Below is my Summary of Learning. There is some scratchiness with the mic throughout the video, but I had so many other tech issues just trying to record it that I had to go with this version (for my sanity).
Category: EDTC 300 (Page 1 of 2)
Going into this learning project, I did not know just how much I would come to enjoy crocheting. I had a feeling that I would enjoy it, but I certainly did not think that it would become one of my staple hobbies in such a short time. I always need something to fidget with, and crocheting has been filling that gap for me when I watch videos and movies, am in class, or when I am bored and have nothing else to do. Plus, I get something cool, fun, and/or practical/useful when I am done.
Throughout the course, I have been able to go from a basic beginner to someone who can follow random patterns and adapt them with at least some success. I have outlined my journey below:
Week 1
Introduction Post: What Is Crocheting?
- I identified some of the crocheted things that I had been gifted or have bought myself over the years.
- I identified my goals for the semester, and outlined the steps I would take to achieve them.
- Includes links to the primary resources that I used throughout the semester.
Week 2-4
Learning the Basic Stitches: Chain and Double Crochet, Treble and Half-Treble, and the Double Treble
- In these weeks, I was learning the stitches that I would need for any and all crochet projects I would ever attempt. I wanted my foundation skills to be strong.
- I created several videos and included several photos in each post to document my progress.
Additionally, I learned:
- The difference between UK and US Terms.
- How to count stitches and rows.
- What different ply and weight numbers were, and the differences between the UK, US, and AUS Terms are.
- The weight of yarn I could use for my projects.
- How to create Reel videos on Instagram (which I would then use to create and edit all of my subsequent videos).
Weeks 5 & 6
Learning Plushie Specific Skills: Plushie Fundamentals 101 & Plushie Fundamentals 102
- I learned how to do the magic ring/loop, slip stitch, front and back loops only, stitch increases, stitch decreases, and invisible stitch increases and decreases.
- I learned how and when to use stitch markers.
Creations
- I created the crochet rose during the “101” week.
Week 7
I created my first plushie! A Duck!
- I learned how to read a written pattern! (very important)
- I learned how to close up a plushie. (also pretty important)
Week 8
My second plushie: The Side-Eye Dino!
- I found out that embroidering was easier before the plushie had been stuffed.
- I learned that I need to double-check what terms (UK or US) the pattern is using!
- I learned how to re-connect yarn to a hole in order to create an appendage (like a tail) using a standing double-crochet stitch.
Week 9
I created mini versions of Deadpool and Wolverine!
- I learned how/found my own way to switch yarn colours on any crochet project.
- I learned that tension is very important when it comes to creating identical things that are the same size.
- I learned how to work with felt and got comfortable with working with it.
- I got slightly more comfortable with re-jigging a pattern to fit my needs/available resources.
Week 10
Plenty of Christmas Creations!
I created, or was beginning to create, a frog, another dino, a mini murder, a cat sweater, and a dishcloth.
- I created my very own pattern for a top hat! (Yes, it was small, but I am still proud of it.)
- I adjusted a Chihuahua pattern on the fly to meet the sizing requirements for my cat. (Big progress there!)
- I figured out how to crochet on the side of a piece that does not have defined stitches to go off of.
My Thoughts About Learning Online
For me, learning online is my strong suit and something that I honestly prefer doing. Yes, I do learn a lot from the classes that I have, face-to-face or Zoom, but I love to learn on my own time and at my own pace. Online spaces allow me to do that. I can also go down the rabbit holes that I want to go down rather than be forced to explore some rabbit holes at the surface level (if you know what I mean). For instance, the completely asynchronous classes that I have taken are ones that I have enjoyed the most. It is a curated group of resources and highlights about what I have to learn, and I have the freedom to dive in whenever I am ready to. Although, I will always miss the discussion parts of most face-to-face classes as they can reveal perspectives to me that I never would have thought of.
For my learning project specifically, I am grateful that I live in an age where I can find videos that physically show me exactly what I have to do for a technique. When it comes to skills like crocheting (or my old hobbies of dancing and skating), I learn better when I am physically shown a skill instead of having it described to me. My mother was jealous of me throughout this learning process, because she learns in a similar way and never had the technology that would have given her the same opportunities to learn crocheting. Without the video and picture resources I used, I would not have been able to get to the skill level where I could read the steps for a technique or pattern and understand exactly what I had to do.
I also recognize that online learning is not for everyone. If my method of learning does not work for you, I am sure that there are a bunch of people and groups out there that would be willing to help you and pass down their knowledge.
Final Thoughts
At the beginning of the semester, I truly did not believe that I would progress, or feel confident, enough to be able to create plushies. I remember the skill of crocheting plushies being deemed by many different sources as including some of the most difficult crochet techniques. I was definitely intimidated. However, I learned and absorbed crocheting knowledge faster than I could have dreamed to.
Despite all of my success, I am still not the biggest fan of doing the embroidery parts of the plushies as I do not feel that I am the best at it just yet. Realistically, I just need to get better by practicing, find alternatives, like felt, that can produce a similar product, or start creating pieces that do not involve embroidery. I mean… I found patterns for, and am planning to create, a cardigan and a couple of blankets, because they look cool and I want to see if I can pull off pieces that are really big. Maybe I will one day I will even be able to create my own patterns, but that’s still going to take some time.
I am grateful that this class gave me an opportunity, or rather forced me, to put aside some time for myself to cultivate a skill that I had been interested in learning for a very long time (and a skill that can get me out of having to stress out about actually buying people presents when I don’t know what they want). Thank you for this class, and thank you for this project!
This has been a long journey to the end of this class (and the year)! There was a lot for many of us to juggle with this class, other classes, and the things that were going on in our lives. Yet, we still made time to help out each other and contribute to one another’s learning.
Commenting on Blogs
I had a great time reading other’s blogs, especially their learning blogs. I loved seeing the successes and learning curves that everyone was going through just as I was going through my own. I also just really liked seeing all of the crafty things that others were pursuing/able to do. I mostly did read people’s learning blogs for those purposes, but I did try to go out of my way to comment on several people’s EDTC 300 blogs. I did like reading other people’s perspectives on the topics we were learning about, and I often found different perspectives that pointed out something that I hadn’t considered.
My goal for the semester was to comment on a minimum of 6 blog posts each week, and I succeeded at this. There was a part of me that wanted to comment more some weeks, but I knew that I had to put aside some time for creating my own blog posts. I logged copies of each of my comments on the linked document below. There are names and dates for each week that we were able to comment, although I maybe should have copied links and wrote out blog titles as well.
Discord Course Community
While I was worried about this aspect of the course at first, it wasn’t as daunting as I anticipated. Getting everything set up and ready to go was probably the worst part, and that wasn’t even that bad. However, keeping it running as intended was a struggle. I had downloaded Discord on my phone so that it would be easier, and faster, for me to reply to the questions that my fellow classmates asked. The notifications were working well, although I had to fiddle with my phone a bit to get them to work properly. Additionally, I had to go back and reset my notifications for the app no less than 3 times throughout the semester as they just decided to stop working. No other app on my phone has ever done this, so it was just plain weird. I have no idea how it kept happening.
Despite the spurts of time where I was not answering questions or involved in discussions on the Discord due to the notification issues, I think I contributed the best I could. I never had any questions about the course, so I just tried to answer the questions I could whenever I could. See the linked document below for a collection of screenshots of my Discord contributions. The photos are in chronological order. They are also in two documents, because I could not upload them as one whole document.
Miscellaneous Contributions
Other contributions that I have made are my analysis of educational articles within my regular EDTC blog posts. I think that I sufficiently analyzed and proposed good uses for each of the theories, concepts, and strategies that we encountered. I posted each of my blogs at the appropriate times (minus one week where I posted a day late, because of circumstances) so that my classmates would have a good amount of time to read and comment on my posts if they wanted to. Along with this, I think that I have sufficiently recommended and/or warned my classmates about the different sources and resources I encountered on both of my blogs.
I also feel like my Portfolio at large has been something that my classmates can look to as an example of how to set theirs up. Granted, a lot of its creation was done during my very first semester of my Bachelor’s Degree, but I have updated and revitalized it over time and for this class with the numerous resources and plans that I have accumulated since then. My Portfolio is now a place that others can hopefully gain resources and/or inspiration from.
There are probably some aspects that I am missing, but I do believe that all points outlined above include the bulk of my contributions to my classmates and the course community. Thank you for this class and what it has taught me!
My placement of the Frog’s legs.
There has been a lot going on in the past couple of weeks. Large snow storms, plans for family gatherings being set, me getting a month-long temp job, and more. While it has been a bit of a rough time, at least I could use all of the extra time I gained from being snowed in to start a bunch of crochet projects. However, it got so busy after those few days that I haven’t been able to finish most of them. A lot of them are quite close to becoming completed, but I just haven’t had the time or the motivation to do so. This is a bit odd since I apparently have the motivation to start new things, but it just is what it is.
Almost finished!!
As for the finished pieces, the first is this frog. The pattern was created by CabinInTheWoodsFR and I found it on the LoveCrafts website. It was easy to follow and outlined everything decently well. There were no reference pictures on this pattern other than the one on download page’s preview, so beginners should maybe try a different plushie or two before doing this one. In other words, get confident with reading and understanding patterns first.
Finished and looking dapper!
I think that the frog is cute! In terms of construction, this was a relatively easy project. It involved creating a large ball and then sewing a couple of very small pieces onto it. I did deviate from the pattern a little bit since I felt the pattern’s leg positioning looked too human, and I wanted to it look more like a frog. So, I just sewed the feet on the bottom and placed the back ones wider apart to give them a more frog-like look (as much as nubs for legs can actually do that). I also decided to use the plentiful felt that was left over from the Deadpool and Wolverine plushies to do the eyes instead of embroidering, because I felt that using the felt would be easier and take less time. I also added a top-hat because I felt that the frog needed an accessory. I think it looks quite dapper now. All I did for this was 5 double crochet stitches in a magic ring, 3 rounds of double crochet stitches in each stitch (5 total stitches in each of the 3 rounds), and 1 round of double crochet stitch increases in each stitch (10 total stitches in the round). This is in UK TERMS!
The sweater was almost finished here.
I also decided that my short-haired cat, Luna, needed a sweater so that she could brave the snow for longer. I followed this pattern by Niftynnifer’s Crochet & Crafts that I found on the ApronBasket website. The sweater was originally meant for a chihuahua, so I had to adjust it for my cat as I went. I was mostly successful. If I am going to be honest, the neck part of the sweater is a bit too long for her and I placed the stomach strap too far back on it. The sweater certainly works as intended, but it seems to just be a little too uncomfortable for her right now. I am trying to figure out some ways (and trying to find some time) to adjust the sweater so that the strap is less of a bother for her, but she is tolerating it (and me) for now. I truly do not know how well she will respond to this sweater over time, but I though it would be a fun thing for both me and her to try.
Luna with the pretty much finished sweater on!
As for the unfinished pieces, they are meant to be presents for my internship co-op teachers. I felt bad about not being able to gift them something last year, and I wanted to send them something this year to show my appreciation. I still am low on money due to the Inclusive Education Certificate that I am currently pursuing, but I now have a new skill that I can use to create something handmade that will hopefully come across as something more meaningful. Although, it is turning out to be more like a New Year’s gift with the mail strike and the fact that I might not finish everything before half of this month is over.
- The first unfinished creation is a dino that is in the Kipling school colours. I used the same pattern that I did with the last dino. I have this 90% done as I just need to embroider the blush and mouth. The frog is also meant to be a part of this gift, because frogs often represent wisdom and this co-op teacher had a lot of experience, taught me a lot, and is wise.
The front view of the unfinished Dino.
The side view.
- The second, third, and fourth unfinished creations are a mini murder of crows (yes, a group of crows is called a murder). Their bodies are finished, but, like the dino, I need to put some finishing touches on the faces. Eyes and beaks are all that’s left. I followed the duck pattern that I used for my very first crochet plushie creation.
The buttons in that lid are going to be their eyes!
- The last unfinished thing is the dishcloths. I wanted to give both of them something that could be used practically along with these plushies, and I figured that dishcloths would be something I could do that was faster and easier than other things. I used this pattern from Crochet Dreamz that I found on ApronBasket.
- I have created a test dish cloth. I switched the yarns too early, so the white border is a bit bigger than it should be. The stitches of the border also look lopsided due to the fact I did not place each stitch the exact same distance away from the edge of the piece.
- I also had to literally test this cloth as a dish cloth, because I do not have the best yarn. The cloth works just fine and is okay in the washer and dryer at normal/medium heat levels with other things. It did seem to shrink slightly, but it was not noticeable until I literally measured the length and width of it. Jeanette’s Blog Post did tell me that acrylic yarn is okay to machine wash as long as it is not going to get washed constantly, gets washed with other things, and is not dried on an extreme heat. If these things do happen it could get more rigid and less soft (it is the opposite of that right now). I mean, realistically the dish cloth being a little bit rigid is a good thing as that should help with getting rid of the hard stuff on dishes more easily.
My (mostly) successful test dish cloth. I used a yarn that changed colour as it went, and it somehow came out with this cool diagonal pattern!
Thank you for following my learning journey, and I hope you enjoyed seeing my creations as much as I enjoyed learning and making them!
Up Next: How Far I’ve Come
The AI that I chose for my test was Perplexity. I was intrigued by the search engine aspects of it and wanted to see how accurate it truly was. Admittedly, I was very skeptical at first, but I found that it was fairly accurate. Perplexity does give you a good snapshot of the answer you are looking for; however, the simplified answer it gives sometimes misses some crucial background information (in my opinion). Granted, I was only using the free version, so maybe the paid version will give that elaboration.
The Perplexity Home Page
Despite this issue, I think that Perplexity could be a really great starting point for students. Yes, the initial information that is given is lacking, but it also cites its sources and gives you access to a bunch of relevant links that provide even more information. This helps to somewhat combat the lack of context issue, but you actively have to click on and look at other sites to ensure that you would get the added information. Some people will not end up looking deeper, but you may be able to combat this particular issue by training students how to use Perplexity and what your specific guidelines are for its use.
The first half of one controversial question.
Another issue is that Perplexity, at times, really likes to cite Wikipedia. Although, it seems to avoid doing this unless you are looking up something more pop culture-related. The other sources it brings up are largely reliable (I got links to CDC webpages, Government of Canada webpages, Harvard webpages, research articles from PubMed, and more). The AI will also turn to relevant research articles instead of opinion pieces when it comes to biased, controversial questions. I asked Perplexity questions (based on hateful rhetoric I have heard) like “Do vaccines cause Autism?” and “Are minors getting gender affirming surgeries?”. The AI answered these questions will a bunch of reliable evidence and even formatted additional questions to go in a more productive, non-rage bait, not hate-filled, objective, and research-based direction. I did only play around with a couple of these questions, so maybe it will go wrong with other questions. However, there was only objective, research-based fact when it came to the questions I asked.
The second half of that controversial question.
Note: I have encountered students who have asked me these questions or ones like them, and, while they would take my word for it more times than not, it would have been nice to have something like this in my toolbox where I could pop their question in and give them the resources and knowledge they need to have an informed opinion.
Moving on… For students that struggle with Googling, getting started with assignments, or finding relevant and reliable resources for assignments, searching on Perplexity would be a great place to start. Students could use this to just figure out if there is enough information out there to support a thesis or write about a certain topic. They could use it to find all of the sources required for an assignment. They can use Perplexity to find differing theories and look into those further. Perplexity is everything that a regular search engine is, but it gives you an even better, and often more reliable, resource list than any Wikipedia article would likely have.
Relevant Questions related to a relevant question related to the controversial question.
However, you 100% will have to make it clear to your students that they cannot cite Perplexity itself due to the lacking context issue. Plus, the AI is pulling information from many sources and citing it right beside specific pieces of information. Giving the credit of that knowledge to Perplexity with proper sources right beside the generated information would just be plain wrong. It is also far more work to cite something that someone else has already cited as you have to show where the original idea or discovery came from.
The big question is: Would I allow the use of this AI in my classroom?
Explanation short, I would allow students to use Perplexity in my classroom. Just the fact that I am saying this does mean a lot. I don’t hate AI, but I certainly don’t trust it especially when it comes to search engine-type things. Despite my enthusiasm, I would absolutely have to train students on the proper use of the tool and ensure that I was clear on how I wanted them to use it. I would also try to ensure that students are double-checking the reliability of the sources that are recommended by Perplexity. The AI seems to have the ability to cite sources that are not always the most reliable, so I would want my students to be aware of what to look for to make sure that Perplexity is not leading them in the wrong direction. Essentially, if you have students that are old enough to properly use an AI like this once they understand your expectations for using it, there should be no problem with letting students use it.
The finished and stuffed Deadpool head.
As I mentioned last week, I realized that I needed to start thinking about some Christmas gifts for my family. I am currently a cash-poor student, so I wanted to find something that costed little but still felt like enough. My family won’t expect much from me as they know my financial situation, but I still wanted to give them something. I stumbled upon this new website, ApronBasket, that had a bunch of new and cool patterns. I found a bunch of blanket patterns and a sweater pattern that I liked, but I also found patterns for small Deadpool and Wolverine plushies that were created by eliyarnart. (These patterns are laid out well, are easy to follow, and have helpful pictures to ensure that you are on the right track. I would recommend these patterns to anyone who is interested.) I went to see the Deadpool and Wolverine movie with my Mom and Dad in Humboldt this summer, and I figured the plushies would be a cool memento of that.
I started with the Deadpool plushie, because the winged mask of Wolverine one was intimidating. Long story short, I accidentally picked the hardest one first.
The little legs.
The finished and stuffed legs and body.
The head of Deadpool was easy to start and complete as it was similar to the base of the other plushies that I had completed. The legs and body, however, were a rough time. I had issues with different tensions in both legs so they are different sizes unless you carefully mold them to look similar. I was not about to retry the one leg because switching the yarn colours (red to black and back) was painful. I originally used the method I learned from this YouTube short by HollyAuna (very informative, very clear), but I was worried about the ends not staying where they should. In the end, I just started tying knots when changing the yarn colours, because I could hide them on the inside of the plushie. I had to make the knot far away enough from the inside wall of the plushie so that I had some slack in the yarn to work with, but had to put it close enough that it did not mess with the tension of the next stitch. I was mostly successful at finding that happy medium.
Little arms.
The finished project (pink belt and all).
When I tell you that changing the colours was tedious, I mean it. I had to change colours every few stitches and had to double and triple check that I did the right number of stitches prior to switching colours, because I couldn’t exactly go back and fix it. The body realistically didn’t take me that long to do, but I would not want to do it again because of all of those colour changes
Finished and stuffed Wolverine head.
Less colour changes. Yes!!!!!
The arms were not as bad to do as it was only one colour change. However, I did stuff the arms even though the pattern told me not to. The flat arms just did not sit well with me, so I decided to just put a little bit of stuffing into the arms to get the exact shape I wanted. Sewing all of the parts together was easy to do as well, although I did poke myself a lot when I was sewing on the arms and the belt. (Also, the belt was supposed to be brown, but I only had peach. I figured that Deadpool wouldn’t care too much about that. Probably would make him feel more fabulous.) The eyes weren’t even that bad to do either even though I had to do some precise cutting. With some felt and fabric glue that I procured in Saskatoon on a recent trip (before all of the snow happened), I created a paper pattern that was the shape and size I wanted, cut the felt based on that, and glued everything together. I am proud of how it came together!
I marked the front of the plushie as well as the places for the stripes.
I had to pin the black felt as the glue dried, because it need to wrap around the head a bit.
Next came Wolverine, which I was able to finish much faster. Wolverine was much easier to do, although there still were a good amount of colour changes. There were colour changes in the legs and arms, but only one or two per appendage. The worst area was the face where Wolverine’s actual skin colour is supposed to show. Also, I had to adjust the number of stitches I was doing with my skin-colour yarn as the yarn I was using was a much smaller size. The math was difficult to do, but somehow not as frustrating as the yarn changing of Deadpool. I messed up on one of the skin colour rows, but I used the felt mask/eyes to hide that mistake, so it’s fineeeeeeee.
Wolverine’s assembly was also easy, although I did almost put the head on backwards (oops). I believe that the felt portions of this plushie are done pretty well too. I was worried about the black part not having the right size or shape, but I think my paper patterns and cutting skills were even better this time around!
Front view of the finished Wolverine.
Side view of the finished Wolverine.
Overall, I am very proud of my creations this week as they pushed me to learn a new skill, crossed some things off of my Christmas shopping list, and increased my crocheting skills overall.
Up Next: Christmas Gifts Intensify
Pic from U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Generally speaking, an educator could probably get fairly deep into and have discussions about mis- and disinformation with high school kids once everyone is caught up to speed on the basics of them and the internet. Some students will likely know about some of the tools that people use to create mis- and disinformation (if they are as chronically online as I was at that age). However, they still may not know how prevalent of an issue it is, what would even qualify as mis- and disinformation, or know any strategies to detect it. Activities and exercises such as the one we did in the previous class are things that I could use to show students how prevalent mis- and disinformation is as well as how hard it has become to detect. This lesson plan from Lowdown references much of what we did in that class and gives a rough framework for what steps I would take when it comes to teaching about digital literacy. It might be a good reference point to create age-appropriate adaptations from as well.
Pic from Jean-Marc Vittori.
Within the Grade 9-11 English curriculums, you certainly can make arguments in favour of including digital literacy (or sneaking it in in some way) into the lessons or a unit. If English class is supposed to be all about literacy, students should have opportunities to become literate in different forms of technology as well as on the internet. The internet (and digital technology) is such a big part of our lives, as I discussed in a previous blog post, and reading, writing, and communicating on the internet is very different than writing a short story or answering some comprehension questions. Hence, we need time and specific lessons dedicated to practicing and learning digital literacy.
There are several indicators that you can point to in each curriculum I mentioned, less so in Grade 9, that I would use to back up lessons about digital literacy. For instance, I would argue that the first CR indicator for all senior grades (the one referencing idenitiy, social responsibility, and social agency) encompass the intent and aim of teaching digital literacy. A more specific curriculum example I can give involves the Grade 11 curriculum’s second suggested unit. The “Moving Forward” or “Growing to Adulthood” unit is certainly where digital literacy and mis- and disinformation can be learned about and examined. If our students are going to become socially responsible and critically thinking adults online, they need to “grow into adulthood” with a good level of digital literacy. The digital world will be part of and will impact their future lives, so they need to know how to navigate it.
Graphic from artvea / DigitalVision Vectors / Getty Images.
Regardless of what grade you are beginning to teach digital literacy to, there are a few things that need to be addressed before you get into Lowdown’s Lesson Plan. Like I said at the beginning of this post, some students will have some knowledge of what is fake and what is not but others will be completely lost. Students need to be taught, or review, what “Fake News” (mis- and disinformation) is and what it can look like. You can use this Dynamic Landscapes site to look at the types of mis- and disinformation as well as the reasons why someone might create, post, share, or re-post mis- and disinformation. It might be a bit much for students to grasp at first, but I believe it gives good definitions that students can look back on. After this, I believe it is best to go over why people may fall for fake news, especially because students will likely have some questions about it. Also, it is important to go over the biases that each of us may hold that will possibly influence us to not look deeper into a source. TRU Library’s page details all of this with YouTube links on those topics embedded right in the page!
Pic from APass.
In terms of the NCTE framework, what I have mentioned here covers a couple of the main points. This would include the points about examining and creating information and amplifying or countering narratives. However, I believe that what I have outlined here would lay the foundations for the points that involve more critical thinking practices, participating responsibly in internet communities, and culturally responsive interactions with others online. There is so much that can, and needs to, be taught to our students about digital literacy.
This is the half-completed dino body.
If I’m going to be honest, I was kind of disappointed with the fact that the duck from last week was so small. I should have completely expected it as the final size was mentioned in the pattern, but I was still kind of shocked at how small it was. To ensure that I would create something a bit larger, I decided to choose the Mini Dino pattern made by Handmade by Ani that I had found on the LoveCrafts website. I loved how the finished examples of the plushie looked, and I wanted to create one for myself.
Embroidering was much easier with the ability to flatten the main piece.
I got off to a rough start, because I somehow started the plushie by going in the wrong direction. I am right-handed, so I crochet right-to-left. For a plushie, that means that I would be looking at the outside of it while rotating the plushie counter-clockwise as I work on it. The opposite would happen for people who are left-handed. I apparently unconsciously decided that I wanted to do it the left-handed way, and I ended up doing a couple of rounds before realizing that I was straining to look at the inside of the plushie (which is a no-no). I could have maybe continued on this way, but it would have just caused me a lot of issues later on and I wanted to avoid that.
Front view of the fully completed and stuffed body.
My other part of the rough start was not completely realizing that the terminology for this pattern was in UK terms, unlike the Duck pattern which was in US terms. I was very confused for a few rounds and ended up decreasing when I should have been doing a regular double crochet stitch. Lesson Learned: Double check what terminology is used and ensure you know what each abbreviation actually stands for on each and every pattern.
On the plus side, I had a much easier time with the embroidery. I did not poke myself nearly as much, and I felt that this face (especially the eyes) turned out better than the Duck’s did. I am very proud of the progress that I made there. Additionally, the stitching of the body went very smoothly, and I was confident in my ability to do that throughout the piece. I quite enjoyed the process of doing it too.
The 4 spikes.
Unfortunately, the good times were not going to last. I decided to skip the tail and do the spikes first. I had a lot of issues getting the spikes done as I was keeping the tension too tight, and the purple yarn that I used was really dark (which made it hard to see all of the individual strands unless it was under intense light). I kept having too many or not enough stitches in a round, and I was frustrated by time I finished them. If you look closely enough at the pictures, you can tell which one of the spikes got a little messed up because of these issues and me accepting defeat. It’s not horrible, just slightly noticeable. Then came the challenge of the tail.
The beginning of the dino’s tail.
I should note that the pattern was relatively easy to follow. Most of the things in it were things that I had already encountered, and it was laid out very well for a beginner crocheter and pattern-reader. However, the tail part of the dino started with a standing double crochet stitch. I had no idea what that looked like or what it was and I was stressing out real bad over it. I had to take a break from crocheting for a few days for reasons beyond my control, so I was stressed about it for longer than I needed to be. Handmade by Ani, the pattern creator, had a couple of linked videos that they suggested I use for this process, and I was at least glad for that direction.
When I finally sat down to attempt this new stitch, I was very confused. There were two videos linked and described similarly, so I did not know which one to pick. I just went with the first one, and that was a mistake. Knot too Shabby Crochet-Melanie’s video is probably a good one, but it did not help me with what I was trying to do. It just confused and frustrated me more as it did not explicitly explain a standing double crochet stitch. I crossed my fingers as I clicked on the second link, and it definitely did not let me down. Tamara Kelly – Moogly explained clearly and concisely how to do the standing double crochet stitch, and I caught on quickly. All I had to do was a slip knot and then a regular double crochet stitch. So much stress for something that ended up being so simple.
The big holes before.
The non-holes after.
The rest of the assembly went well. I finished up the tail easily, used some extra yarn on the end of it to cover up some of the larger holes around the tail, and began to sew the spikes on the dino’s back. I used an X or crossing pattern on the spikes to lock down the sides of each spike, and then I went up and down to secure the fronts and backs of each spike. Safe to say that those spikes aren’t coming off anytime soon.
The spikes pinned into place.
Overall, I am proud of this plushie, especially the embroidery. The side-eye was kind of an accident but I think that makes it look even better. It gives the dino character as one of my family members said. Despite the frustrations I had, I think that I would create another dino. Now that I know what to expect, this pattern is not as daunting as it was before.
Finished Dino from the front.
Finished Dino from the side.
Up Next: Plushies as Christmas Gifts??
Pic from WhatIsMyIPAddress.com.
When it comes to someone saying something unfavourable online, it can be so easy to get caught up in the tsunami level wave of cyber-shaming. I admit that I have definitely gotten caught up in it myself at times. I have never justified using racism, sexism, etc. against the people that made a mistake, I have called out the people who have done this, but I have been unforgiving of the main person being cyber-shamed in the past. I have not posted many of these shaming thoughts as I mostly just kept them to myself or voiced them to friends. As I continue to grow and be a better person, I am mentally calling myself out whenever I get swept up in the tsunami.
I am someone that does believe in giving people chances to grow (i.e. second chances), because I am someone who needed those chances in order to learn that the biases I held previously were wrong and bigoted. I believe that people should absolutely be called out when they say or do something racist, for example, but, after some reflection following our last class, I really do not like the mass shaming and cyber-vigilantism that happens when people make mistakes. I would want to be given the grace to learn from that mistake rather than have that single moment defining my entire life for the foreseeable future and impacting all my future opportunities. In other words, give me the opportunity to show that I can learn, will continue to learn, and will always strive to be better. And if I want that opportunity to be given to me, I should definitely be giving it to others.
Pic from Tomas Kucera.
I do want to note that the people I am mentioning are making mistakes. The people that purposefully and actively spew hate on the internet for views, clicks, or for whatever other reason need to have their accounts deleted. If that person is in a profession like teaching and spewing that type of hate online, I would definitely want their employer to consider that person’s employment since they are likely in close contact with students belonging to the demographics they hate (those kids do not deserve to feel unsafe in school). There are so many voices spewing hate and bigotry on the internet right now, and social media companies need to be doing something about this. However, they won’t because the drop in engagement on their platforms would hurt their bottom line. (At least, that’s the pessimistic view I hold.)
The biggest question I am wrestling with is: “What is the line between mistake and purposeful hate?”. Further, “What punishments should be given to people who purposefully spew hate and how severe should they be?”.
Graphic from Fernanda.
Additionally: What is the line between genuine criticism and cyber-shaming? Social media platforms can’t seem to get it right, and their AIs often take down videos that call out things like corruption or mistreatment of certain groups of people. (Sometimes this feels like/seems to be a purposeful silencing, but that is another topic for another day.) Everyone seems to have a different line that they draw, and there really isn’t any line that seems to properly fit a majority of peoples’ vision. What metaphorical “line” would allow us to protect genuine criticism but crack down on cyber-shaming? There really is no good answer for this unfortunately.
I am sure that I have many more questions related to these topics that I can’t recall right now, and I will have to take the time to think over my views and opinions on them. Also, the internet changes fast, so my opinion on any of this could change as those shifts happen. My views will also shift as I experience and see more of the world. I am only 22 so there are still plenty of things for me to see, experience, and understand. To put it into other words, my views on/personal answers for these questions will never be fixed and will change with the times. However, I do believe I will stand firm on my belief that we all deserve second chances that will allow us to learn and be better in the future.
The upside-down duck head.
As you maybe guessed from the title of this post, my first plushie creation is a duck! (What makes the title even funnier is that I don’t have any grapes at the moment.)
The rubber duck-like plushie seemed like a good place to start. It seemed like a small plushie and the pattern had simple techniques that I felt I could execute well. The pattern made me feel like it would be hard to find something to mess up and easy to fix any mistakes I made. For a beginner plushie-maker, this eased my already high anxiety.
Most of the duck’s body.
The Daisy the Duck pattern was posted onto the LoveCrafts site by creator FollowTheYarn. The pattern was free and came in an easily accessible PDF format. The pattern is very short, as the duck is meant to easily fit in your palm, so the steps themselves only cover 2 of the 4 pages. The other 2 pages contain a list of necessary materials, what each of the abbreviations in the pattern stand for, and a very large final project picture. Speaking of pictures, there were plenty of pictures showing several of the different stages of the duck’s creation. This also helped to ease my anxiety, because I could reference those photos to ensure that I was on the right track. Above all, this was a decent pattern for a beginner like me to start their plushie journey with. (Minus the beginner-unfriendly issues that I describe below.)
Had to add some stuffing next!
There were several roadblocks that I came across (which any great journey contains). Due to plushies being circular or circle-adjacent, I needed to use a stitch marker to ensure that I knew where I was at in each round/row and when to switch to the next one. I found that also counting the stitches in each round after I had finished it, and ensuring that the final total matched what the pattern said, was a good way of double-checking my work. (I thank myself for learning how to count stitches and use stitch markers before this point.) I thought that these strategies and the skills I learned before would be all I needed to execute the pattern properly. Oh, how I was wrong.
This is round 3. It reads: 1 single crochet first, 1 single crochet increase second, and repeat that 6 times. The 18 just states the number of stitches that you should have when you are done that round.
The first actual roadblock I faced was just reading the pattern itself. I got to Round 3 and thought, “What the heck is this?” (This was maybe said in more colourful language. Probably.). I had no idea what the brackets or the comma meant, but I at least knew that single crochet stitches and single crochet stitch increases were involved. I searched in desperation for help and found Amy’s Amigurumi Adventure’s video. Their video not only taught me how to read that exact round of the pattern, but also taught me the exact meanings for the brackets, the comma, and the number at the end of everything. I applied this new knowledge as I was following the rest of the pattern. Crisis #1 averted.
This is the completed body of the duck.
Crisis #1.5 was a mixture of tension issues and large spaces between stitches. I originally blamed the yarn for its strands splitting apart and causing me issues, but, in hindsight, I think I was just making the tension wayyyyy too tight. Also, I wanted to ensure that the holes were small, but I think I was just being really picky because none of the stuffing has decided to pour out of them yet. I think that I was also too harsh with the larger holes that were caused by the increases and decreases (compared to the regular stitches). I did a comparison between the regular and invisible versions after I finished the duck (I used the invisible versions on the duck even though it was not specifically called for), and I definitely made the best choice to get the smallest holes. Crocheting is always going to leave behind some holes, and I just gotta deal with that.
I had to pin the beak in place since I needed my hands in other places.
Crisis #2 came when I had to close up the plushie. I had assumed that the pattern would guide me through that process, but, much to my dismay, it did not. Once again, I had to look to an outside source for help. I decided to head back to the Woobles tutorial page, since I knew for sure that I could find what I needed there. I was surprised to find no video when I clicked on the How to finish amigurumi link, but the 4 pictures with short, well-explained text under each were easy enough to understand, and I had my duck closed up in no time.
Beak on and one eye done!
The last steps were to create the beak and sew it and some eyes on to the duck’s face. The pattern called for button eyes, but I felt like I could embroider them decently enough. I also did not want to go downstairs to raid my mother’s button jar and probably not find matching eye-buttons anyways. Admittedly, the sewing and embroidery were probably the hardest parts of this plushie as I have not really practiced my embroidery skills at any point in my life. I was also doing this on a piece that was not flat, so that added to the difficulty level. The beak may be a little bit crooked and the eyes a little beady, but I think that I still did a pretty good job for my first real try at something like this.
Overall, I am proud of my palm-sized duck plushie. There was a lot that I had to learn in a short time, but I didn’t give up mid-plushie nor when I poked myself with the embroidering needle many, many times. There are kinks in my process that I have to work out still, but I am still excited to try another plushie!
Up Next: Doug the Mini-Dino
Distinguished Duck Cat.
