didn’t return to the project.

I had finished making all the promised dolls I needed to make and saw those two lonely squares just sitting there begging to become something (or someone :-). I asked them (I speak to my pieces all the time) what they wanted to become and they both said they heard a lot of the girls mention the Little Mermaid. Perfect! Those two little squares would become the Little Mermaid.

I picked them up and noticed that one was smaller than the other so I added a few more rows to it. I wasn’t sure what hook size my co-worker used and she couldn’t remember so I just grabbed a G hook. After I finished, I realized the G hook was probably the wrong hook but it didn’t really matter. It’s a toy and no one would notice. The square wasn’t as wide as the other one either but I keep telling the kids the squares don’t have to be perfect. I don’t want them obsessing about a perfect match and that being why they don’t finish their own doll. So I didn’t obsess about it either and went with what I had. When done with the doll, I could also use it as an example of how the doll could still look good even though the squares were slightly different in size.

I made the face, sewed my pieces together with a whip stitch, leaving an opening for stuffing, stuffed it, then sewed it closed. Next came the red hair. This project got so much attention from the kids, boys and girls alike. Before I said anything about what it was supposed to be, they kept asking me if it was the Little Mermaid. I was glad they were recognizing her. It meant I was on the right track.