Crochet Toy/Amigurumi Pattern NOMINATED FOR AWARD!

"What an incredibly creative way to teach measurements of this sort!"  

                                                                     --Carol in Ravelry

I'm pleased and excited to report that one of my crochet toy patterns is an award finalist! The Teacher's Gallon Friend, an educational toy that helps teach the relationship between cups, pints, quarts, and gallons, has been nominated by the Crochet Liberation Front for Best Crochet Design for Children!

Here's what people have been saying about it in Ravelry since the Teacher's Gallon Friend pattern PDF was released in November 2010:

"This is really clever! I need to make one for my small granddaughters. They will love it."

"Awesome idea! Love it!"

"This is totally cute and a great learning device! Every child should have one. (And maybe adults, too! LOL) I’m going to try to make one of these from your pattern. And kudos to your son for his amazing drawing!"

Wonderful! I think I need one for my kitchen."

"cute + brilliant!!!"

My son was a part of it from the very beginning (starting at age 9). So it's a special feeling for both of us to announce it in this toy designing blog. When I began this blog a few years ago, I didn't imagine that the things I crochet for my son and his friends would qualify for awards, I was just keeping a journal of how crochet is play and adds to the fun that I can have as a mom. I hope that as my son grows up, this blog will become a record of how crochet grows along with him. 


I do have other crochet toy patterns in mind, and you can bet that just being nominated, and seeing the wonderful designs in this category, inspires me to design more.


Please visit this Crochet Liberation Front page to see all nominees. (It may take a while for all images to load.) The CLF founded the annual Flamies Awards about three years ago. You will be amazed to see all the wonderful crochet designs. Starting tomorrow, Mar. 15, you can cast your votes in all award categories. 

Crochet Accessory Wins First Place....

....in son's heart as padding for the strap of a musical instrument.

A tenor saxophone is a heavy instrument for a kid! All of the weight is felt at the neck. 

It only took about 20 minutes to crochet a rectangle of puff stitches with the softest yarn from my stash: one full skein of Moda Dea Aerie yarn. 

Then, seamed it into a tube while it was wrapped around the strap. 

Longer practice times are now enabled with this simple solution.

The fire red color probably has something to do with its success. It has been his favorite color most of his eleven years, with time out for blue and electric turquoise. Also, briefly in preschool years, sunshine yellow. Well, I should call it "Spongebob Yellow."

Crochet for the Classroom: 'Teacher's Gallon Friend'

Sometimes my son brings home school assignments that strike me as crochet-worthy. Maybe it's my imagination, but doesn't this look like a crochet design waiting to happen?
 
The body is a gallon and the arms and legs are the four quarts. They each have 2 pints, and each pint has two cups (or "fingers"). 

Surely this diagram would also help metric-using visitors to the United States who are confused by our strange logic of pints and quarts :-)

Here's what I worked out, and uploaded the downloadable pattern PDF today to my pattern shop at DesigningVashti and in Ravelry:

My son wanted to keep the original prototype (red at the center). We presented the new yellow-centered one it to his third grade teacher, Mrs. Karen Newhall. 
It now hangs at the front of her classroom.