Sunday, September 9, 2012

You would think the second crocheted larynx would be easier

Yes, I have crocheted a larynx before.   For an extra credit project in my dysphagia class and boy howdy, does one get very intimate with the musculature and movement of the larynx when forced to piece it together in yarn.  Extra credit, well played, Prof!   

(Can you believe my little ol' blog is the first hit on a Google Search for Crocheted Larynx?)

But, having since moved onto owl hats and coffee cozies, I put crocheted anatomy behind me for good.  Or so I thought!

I am running in the MS MuckRuckus and offered a free coffee cozy to anyone who donates $10 or more to my team.   I also said that I would entertain custom orders for a donation of $20.  One of my classmates took the bait, donated $20 and asked for a larynx coffee cozy. 

"How hard could it be?" I thought, since I didn't have to do the musculature or the tendons like last time. I could just focus on the bone and cartilage and the trachea already screams "coffee cozy" to me.   AmIRight?

Well, 3 false starts later, I finally made some progress that seemed to work.   I was politely asked what I was working on while in the carpool lane at my daughter's preschool.  Sometimes, honesty is not the best policy..or at least the one that make you look sane. 


Late one night in bed, I had an epiphany as to how to keep the two side together, as well as how to incorporate the vocal folds - elastic hair ties, of course!   Otherwise the top heavy anterior side of the larynx might flop over and not fully protect the users hands from the hot coffee.   (It's all about functionality here at ADHD Crochet!).  


See how it holds the coffee cup snug, right there at the juncture of the thyroid and the cricoid cartilages?


And then...I realized that I made my tracheal rings go all the way around the trachea!   Ack!   A crocheted organ can be functional and aesthetically pleasing all day long, but if it isn't anatomically correct, it might as well be a lowly bag of yarn! 

Out came the scissors and a pointy needle.... 


And the front view...


Although I will probably recommend she stick with the Venti or the Trenta to accommodate that hyoid and epiglottis. 


For anyone else who wants to donate, I might nicely ask you to choose from my existing stock of much less cartilaginous cozies:



3 comments:

  1. That turned out great. Now I need to go "school" myself as to what the larynx is and what it is suppose to look like. First I'll go take a peek at your first one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. These are great patterns. Thanks for posting.

    Buy Here Pay Here

    ReplyDelete