As the majority of my friends think I’m slightly eccentric with all the knitting and crochet I do, sometimes they set me interesting commissions that challenge me a little. The latest, a set of 3 teacher / lollipop lady gifts definitely comes into that category!
My friend has 3 children, 2 of whom are school aged. Her daughter – the eldest – had a sci fi mad teacher for her stay in year 3 and wanted to have a special present for him. So she was sent on a mission to subtly interrogate him to find out which movies and characters he like….. the answer was Yoda from Star Trek.
So I duly went on a hunt for images of Yoda, including some stunning amigurumi and hats on Pinterest for inspiration and came up with a few ideas for facial features and his cloak and staff. I then set to with hook and yarn from my stash and got creating. I had the most fun making his feet and ears! I wanted his face to have some features so used a combination of crochet circles and free hand embroidery to build his face and voila:
The teacher said he was “stupendous” and was over the moon, so one happy customer so far!
Child 2, a little boy wanted a thank you message for his Year 1 teacher, so after a bit of collaboration with Mum, I came up with a canvas. I knitted the blackboard and edged with with crochet to make a “wooden” frame. Next step was to embroider the words Thank You in a childlike script -which works well with freehand embroidery. I felt the finished item needed something else so crocheted a little apple to add to the corner of the board:
Then the toddler decided he wanted a present for the lollipop lady as she’s his friend! So could I make a World’s Best Lollipop Lady Badge says Mum…. so again I did a mini hunt on pinterest to make sure I got the colours etc right and this is my design, all in crochet, with freehand embroidery. I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t find an orange heart button but the pink works ok:
And finally the whole end of the school year collection:
