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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Hospital Germs

I spent twelve hours at the hospital yesterday with my Mema. Her surgery was text-book perfect and she is doing very well.  And I got a lot of crocheting in!

I wasn't the only one who was crocheting in public either.  There was another woman in the surgical waiting room who was crocheting a beautiful afghan. She and her husband asked me about my (large!) crocheted bag, which I was toting all my crocheting supplies around in.  Then the security person who was in charge of keeping order in the waiting room asked me about one of the crocheted pen covers I was working on. We crocheters are a friendly bunch!

Honestly, I was just grateful I had something to do.  I tried to read, but it didn't hold my interest for long.  Instead, I used the meditative stitching to soothe my anxious brain.  Which was good, because I got to thinking...

I wanted to make a fun tissue holder.  Something that my daughter would want to use, nay! actually ASK to use, instead of endlessly sniffing away and then rubbing her nose on Jake's shirt. The little rectangular package of tissues was completely uninspiring to me.  I became annoyed.  Who was the person that decided that 8 tissues was the appropriate amount for the package?  And why do other brands have 10 tissues instead?  And why is the package so crinkly?! I have actually addressed the crinkly tissue issue before, but still!  Who determines how many tissues I am allotted?  Why am I allowing them to make such critical decisions for me?  And, back to my eco-consiousness, is the wastefulness of crinkly plastic packaging something that I actually want/need?

 I became inspired to make something new.  A tissue holder just for me.  Okay, me and Mims.  Something fun and funky and small.  What I came up with only holds 3 or 4 tissues, but they can easily be replaced from our large cardboard box of tissues at home. Maybe they don't look quite as pretty as the flat tissues that pop out of the plastic to-go packages, but I don't care.  I don't intend to share them with strangers anyway.

This is my cartoony version of a cold germ.  I thought that the next time I get sick I will really appreciate that    the little guy looks like he feels sorry about it. And it's a good reminder for Mims to wash/sanitize her hands after blowing her nose to keep the germs from spreading.

The Germ Tissue Holder
approx 4" long
Supplies:
Worsted Weight Yarn in Green, Purple, White, and Black (I used Red Heart Super Saver)
Size G hook
Yarn Needle

The Germ Body:
R1: 5 sc in a magic loop, pull tight and sl st the round closed. (5 st)
R2: 2 sc in each st around, sl st the round closed. (10 st)
R3: (2 sc in next st, sc) 5 times, sl st the round closed. (15 st)
R4: (2 sc in next st, 2 sc) 5 times, sl st the round closed. (20 st)
R5: (2 sc in next st, 3 sc) 5 times, sl st the round closed. (25 st)
R6-9: sc in each st around, sl st the round closed. (25 st)
R10: 8 sc, ch 9, 8 sc, sl st the round closed. 
R11: 8 sc, 9 sc evenly spaced over the top of the chain length, 8 sc, sl st the round closed. (25 st)
R12-14: sc in each st around, sl st the round closed. (25 st)
R15: ch 1, (sc 2 st tog, 3 sc) 5 times, sl st the round closed. (20 st)
R16: ch 1, (sc 2 st tog, 2 sc) 5 times, sl st the round closed. (15 st)
R17: ch 1, (sc 2 st tog, sc) 5 times, sl st the round closed. (10 st)
R18: ch 1, (sc 2 st tog) 5 times, sl st the round closed. (5 st)
Fasten off, sew last round closed using the tail of the yarn.  Weave in ends.

The Polka Dots:
(make 9 in purple, 2 in white)
R1: 5 sc in a magic loop, pull tight and sl st the round closed. (5 st)
Fasten off.  Leave a long tail of yarn to sew the polka dots to the germ body.   Sew the white dots near the "mouth" area, and the purple dots randomly around the body.  Weave in ends. 

Using black yarn, make french knots for pupils.  Weave in ends. Stuff with 3 (maybe 4) tissues!


xoxo

80 comments:

  1. Love it! And more importantly, Im glad the surgery went well and hope she is feeling great in no time at all!

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  2. Thanks! She's doing really well. She's coming home tonight!

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  3. I love this!
    I know I said it would be 10 years..... but, my crocheting coworker who is my carpool partner finally talked me into just GOING for it and so I'm learning to crochet! (I'm using Maggie Righetti's book Crocheting in Plain English -- mostly b/c I loved her knitting book.... not sure how great it is, but I'm getting the basics I think). I saw you mention somewhere on fb that you'll be teaching a beginning class next month? (maybe you said something here on your blog - haven't had time to get to that post yet maybe - I'm going in order from the beginning ;) -- please let me know when it will be (again, this might end up being a silly request if/when I find you've already mentioned it somewhere in here), ack! too many asides! anyway -- I'd love to try to come.
    xoxo!
    Eliz Kim

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    Replies
    1. Yes!! Come if you can!! It's on Sunday June 3rd from 1-3pm. Mom and Sandy will be there, so it'll be a good time. And Mema would love to see you too! (and I haven't mentioned it anywhere else, so it wasn't a silly question!) I'm having it here, and you don't need to bring anything... unless you want to... ;D

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  4. yay! I think I'm free - I will put that in my calendar! Oh -- can I bring my baby? I know that might limit my crochet-ability... but maybe not if I can plop him down with a toy or something to distract him for a bit. ;)
    Eliz

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    Replies
    1. I had hoped you would! We would all love to see him. Mom and Mims will probably spend the whole time playing with him though.

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    2. I just re-read that and need to clarify that you can plop him down, but we love babies so much around here that he wont stay plopped for long! Please bring him. He is now a requirement for the class. LOL!

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    3. haha! no, that's great - he would love to be played with! (that's even better than being plopped!) I just didn't want to bring a disruption or distraction to the "class" part of things -- so I'm glad to know he'll be a welcome distraction. ;) Really looking forward to seeing you and the whole Eads-Maraia-Mutz-(Sandy's-new-lastname) clan!
      xo!
      Eliz

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  5. I LOVE THIS!!!! My son has allergies. . . ALL YEAR. We buy stock in the Kleenex company it's so bad (okay, not REALLY, but if we did, they'd never go out of business.) LOL At the restaurant? QUICK! Grab that stack of extra napkins the waitress gave us! And I never buy less than two boxes of tissue at a time. I joke about it, but if we didn't, our little guy would get down about it pretty quickly. My mother made him an assortment of Hot Wheels themed handkerchiefs, and whilst I know he doesn't have something contagious, the teachers asked him to please not bring them to school. . . I saw this and thought, "What a great idea to help him not feel so rotten about having to blow his little nose all the time!" :-D I have browsed your other patterns and I absolutely love your creativity! I wish that I could do more than just follow a pattern. Perhaps with time and more practice. . .

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    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for the kind words! (I'd address you by name, but I have a sneaking suspicion it's not "Anonymous") Poor little guy! My husband's the same way for most of the year. LOL!
      xo Jaime

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. OMG this is the cutest thing ever!! I work in a medical office and have a couple of coworkers who are leaving soon. I wanted to find something to make them before they go and stumbled on your blog. What better gift than a "germ" for people in the medical field! Thanks for sharing your talent!

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  7. Hi! I absolutely love your blog!!! And this pattern is great! But I am a new crocheter and I am not sure what you mean in rounds 15-18 when you say "(sc 2 st tog, 3 sc), (sc 2 st tog, 2 sc), (sc 2 st tog, sc), (sc 2 st tog)".... Could you explain please? Sorry to bother you, but reading patterns is still hard for me. ='(
    Thanks for your time!
    Gail

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  8. Hiya :) Love this! I have shared it on my website with a link back to your blog. I hope you don't mind. Kat :) xx

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  9. I bought 2 of your books on Amazon and I think you are adorable. Thank you so much.

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  12. Love these little guys! Made some with my daughter this week, she loved it!

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