Crocheted Vine of Tomatoes

Crocheted Vine of Tomatoes

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My toddler (turned preschooler this week!) has been obsessed with cooking sense he could toddle. He has a toy kitchen that my husband rescued from curbside and then extended by being his handy creative self.  Recently, my preschooler has started to compost his egg shells in his kitchen. This means that he breaks his Play-Doh eggs in half over his frying pan and then throws the two pieces of Play-Doh into a separate container that he has deemed his compost container.

First of all, parenting win! The preschooler is pretending to compost. Hello, environmentally friendly teachings that are now coming to fruition in play! Secondly, I wanted to make sure this continued and grew, so the crocheted vine of tomatoes was born!

I made the little red tomatoes using the book Yummi Girumi which was a pretty great little book of crochet patterns.

The cherry tomatoes were a little bland. I actually made them as part of the preschooler's Christmas gift (which ended up being given to him three days late because I'm an awesome procrastinator), but I didn't think they had enough "cute" to be given along with the totally adorable watermelon, apples, strawberries, and broccoli. The tomatoes rolled around in my desk until this week when I decided I would crochet a vine to connect them and to be thrown in the make believe compost! The tomato tops were partially inspired by the strawberry tops in the book. Since the actual tomatoes came from the book, I can't give you that pattern. You are welcome to purchase the book or look for a simple tutorial on how to crochet a small red ball. They're everywhere! 

This pattern is just for the vine. 

You need:

Medium or worsted weight yarn in dark green

2.5mm crochet hook

Sticky-back velcro coins 

Yarn needle for weaving in the ends
Crocheted vined fruit or vegetable of your choice

Begin Pattern:

Ch 4 and slst together to make a ring

*ch 4, slst into the second ch from the hook, and sc in the next two ch stitches. Slst into the middle of the beginning ch 4 ring.

Repeat from * four more times for a total of 5 leaves. 

**Ch 9, slst into the fourth ch from the hook to make another ch 4 ring. 

Repeat from * four more times for a total of 5 leaves again. 

Repeat from ** to crochet another tomato top for as many tomatoes as you've made!

TOMATOES! ASSEMBLE! 

(Please, say this in your best superhero narrator voice.)

After weaving in your ends stick one side of your Velcro coins to the tops of your tomatoes (or other vegetable/fruit)

Then add the other half of your Velcro coins to your fruit or vegetable.










Put it all together and what do you have?
Beautiful, garden fresh, tomatoes for your little one's creative kitchen play with tops ripe for composting!

What other foods could we make for our kids to practice environmentally mindful cooking and play?

Show me your pictures, let me hear your thoughts, and let's share ideas with one another!

May muses whisper to you always,
Kat
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