Crocheted Lion

"My friend Tappy made this cute little lion.  I wanted to share it with everyone.  Under the picture, you'll find a little excerpt from her.  Enjoy! 

 "I got the pattern from the book Vanna's Choice easy crochet critters and used lion brand worsted weight yarn (weight 4) and crochet hook size G-6. It took me a couple days to make. I started slow the first day, only getting half the body done and finished the rest on the second day, which took maybe over a couple hours.  This is the fifth doll I've made. I learned to crochet in April after getting a crochet book (Creepy Cute Crochet) for my birthday. I'm still learning and only know the basics so far."

"My next project is the corporate zombie in the Creepy Cute Crochet book.  This one will be more difficult because it has fringe hair and some other little details. But hopefully it'll turn out well."

Tappy

My First Knitted Bib

I was trying to find an easy bib pattern on Ravelry and I came across this pattern by
 Kris Knits.  
I altered her directions slightly and this is what I came up with.  (Click on the link to get directions).  I used Lily's Sugar 'n Cream, natural on size 6 needles.

I wish the picture was better but it was taken by my phone's camera.  I am not a photographer in any way.  I decided to give it to my dear friend's little baby girl, Maura.  She's too little to use it now but she will be able to when she is ready to eat table food.  I'm also going to make different sizes and variations of this bib.  It truly was so easy and it took no time at all to do it.  

Bandages, Bandages, Bandages

My daughter has recently become allergic to the adhesive and the latex in bandages. So when she gets a boo-boo, we have to wrap her in gauze. After a while, it got a little bit too expensive! There had to be a cheaper, greener way. And there is! Knitted bandages! I'm making her a few kits for home, school, and her traveling bag. So far I've made 3 lengths. One to wrap around once for small boo-boos, one to wrap around twice and one to wrap around three times. I'm also in the process of making some small finger sized bandages.  The best part about these bandages is that they are totally washable so they can be used again and again.


I used size 1 double pointed needles. You can use regular needles as well. I like to use double pointed needles with small width projects because it's easy to take along with me.
At first I used mercerized cotton yarn like some websites suggested when making bandages. I felt that for what I needed them, it was still too thick. So I went with crochet thread instead. It was the perfect thickness that I needed. Here's a picture of it.

I cast on at 27 stitches, garter stitch, which made it about 2 1/2 in width, the typical width of rolled up gauze.  It was the perfect width for a 3 1/2 year old.  

Here is what the final product looks like. 

Here's a close up.

Here it is rolled up.

Here's my little munchkin modeling it for me.

First, I spread antibiotic ointment to the boo-boo area.  Then I put a little piece of gauze on top.  Then I roll the bandage on her and safety pin it.  It's pretty stretchable and breathable too.  
She loves getting all of the extra attention with her special bandages.

Fourth of July Headbands

I am so excited to share my headbands with you!  Please don't forget to like my page on Facebook as well.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Knits-for-Charity-by-Raquel

And here we go!  If you are interested in purchasing any of them, please contact me at raquelparker25@gmail.com.  All net proceeds will go towards my team's goal for this year's Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk.  

Hula Hoop Rug

I saw this on a Facebook post from Treasures for Tots and thought it was way cool!  
All you need is old t-shirts, a hula hoop, and a pair of scissors.
Click here to get to the link.


Enjoy!

Miss Rabbit

A close up of the Easter Bunny my grandmother made Kara. All of it was made by her. Even the dress. The dress has a little pouch on the back so Kara can put her pjs in there for safe keeping. She painted the face by hand no less! I grew up receiving these unique gifts and now it melts my heart that Kara is able to have one too. My grandmother is truly the best and I get all of my creativity from her!

Perfect Play-dough Recipe

To all teachers, mommies, daddies, friends, and family of small children:

This has been the best recipe by far. Usually play-dough will dry out quickly and crumble, but not this one. My friend Susan from my last preschool job shared this one with me, and I want to share it will all lf you!

Ingredients.....
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
2 to 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons of oil
2 cups of water
food coloring or koolaid mix (the non sugar kind)


In 2 cups of water, mix in the food coloring or koolaid (it is easier to mix the color in the water than in the dough itself).

In a big pot, pour in the flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil, and water mix.

Put the stove on MEDIUM heat (it is very important that it is on MEDIUM heat) That's half way to all of you non cooks!

As it is cooking, stir and stir and stir. Use a tablespoon because the playdough gets really tough! I used a wooden spoon and it broke on me so beware! lol

It will look like slime at first but then it will get lumpy. Once it is lumpy, you will see the dough come together and start looking like playdough.

Once it becomes solid, take it out of the fire. Place on counter to cool.

As it cools, kneed the playdough. This step is very important!

Keep kneeding every 10 minutes until it has cooled down completely.

Once it has cooled down, store the playdough in a air-tight container.

Make sure there is no water or that it is humid.

It is very important that the playdough is really cool because once stored in a container and it is warm or hot, condensation will happen and this will ruin the playdough!

Try this at home and let me know what you think!