18" Doll Medical Cot Bed

 18” Doll Medical Cot Bed

Supplies:

-6 are spray paint can lids. Preferably spray paint can lids. Home Depot and Lowe’s will be them for free if you ask and plan ahead.  You could also use any similar sized can lid destined for the trash, as long as you have 6 

-Lots of bernat Blanket. Depending on color choices it changes what’s needed. If you made the whole bed one color you’d need 1.5 large balls

-plastic yarn needle (I never actually used one, I used a smaller hook and pulled the ends inside)

-scissors (I also never used these, I break my blanket yarn about 12" from where I want it to end.)

-8.5” x 18.5 x 1” or 1.5” foam. I used styrofoam to keep it out of a land fill. But any square edged foam will do. Floral foam.  Memory foam. Maybe even polyfill, but you might line it with corrugated card board or cut out a piece from a plastic lid to strengthen the cot.

1 Size K/6.5mm Sick Lil Monkeys Bubble Hook & 1 Size L/8.0mm Sick Lil Monkeys Bubble Hook (any 8mm hook will work, but obviously we are partial to ours!)

Abbreviations:

sl st - slip stitch

st - stitch

sc - single crochet

hdc - half double crochet

Top & bottom of bed

Make two:

With same color as sides and L/8.0mm hook:

R1: ch 41, work 1sc, in the back hump (not the front braid), in the 2nd chain from hook work and 1 sc into each hump on the back of the chain. Be careful not to twist your chain.  (40 st)

R2 - R18: Ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each st across (40 st)

Do not finish off. Ch 1, turn, place in sc in the BLO only of the next 40 st (this will create a “line” on the side of the top of the mattress), as you turn the corner, work 3 sc in the end of the first row, then work 1 sc at the end of the next 16 rows, then work 3 sc in the end of the last row, (20 sc) turn the corner and place 1 sc in the BLO only for 40 st (this will place a line down the other side of the mattress), as you turn the final corner, work 3 sc in the end of the first row, then work 1 sc at the end of the next 16 rows, then work 3 sc in the end of the last row (20 sc), Join to 1st sc of edging round. Do not finish off the 2nd one you make. Finish off the 1st one you make. (124 st)

Doll bed sides

With size K/6.5mm hook

R1: Ch 3, sc in 2nd sc from hook (2 st)

R2-R93: ch 1, turn, *(2sc in 1st, 1sc in next st) (124 st)

Join two short ends with sl st or whip stitch. 

Once you have joined the long strip into a circle by sl st, turn and add an sc border all the way around, use the side of each row ch 1, *(2sc in 1st, 1sc in next st), repeat from * until you’re back to the start and join to 1st st with a sl st. (124 st) finish off. 

Turn it over and join again.  Repeat the same edging process to the other side of the doll bed side piece. 

Once you have bordered all 4 sides on the top and bottom with a sc border check to be sure it fits your foam.  Then use safety pin or stitch marker to hold your corners together.

Then crochet the top to the sides with one row around of (124 sc) join ends with sl st, Finish off. 

Legs - Make 6

I looked around for items I could repurpose as “legs” or “feet”. We are remodeling so I settled on spray paint can lids destined for the trash.  Hair spray lids, Pam cooking spray, etc. we’re just looking for something to give the feet a bit of strength. 

(If you absolutely cannot find plastic caps designed for the trash, tightly packed poly fill should also work. We just think this looks cooler)

Before beginning, take the piece you finished off, and a black sharpie. Remember the BLO row in the top and bottom of the bed?  That is to keep you from placing the feet out too far to stitch the sides together later. Place the feet evenly just inside the BLO row and the edging rows and trace a circle. We will use this later to guide our attachments and it will not be seen once our bed is finished. 

   

The feet:

You will make 6, but make one at a time because you don’t finish off at the end of each foot.

Using a blanket yarn in the color of your choice and a size L/8.0mm hook. 

Start with a magic circle 

R1: form a magic circle. Ch1, hdc 6 times. Join to the 1st hdc with a sl st.  (6 ST)

R2: ch1, place 2 hdc in each st around. Join to the 1st st of R2 with a sl st (12 ST)

R3: ch1, *(place 2 hdc in the 1st st st, place 1 hdc in the next st), repeat from * around. Join to the 1st st of R3 with a sl st (18 ST)

You will continue increasing rounds until the piece is slightly larger than the base of the cap you are using. 

R4: ch1, sc in BLO in each st around, join to 1st st with a sl st (18 st)

R5-R9: ch1, sc through both loops in each st around, join to first st of round with a sl st. Do not finish off. 

Work the cap down into the foot cover you just made. The flat part of the cap should be looking up at you. 

Pull the last loop you didn’t finish off on the foot, pull it through the bottom piece somewhere on that black line. Sl st around evenly until you’ve joined all 18 st. Finish off.  Push the bottom of the foot in towards the empty part of the cap, creating a small dome in each foot. Do this to all 6 feet.                                      

               

Now it’s time to attach the bottom. With your foam inside the top with the sides joined and laid foam facing up, top yarn facing down. Line up your bottom. I count my stitches and use hooks or pins to join the 4 corners to keep myself on track. 

Pick any place and join the corner of the sides and bottom and attach white bernat with an L/8.0mm hook.

 

Ch1, starting in same st, *(2 hdc in same st and 1 hdc in the next st), repeat from * all the way around. Join to 1st st with a sl st, finish off

 

Now you're finished and the toys have a nice repurposed green clean area to get better at the Toy Hospital!