DIY Pocket Chart

Okay, so this isn't technically "Ball and Skein" related, but I made it and I love it, so I'm sharing.

I am a high school teacher, and the school in which I teach allows students to use their own technology in the classroom. They are allowed cell phone use before and after school and during lunch, and they can use them for music and/or internet if the lesson plan permits. I like allowing them to have music while they are working independently, and it is often helpful for them to have internet access. HOWEVER (this is a big however), I really hate seeing cell phones when it is not an approved portion of the lesson. I really wanted to come up with a way to manage phones when they are not allowed to use them.

I saw a Pinterest pin in which a teacher had students line phones up on the marker tray of the whiteboard, but I just don't have enough room to do that; my whiteboard is rather small. I considered having my husband make me a small wooden caddy to have students put phones in...kind of like this:

My vision had smaller cubbies, but I decided to scrap that idea (much as I love him, I doubt he'd have gotten it done this summer--oh, he'd have agreed to do it and planned on doing it, but it just wouldn't have happened).

So, now what??? I thought that it would be nice to find a pocket chart with deep pockets that students could put their phones in--and maybe even something cute. Guess what? They don't make cute pocket charts. No one does. I searched and searched and finally decided that I'd have to do it on my own. My original plan was to have individual pockets for each phone, like a calculator pocket chart:



The problem with that idea is that phones are not all the same size. So, I eventually decided, instead, to have five rows with two large pockets in each row to allow for differently-sized cell phones. I went shopping at Walmart for fabric and found an appropriate fabric on clearance. I'm not really loving the fabric itself, but I think it works for this purpose. I backed it with a solid green and wrapped it around to create an attractive border on the front.

                                     



I think it turned out rather nice. Unfortunately, I also think I'm addicted.

 

 I've already bought the fabric to make my calendar pocket chart, and if it turns out all right, I may just open up an etsy shop and offer my services to the rest of the unfortunate teachers who just can't find attractive pocket charts.


Part of This World

I am not a huge fan of making amigurumi. Don't get me wrong...the little dolls are adorable (most of the time), but I just don't typically enjoy the actual crocheting. I prefer to work with bigger hooks and faster stitches. I'm not a huge fan of the single crochet in general. I just takes too long. Granted, I've only done a few of them, but I don't see myself making an army of little crocheted creatures any time soon.

However, when friends look around and find something they want, I usually give it a whirl. A friend went to Disney World with her husband and young daughter and asked me to make an Ariel doll for her little girl. I offered to make a removable tail and a dress so Ariel could be a mermaid and a human.

 

Since I don't do many of these, I didn't have safety eyes, so I sewed eyes on her face. The tail isn't exactly right, and I should have made the skirt fuller, but I like her hair and I really like the way I did the tie for the top. Though you can't see it, there is a loop on one end and a knot on the other, so it connects without having to be tied. I don't plan on listing it on etsy or making another one any time soon, but it is nice to know I have some versatility.

Cooking up a Potholder

Many years ago someone told me how much she loved her crocheted potholders and that she would never use anything else. I could not understand what she was talking about. She talked about how thick and wonderful they were. The only experience I had ever had with crocheted potholders was one that was stuck in the back of a drawer of a microwave stand that my grandmother gave me at least fifteen years ago. I have always assumed that she made it, but really, all of the women on that side of the family crochet, so it could have been made by any number of people. To start off, the color is terrible-- baby poop yellow with a white border. Also, even though it is a double thickness, it is just two granny squares crocheted together, so it doesn't keep the heat away and I have to move quickly to avoid getting burned. I have ended up using it more as a hot pad than a potholder. Sadly, many of the crocheted potholders that I've seen on etsy look like this.

 The other option I've seen for potholders is crocheting a chain, and then single crocheting around it, which creates a double-thickness potholder that you stitch together in the center.

 I like the idea of a double-thick potholder, but I really don't like being able to pull the sides away from each other. Fortunately, I found a stitch that I wasn't familiar with, which is known by several different names: the double-faced single crochet, reversible crochet, waffle weave crochet, honeycomb stitch. It takes a little bit of practice to get comfortable with it, and so far it works fairly slowly, though I'm sure it'll get faster as I get better with it.

 

This stitch is amazing for my purpose. It creates a double thickness without the need to crochet or sew two sides together. You can even use it to create a piece with one color on one side and one color on the other. I made several potholders with this using 100% cotton yarn (another problem with my baby-poop potholder is that it is made with acrylic yarn, which can melt at a lower heat than cotton). I really love them, but have been waiting to use them until I got some good (read "clean") pictures of them.



I now understand how someone could love a crocheted potholder. These are super thick and heat resistant. I don't feel heat at all, no matter what I pull out of the oven.

Showing a Little School Spirit

I got a new job in November (well, I accepted the position in November, but I didn't actually start until January). I was incredibly excited to be moving on to bigger things. We moved from a rural area back to civilization. Don't get me wrong...I enjoy the country, but in small doses. Being from San Diego, I am a girl who appreciates having people around and the conveniences of being in a city. I love having library branches nearby, cultural activities to do, and a grocery store that is closer than a twenty minute drive away.

All of this is getting me side tracked. After I got my new job I really wanted to crochet a hat with my new school mascot, but I had been so busy with all of my other activities, I just hadn't had the time to do it. I finally made the time last weekend, and I really love the result. Just look at that Bearcat claw!

 

It is sitting on my bookshelf in my classroom, and I have already had multiple student requests to make them one. As much as I love them, that just isn't going to happen. I may, however, have something in the works to make some as a fund raiser...we'll see what happens. I really would like to design and make a blanket that I can use for football games next year.

The Call of Cthulhu

Right after Christmas I had a request from a friend to crochet a knight helmet for her. I believe her exact words were "take all my money now." It took me a couple of days to find the time to make it for her, but it whipped up pretty quickly.

She loved it so much that she immediately started scanning the web for other project for me to complete for her. She found a couple of things she was interested in, but the project she was most interested in was a chrochet Cthulhu ski mask.

Now, I had never heard of Cthulhu before this, so I had to do some research to figure out exactly who he is. By the time I had figured out who this creature is, I had used her picture of my knight helmet to post the helmet on etsy, and I had sold five of them in my first week. I decided that as a thank you for boosting my business, I would create Cthulhu for her (actually, her husband) for free.

It is now four months later and I have been up to my eyeballs in knight helmets, graduate school, lesson planning, and mothering (though not in that order). Spring Break just ended, and I finally had time to work on her project and keep my word. I scoured the web, looking for inspiration, and could not find anything that I particuarly like, which frequently happens. So, as usual, I came up with my own variation. I like the spiraled tentacles on some of the masks, but they really aren't very masculine. That left making some kind of conical tube, but that isn't very tentacle-y. I decided to combine the two and figure out a way to make twisting conical tubes and get the best of both worlds. The tentacles on top aren't exactly centered, but that's what makes it hand made, right?

This is just a quick picture with my phone, but I am finally presenting my latest creation: Cthulhu, the Long-Awaited.

Already Slacking...

I saw an idea on Pinterest that I love. Someone came up with the idea of creating a sky scarf by
collecting some blue, gray, and white yarns and knitting (I would crochet it) a row each day that matches the sky outside. If I had discovered this before Baby Bubba was born, I would have done it for the first year of his life, but since I only recently came across it, I decided to do it for the second year of his life. Then, I completely forgot to take note of the color of the sky today, the first day of the second year of his life. Fortunately, we went to the zoo today and I took several pictures, so I should have at least one with the sky. After all, it would be difficult to get the giraffes without the sky behind them. I need to set a reminder on my phone to check the sky each day. I need to figure out the best way to keep track. I'd like to think I'll be able to actually crochet a row each day, but that may not be realistic.

 



Gave BB his robot and his robot hat today. I haven't yet taken a picture of the robot hat, so I can't post it, but I can post the robot hat that I made him when he was born.

His new hat is blue and green. I wanted it to be similar, but not the same. He wanted to play with it, but it has button eyes, so I had to put it out of his reach. It really wasn't cold enough for it today anyway. It was a beautiful day.

 

Well, one year ago at this time I was moving to another room, trying to go to sleep, and since Hubby needs to get up early for work tomorrow (Spring Break is passing too quickly), I really should do the same right now.

The New Year Begins

Okay, so in no world does April 1 begin a new year, and actually, it is ending the specific year I am talking about, but it seems a bit odd to start with the end, so I won't.

Tomorrow is Baby Bubba's first birthday. I cannot believe how blessed I have been to have him in my life this past year, especially considering that I once swore my child-birthing days were done. He disagreed with my assessment of the situation, and I am so glad that he did. Although he has recently discovered how to make a noise that seems to be a combination of a banshee and a howler monkey, I wouldn't give him up for everything in the world (there goes that noise again).

I started learning how to crochet when I was seven or eight years old. Actually, now that I think of it, that estimate may be off. My oldest used to have a habit of saying that every memory she had came when she was four years old. In terms of memory, for a while it seemed that she skipped straight from four to ten. Anyway, when I think back and try to remember something from my childhood, it always seems to have happened when I was seven or eight. But, I'm fairly certain that I started learning before we moved to Italy, so I would have been seven (I think). Back to the point...although I have known how to crochet for quite a long time and would pick it up every now and then throughout my life, it is only in the last three or four years that I have begun taking it seriously. Baby Bubba has added to my inspiration. I constantly want to create new things for him. Two days ago I finished his first birthday amigurumi:

I also decided to make him a new hat each year for his birthday, and this year, naturally, I made him a robot hat. I haven't taken a picture of it yet, but I will. My feelings about the robot toy are still ambiguous. I haven't hidden it from him, so he's seen it completed, and his face lights up when he sees it, but I really wish he was a little cuter. I think my issue is with his eyes. I'd have preferred button eyes or safety eyes, but I just don't trust them with a one-year-old child. I do put buttons on his hats, but I don't let him play with them.

I have several more projects in the works right now. I'm currently working on a Cthulhu ski mask hat for my friend's husband, I need to make an amigurumi Ariel with removable tail and dress for a friend's daughter, and my sister has put in a request for an amigurumi lady bug in the nursery colors for my upcoming niece. Plus, I have an order in for a crochet knight helmet and I really want to make a blanket to put on the full-size bed in Baby Bubba's room. I know he doesn't sleep in it yet, but I want it to be on his bed before he's old enough to tell me he doesn't want it. One of the biggest advantages to having a baby is the ability to bend him to my will. That goes away quickly.

So much left to do. I've baked the cakes, but I still need to make the frosting, put the cakes together, and frost the cakes. I need to get dinner for tomorrow put together, and then the birthday fairies are coming, and I have to wrap presents. BB's first trip to the zoo is tomorrow, so I need to check the weather and get the diaper bag ready. Spring Break couldn't have come at a better time this year. If only it were two weeks instead of one.