Category: Learning Project (Page 1 of 2)

So, this is the last one, the final post of my crochet pattern-making journey. I am happy with how my learning project turned out, I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone to make adorable creations and it was absolutely worth it! I’ve learned some new techniques for crocheting, which opens a door of possibility for things to make. I had a lot of fun crocheting, it was nice to take a break from studying to crochet and even nicer that it was still for school.

Below is my outlined journey:

Week 1: Beginning of my Learning Project

• I laid out my plan for the semester as well as my goals
• Mentioned a few resources I would be using this semester

Week 2: A New Bloom

• Getting back into the basics and getting a refresher while also making something new
• learned how to make fluffy flower petals by making almost 5 stitches into 1

Week 3: A Big Yarn Sprout

• Challenged myself with a much larger Halloween project
• Made a few mistakes, I chose the pattern specifically for the bumps in the pumpkin without checking they weren’t sewed.
• Used a pdf pattern! Just went slow to make sure I was reading the abbreviations right

Week 4: Visme and the SAMR Model

• Used a new online tool: Visme, to document my process so far and set my goals for the future
• Also finished the pumpkin from last week

Week 5: A Little Bunny

• Decided to keep using pdf patterns, but increased the difficulty this time by making a full stuffy
• I used a new resource for patterns called Apron Basket
• Altered part of the pattern to see my beginning skills of pattern making

Week 6: Bunny Fashion

• Used the same bunny pattern and stuffy to try creating a pattern
• Made super cute little overalls for the little bunny and an awesome pattern!

Week 7: Bunny Fashion Pt 2

• Free-styled a Christmas jacket for the same bunny
• Was busy this week so a small update post

Week 8: The Grinch’s Ugly Cousin?

• Used a new resource, Amigurumi Cat to find a pdf pattern
• Tried making a grinch stuffy, I didn’t end up finishing him because I messed up on a few stitches and made him look all wonky. We all make mistakes though so that’s okay!

Week 9: Christmas Gnome

• Learnt a new way to start
• I used Instagram as a reference and made a pattern for a gnome that my mum requested
• The gnome looks good but I needed to focus on stitch size because there were holes
• Learned that I needed to fix my uneven increasing stitches on my patterns

Week 10: Christmas Gnome Part 2

• Found the perfect video to help with stitch size
• Learnt about tension and made a second gnome without looking at the pattern for the first gnome to look for improvement
• I improved dramatically, I focused on my tension and even spread out my increasing stitches to make the hat look nice and straight

That brings us to now! I am incredibly happy with how much my skills improved as well as my work. Even from week 9-10 there was a major difference once I started to focus on my tension. There was even a point where I was teaching my mum how to make a little glasses holder for my dad for Christmas, and I made her the beginning of the pattern to get her started!! So I even taught my mum how to crochet!

I hope you all enjoyed my crochet projects this semester, and thank you for all the compliments (My bunny Blizz was a huge hit!) and support through this class. I hope you all have an amazing Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!

Here are resources I used over the semester for my learning project

Apron Basket

Amigurumi Cat

TikTok

Pinterest

YouTube

Instagram

Visme

Ribblr

So, like I did last week, I made a gnome this week! As I said last week, I wanted to work on keeping my increasing stitches consistent as well as keeping the stitch size consistent. So I started researching and came across the MOST helpful video, please if you crochet, watch this video.

This video is amazing! Even though I know how to crochet, this video still taught me a few neat tricks. She explained each tip/common mistake then showed examples of what it can look like, and how to use the correct technique. The video was clear, and perfectly explained everything.

The first thing she went over was tension. Tension is the amount of pull on the yarn while crocheting. If you look at the image the string  that the red arrow is pointing at, that string is connected to your ball of yarn. The pull on the yarn, is how hard you tug on that string as you’re crocheting. If there is too much tension, then the piece will become firm and unmovable. If there is not enough tension, then there will be holes in your piece. When I was talking about stitch size, the tension is what I meant.

She also mentioned that a common mistake is going over instead of under. Looking at the yellow arrow is going under to grab the yarn, the green arrow shows how the hook goes over the yarn. I realized watching this video that I have been going over instead of under, which actually isn’t too much of an issue. It simply changes how your stitches look.

So after learning more about tension and understanding how it works, I focused on keeping a consistent tension on the yarn. I also focused on my increasing stitches as I said last week. So for this week I decided to make another gnome, without looking at the first pattern and making a new one to see my improvement!

Here is my pattern for my second gnome!

Body

R1: with red, chain 4, ss into 1st chain, chain 2, then hdc 10 into small circle

R2: inc x10 (20)

R3: BLO hdc x20 (20)

R4: (hdc x4, inc) x4 (24)

R5-R7: hdc x24 (24)

Fasten off

Arm X2

R1: with desired skin color, hdc 6 into magic circle

R2: 6 hdc, inc (7)

R3: switch to red, hdc x7 (7)

R4: hdc x7 (7), Fasten off leaving long tail to sew

Nose

R1: with desired skin color, chain 4, ss into 1st chain, chain 2, then hdc 10 into small circle

R2: hdc x10 (10), Fasten off leaving long tail to sew

Hat

R1: with green, chain 3, ss into 1st chain, chain 1, then hdc 6 into small circle (6)

R2: hdc x6 (6)

R3: switch to white, (2 hdc, inc) x2 (8)

R4: hdc x8 (8)

R5: switch to green, (3 hdc, inc) x 2 (10)

R6: hdc x10 (10)

R7: switch to white, (4 hdc, inc) x2 (12)

R8: hdc x12 (12)

R9: switch to green, (5hdc, inc) x2 (14)

R10: hdc x14 (14)

R11: switch to white, (6 hdc, inc) x2 (16)

R12: (7 hdc, inc) x2 (18)

R13: switch to green, (8 hdc, inc) x2 (20)

R14: (9 hdc, inc) x2 (22)

R15: switch to white, FLO inc x22 (44)

After comparing both patterns, I made the hat almost 4 rounds larger than the first. This is because I steadily increased the hat, instead of increasing and adding a ton of stitches right away, I slowly added stitches which made the hat a nice smooth shape. The tension on this gnome is amazing though, I feel like I did a great job to keep the tension consistent. Although I do not like the arms for this gnome, if I were going to make another one, I would have made the arms smaller and less bulky.

I think the second gnome turned out great… except for the arms, we can ignore those! The hat is amazing, I secured it down so it would look floppy and it’s super cute!

Gnome 2!!!

Since there are only a few weeks left, I want to focus on making patterns. So this week my mum asked me to make a few gnomes for presents. So, my goal this week was to make a gnome! My mum sent me an Instagram reel for what she wanted and told me I could do whatever I felt like.

Theresascrochetshop‘s gnome

So for this gnome, I wanted to try using a different stitch. This is because the gnome is going to be larger, so using a larger stitch will make the process faster! I used a half-double crochet stitch for the entire gnome and made it in 5 pieces, so it does need to get sewn together. Many crocheters like to make no sew patterns, where you don’t need to sew each arm, leg, etc. This is so that the finished product is more seamless. I like that technique but my issue is that if your stitches aren’t all the same size then the front of the piece could have big holes where the other side wouldn’t. Simply put, by not making it a no-sew pattern, I get to decide which side of the body, hat, or arm should be at the front.

Here is the pattern I made for the gnome,

Body

With red, Starting chain 4, slip stitch into the first chain and then chain 2 from that slip stitch.

R1: into small circle, hdc x10 (10)

R2: inc x10  (20)

R3: hdc x20 BLO (20)

R4: (hdc x4, inc) x4 (24)

R5-R6: hdc x24 (24)

Fasten off

Arms X2

R1: with desired skin color, sc 6 into magic circle

R2: (sc, inc) x3 (9) 

R3: switch to red, sc x9 (9) 

R4: sc, dec, sc 2, dec, sc (6) 

R5: sc 6 (6)

R6: (sc, dec) x2

Fasten leaving tail to sew

Nose

R1: with skin color, start chain 3, slip stitch into the first chain and then chain 1 from that slip stitch, hdc 10 into small hole (10)

R2: hdc x 10 (10)

Fasten leaving tail to sew

Hat 

R1: with white, Start chain 3, slip stitch into the first chain and then chain 1 from that slip stitch, hdc 6 into small hole (6)

R2: hdc x6 (6)

R3: switch to green, (hdc 2, inc) x2 (8)

R4: hdc x8 (8)

R5: switch to white, (hdc, inc) x4 (12)

R6: hdc x12 (12)

R7: switch to green, (hdc 2, inc) x4 (16)

R8: hdc x16

R9: switch to white, (hdc 3, inc) x4 (20)

R10: hdc x20 (20)

R11: switch to green, inc x20 (40)

Fasten leaving a long tail to sew.

Now I know that it looks confusing for those who don’t crochet, but that’s okay! These patterns I am making are not for beginner crocheters to use. I definitely recommend using a video for a pattern instead of a written pattern as a beginner.

So I think the gnome turned out very well, (my mum loved it so it got mom approved!) when I make the next one, I want to try something different with the hat, making it longer or curving it more maybe. My goal for the next gnome is to work on increasing, if you look closely at the hat, there are a few rows that look like they’re jutting out. This is either because my stitch sizes were off a little on those rows or the way I increased the gnome created those weird curves. My stitches could also be off because I used half-double crochet stitches which I’m not used to. Anyway I’m excited for the next gnome, I really hope you guys like this one!

My Gnome!!!

This week, I decided to use a pattern for a new project so that I could learn a few new techniques for making my patterns.

This week, I decided to make a Grinch stuffy. I was searching Pinterest for inspiration when I came across a super cute crochet Grinch stuffy. So, I decided to try it! Although I found the link for the pattern on Pinterest, the pattern itself was uploaded to a website called Amigurumi Cat. Amigurumi Cat is a website led by Abbey Gloria, where she uploads free amigurumi crochet patterns. I enjoyed browsing the website, it’s very organized and appealing. Each pattern is nicely written, which makes it very easy to follow. If you are ever looking for free crochet patterns for a stuffy, I highly recommend using Amigurumi Cat.

Head and Body part of Grinch pattern

From this pattern, I learned a new technique! Notice how in the image of the Grinch stuffy, you can see the cheeks are puffed out to give him big round cheeks. My technique is to increase the amount of stitches in that area, which still works very well. For this pattern, she still increased the stitches but used a half-double crochet instead of a regular single crochet to increase. Half double crochets are taller than single crochets, so using them instead makes the cheeks bigger. This is a great technique to have as it can be used in various different ways.

Below you can see the top of the head and the protruding cheek with the half-double crochets.

Top of Grinch’s head

Although this pattern was super cute, I didn’t fully finish the grinch, I think this week was a success. The new technique with the cheeks is so helpful and I will definitely be using it in the future. Here is my Grinch that I made, he definitely isn’t as cute as the one in the pattern, i didn’t fully finish him even though I got very close, I just wasn’t loving the color, it wasn’t giving Grinch. But here he is so you can see him!

The Grinch’s Ugly Cousin?

For this week, I wasn’t too sure how I wanted to approach making a pattern. I realized that in order to continue learning how to make patterns. I needed to see where my skills were at. So this week, I decided to freestyle a little Santa jacket for my bunny.

Although I did not use any resources so this is just a small update post, but this week I realized that I need to keep developing my skills so that I can make patterns. I am happy with the jacket, I think it turned out super cute (not to toot my own horn), but the way that it fits on the bunny is a bit funny, so I need to learn how to size different projects. This means that I need to learn different ways to attach pieces, as well as how to increase and decrease rounds correctly. Overall, I need to keep learning more crocheting skills, so that I have different methods for a variety of projects.

Here is the bunny all dressed up, I have decided to name him Blizz like Blizzard, because he’s now a white Christmas bunny!

Blizz the bunny!!!

So for this week I knew I wanted to try making my own pattern, something a little simple and not too crazy. I was showing my roommates my last project. I showed her how the scarf and hat come off and she had the great idea for me to make clothes for the bunny. So this week I made overalls!

Below is my pattern that I made

Pant leg X2

R1: Chain 15

R2: sc back into the first chain and sc 14 (15)

R3: (sc 2, inc) x5 (20)

R4: sc 20 (20)

Fasten off the first leg and repeat for the second but do not fasten off

Overalls

R1: sc into the first stitch of the first pant leg, sc 19 in first leg, 21 in the second (40)

R2: sc 40 (40)

R3: (sc 9, dec, sc 7, dec) x2 (36)

R4: sc 17, then chain 2 and skip two stitches, sc 17 (36)

R5: (sc 4, dec) x2, sc 3, dec, sc 5, dec, (sc 4, dec) x2 (30)

R6: (sc 3, dec) x6 (24)

R7: sc 4, (chain 1, then turn and sc 6) x3 

Fasten off. 

Strap

Slip stitch into the top corner and chain 6, slipstitch and tie off to the other side. Repeat for the other strap

For the overalls, I used the bunny pattern to see the size that the overalls needed to be, as they needed to fit over the bunny. I did this by constantly looking back at the pattern to see how many stitches I should have, and used the bunny to make sure everything was fitting. For example, when I was planning on how to make the legs, I made them similar to how the bunny’s legs were made. I made two separate legs and then connected them together to make them on piece.

After every round, I kept putting the overalls back on the bunny to make sure everything was looking good. I kept referring back to the original pattern while making my own pattern. I did have a few issues, I made a few mistakes when writing down my pattern and had to take out multiple rounds to make sure everything was okay.

There were a few things I had to improvise, as I was making them I forgot about the bunny’s tail, and I had to make a hole. There was a very easy solution, I again used the techniques from the original pattern and easily made a hole for the tail.

The process of making the pattern was extremely tedious, especially having to take the overalls on and off the bunny after every round, but I think the overalls turned out amazing! In my future projects I want to use new resources for new clothes for the bunny where I can not use the original bunny pattern, further challenging myself. If anyone has any suggestions for what clothes I can make for this guy then please leave a comment!

The Finished Overalls!!!

For this week, I decided to challenge myself with a larger project, but slightly altering the pattern. I used Pinterest to find a free PDF pattern and found a link to a crochet website called Apron Basket. Apron Basket is a platform where crocheters can upload their patterns for others to use for free.  The pattern I found, was a cute winter bunny plushie.

The creator of the pattern, Bella Hardwyn, created an amazing pattern. The pattern was very clear and well-written. She explained each extra step and gave pointers for what to do if you are struggling which was very helpful. Each piece was laid out and clear, and there were a few reference photos to show what the piece should look like when finished.

Here are a few screenshots of the pattern, you can see how the pattern is organized so it is clear what part you’re working on, as well as examples of what the pieces should look like.

There are many patterns where you need to sew on the pieces, like the arms for example. In this pattern, the arms were crocheted into the body making it seamless and easy to follow instead of making the entire body and then trying to attach the arms. This method is useful and I am going to keep it in mind for future projects.

Since I decided to alter the pattern that I used this week, I chose to alter the hat. For my project, I extended the hat so that it would be a Santa hat instead. I did this by using the original pattern, but including an extra round in between each step to extend it. This worked out extremely well and I am very happy with the result.

In my future projects, I want to use various platforms for inspiration for projects instead of using patterns. My next few projects may not be as pretty, but I will keep working towards creating my own patterns that are as cute as this bunny.

If anyone has any suggestions for projects, please leave a comment!!!

For this week’s assignment, we were required to choose a new tool to display our progress in our learning project. I decided to use Visme; an online platform that allows you to make an animated video. Visme is similar to PowerPoint and Canva, where you can edit multiple pages with animations and music to make a video. I believe Visme is a useful tool for the classroom and students.

There is a premium version of Visme, but you absolutely do not need to buy it. The only downside is that you cannot download the animated video to your device, but you can share it as a link. Visme can be used to have animated pictures, similar to Canva, or you can make an animated video with music. The best part of Visme is that you can choose a template for your project. After choosing a template, you can start playing with the controls.

Visme when working on a project

First, you want to edit each page, and have every piece on the page. This is easy to do as you can group elements on the page, and hide them from view so it is easier to work.  There are hundreds of elements and shapes to choose from on the left side tab; you can add your own images as well as Visme’s images and shapes. After having all of your elements laid out on your page, you want to draw your attention to the timeline at the bottom. The timeline is where you can animate the elements, organize when each element will be on the page, and edit the music.

The Timeline and Animation Options

There are several animations to choose from, each element can have it’s own animation. The timeline is also where you can troubleshoot and view your video as your making it. I highly recommend doing this as you will most likely have to move your elements around while working on the timeline, so troubleshooting and re-checking as you go is a must. For the audio, you could add a song, or even a voice recording if it is a presentation.

I believe that Visme can be very useful in the classroom. Students can use Visme for projects and presentations, while educators can use it for fun lessons. On the SAMR Model, I think Visme would fall under the Augmentation and Modification category.

For students, Visme can be an excellent tool for presentations when the student is absent. If the student uses their own recorded voice for the audio, the student would not need to be there for presentations. Although it is very important for students to learn public speaking through in-class presentations, Visme can be used as a tool so that there does not have to be presentation class time. Instead, the time can be used for other classes.

For educators, Visme can be used when they will not be present. They can use their own audio to teach lessons without them being there, while making the presentation fun and exciting for students. For educators, Visme would fall under the Augmentation category of the SAMR Model because content made in Visme can be shared between educators as well.

Visme does have a few downsides, as a PowerPoint presentation does not take as long as a Visme presentation. If it is a longer presentation, it would be beneficial to use the easier and simpler platform. As well as for younger students, Visme may be too lengthy and complicated of a platform to use, but could be very beneficial to secondary students.

In conclusion, I enjoyed using Visme to document my progress in my learning project. Although it was a very lengthy process to learn how to use the platform. Below is my Visme link to my learning project documentation.

My Learning Project through Visme

For this week, I decided on a much larger project. I decided to use only a PDF pattern for my instructions. I used Pinterest to look at ideas for my weekly project. I decided to make something Fall—and Halloween-themed, so I found a free pattern for a cute pumpkin!

PDF Pattern of a super duper cute pumpkin pillow.

As I started this project, I realized it was much larger and would take longer than a week, so although I didn’t finish, I am excited to share. I wanted to learn how to only follow the pattern with all of the abbreviations.  The PDF I found did have a table showing all of the abbreviations which was very helpful.  My pumpkin project ended up not being finished, I am about 3/4 of the way through the project.

Almost Finished Pumpkin!!!

So here I have the main pumpkin, it has not been stuffed yet and I am a little disappointed because I followed the pattern exactly and I do not see the same curves and bumps as in the reference photos. I may have made a mistake going through the pattern but, the look of the pumpkin could change when I stuff and close it. I still have to finish the top of the pumpkin as well as the sprout, but I will post the completed pumpkin on my next learning project post!

I am very happy with the progress I am making. I want to start making Christmas presents soon, so get ready to see a lot of different creations!

So this was my second week of crocheting, and I wanted my first project to be cute and fun that could catch me up on the basics. So I went on YouTube and found a video on making a simple flower.

I had never made a flower prior to this one so I was a little nervous but, as soon as I started I got into the flow of it. The creator of the video Crochet Pink Pumpkin made the video very easy to understand and she went through every single stitch explaining what to do. Other than a gaining a refresher of crocheting from this video, my new skill this week was learning how to make the petals. My flower does not look exactly the same as hers, as she used a fluffier yarn than I did.

After making the flower, I wanted to add a stem because I wanted to make the flower a little decoration for my dorm. So I went on TikTok to look for some ideas, which I have never used for crocheting before. I found a video where a girl was making tulips with fluffy yarn. I loved the look of the stem so I decided to wing it and see what I could do.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMhr7PU7b/

Above is the link to the TikTok I watched.

So I ended up creating a small bulky stem and used the same technique for the petals as leaves on the stem. The flower turned out absolutely amazing and I was so happy with it that I made more and gave them little loops so I could hang them in the common space of the dorm!

The first flower I made!!

I am super excited for my next project and if anyone could give me any ideas that would be great!