Dolls!

For Christmas my dear colleague, Cathryn, made a beautiful doll for Nuriel. Nuriel fell in love the moment she saw the doll. Cathryn has been making dolls for many years. She teaches doll-making workshops and she's currently making dolls with the 7th graders at school. {I can't wait to see Nathan's creation!} Isn't the doll sweet? You can like Cathryn's Creations on Facebook and see her current offerings in her Etsy shop. 

Rainbow Bunnies

Crafting these has truly been a delight. I can't stop. Even my students have been bit by the rainbow bunnies fever! --- Always so much to write about, so much happening... If only I could find the time!

Felted Oven Mitts Tutorial

Some places  in the world are in summer vacation mode, others on winter vacation, but everywhere, I'm sure, parents are looking for ways to do some meaningful, fun things with their children. I taught a summer felting camp for four to six-years-olds last week & I put together this little tutorial. If you decide to do this project, please do blog about it & leave a link here in the comments section. I would love to see what you come up with!

You will need: Wool batting/roving, two large trash bags, soap, hot water, scissors, embroidery floss & a sewing needle.

Here's what we did:

We spread out wool batting onto a large trash bag. If  you want to be *really* Waldorfy, you would of course not use a black trash bag with these young children. ;-) I estimate that the batting was about 2" (5 cm) thick. On top of the wool batting, the children spread some colorful wool bits. They were all from my "leftovers bag." I told them to use their fingers to make nice, fluffy clouds. They then put them in random places.

When the piece was ready to be felted, I squirted soap on the top. I used Dr. Bronner's Pure Castille Soap. Why? Because I had quite a bit leftover from our camping trip. Yes, this project has "leftover" written all over it. Don't you just love that?! I must say I had never felted with that soap before & I was very pleased with the outcome! Then we poured a pot of very hot water on the top. 

We covered the whole thing with another trash bag. I made sure that the surface wasn't too hot for the children to touch. The children then started rubbing, banging, pounding... 

... and after a while we rolled the whole thing up into a giant burrito of sorts & did some more rubbing, banging, pounding. - Mostly pounding and then even...

... some stomping! Gasp. Lots of fun!

When we unrolled the burrito, it looked something like this.

We put the felted piece in a bucket of cold water & rinsed all the soap out. After this step, I would recommend doing the process of adding soap, hot water & doing the burrito-felting-poundy thing & rinsing one more time. It will produce a stronger felt!

Then Father Sun worked his magic & did the drying.

I used an oven mitt I had at home & traced a template. We cut out two for each oven mitt. (One left & one right to ensure that the colorful felt is on the outside of the mitt!)

Finally, we sewed along the edges with cotton embroidery thread, using a simple blanket stitch. The children loved this project & the oven mitts were very well received by the parents!

Felted Necklaces

 Felted with and by four to six-years-old children. (The one in the middle is a "giant, precious diamond" in case you're wondering... )

 Some with few beads...

... others with more. All felted with enthusiasm & joy!

We started with "just round" beads & then the creativity of these wonderful children took over & they started felting all kinds of shapes. We then strung them onto a simple wool string. Voila. Simple, yet treasured!

Window Stars

Maybe a tad too much of a Christmas mood in July?!

Playing with shapes & forms & ...

... colors.

Nathan made most of them. They do look very pretty with the sun shining through!

The Blanket

Finally. A picture of the blanket my students made for my birthday. 35 colorful squares. So beautiful.

Stories & Felting II

Below are some impressions of things created during the summer camp. I mentioned it here a few days ago. I changed things around from the original plan. I had lots of sweet children on the younger side (ages 4-8), so I simplified here and there.

We did felt caterpillars & butterflies. We ended up doing a guided beeswax crayon drawing instead of a watercolor painting for the movable picture. Instead of felting ladybugs, we made a kind of wool pompom ladybug. Instead of dyeing silks, I experimented with a wood-burner & each child took home their felted treasures in a lil' personalized storytelling box.

It's been a tiring week and I remain behind as far as my schedule is concerned. I'm hoping for a mellow afternoon. We're house-sitting through tomorrow, so we have a TV and the children have found the World Cup. We actually don't own a TV, so this is super-special. Our German genes make it so that we like soccer. Beer and good pastries, too! :-)

Before showing the pictures, I want to remind you of two things:

(1) The blog giveaway for a pilot-style baby hat is still going on through June 14th. Check it out & let your friends know, too.

(2) Also still happening through June 20th is the RichmondMom Dream Baby Shower contest my cousin nominated me for. Please consider voting for me if you haven't done so already. The jist of the past few months is in the "Namaste!" blurb there on the right. I really could use a massage. I know, couldn't we all, huh? Anyhoo, you can find details here.

A "phunky wool" caterpillar on one of the boxes. The children felted around a bit of floral wire. I really like how the ones turned out where rovings were mixed.

Butterfly created from a flat piece of felt & cut out. Unfortunately there was no time to refelt the cutouts. I'd do that in the future to have a neater edge.

The lil' loop makes it easy to fly them.

Ladybugs created by making red & black pompoms. Once you figure out how to wrap the little cardboard donuts, it's success each & every time.

Awww.

I don't want to show a picture of the boxes, because it would reveal the names of the children, but I think you get an idea of how they looked. Just lil' square boxes & names engraved with a wood-burner.

Finally, a movable picture. I made a cut along the wave, then we inserted the boat on a long piece of cardboard & attached a piece of heavy paper to the back with staples. Stapling was fast. Glue would be my recommendation, though. Voila! Boats are sailing across the sea.

Stories & Felting

Last year I did a Felt A Story summer camp offering at our school. It was quite successful, so I was asked to do it again this year. I said, "Yes." But, what was I thinking? My narrative reports are due on Friday. My children are still in town. I signed up for this back in December, before pregnancy, before Brent's death, before house-hunting... So while I had envisioned some fancy thing, I'm keeping things simple again this year. I think a morning filled with free-play, a story, a craft project & a healthy snack is a fancy enough summer adventure. Here's the plan:

Monday & Tuesday
~ Felting caterpillars & butterflies.

Wednesday
~ Painting wet-on-wet watercolor.
The painting will be transformed into a moving picture.

Thursday & Friday
~ Felting a ladybug & dyeing silks/sewing treasure pouches.

I promise you an update with pictures. I have my camera, but the cable that is needed to connect it to the laptop is missing in the midst of all this relocation chaos. We're house-sitting for a colleague. Finest Richmond Fan location. I've vowed to force my children (and myself) to walk down Monument Avenue this afternoon. 95F/35C is what's in the forecast. I don't think we'll be taking jackets.

Gnomes

This is what I'm doing when I'm not stressing about reports that still need to be written, when I'm not packing for destination unknown, when I'm not attending a parent night, when I'm not baking for the 8th Grade commencement, when I'm not attending a meeting, when I'm not sleeping off a fever & cold, when I'm not stressing about $$$ (or better the lack thereof), when I'm not wondering about future housing arrangements:

I'm sewing up the final crew of gnomes my 2nd grade students have been working on during handwork this year. The children who take their time with things are finishing their gnomes during these last few days. I do let the girls have "girl gnomes," although that's not quite an accurate picture of the world of the elementals. This fella & two ladies are today's creations. Twelve down. Three to go. You can find the pattern here on my blog or at Ravelry.

WIP Wednesday

A pile of gnome body parts & flute cases waiting to be stitched up. Students are finishing their projects. A sign the end of the school year is near. A busy time for the handwork teacher in me.

More 2nd Grade Knitting

Another gnome finished. This one was made by a girl in my class & she requested it be a "girl gnome," so no beard. (While the students do all the knitting, I always sew them up.) I came up with the idea for shoelaces. Wish I had thought of that with the others. I will take it to her this afternoon. Spring has come to Richmond. Photos by Nathan.

S p r i n g... In 2nd Grade

I posted about these as a WIP Wednesday a while ago. I haven't finished my set yet, but my 2nd graders have finished theirs - as you can see. They are so excited about these egg covers. Those who have siblings are planning to hide chocolate eggs underneath - away from brothers & sisters. Some struggled completing one, so the fairies will have to come this weekend and help a bit. Others finished three and are now working on lil' baby chicks along with it. I love the big, red comb on the yellow one. How fiery.

2nd Grade Waldorfiness

School life goes on in the midst of it all...

I have started to introduce cursive writing to my 2nd graders, the Vimala alphabet to be specific. Usually a teacher should only introduce things he or she has mastered, but I must admit I have not yet mastered this style completely. It is quite a will-activity to change one's handwriting! It was a journey inspired by this book. I highly recommend it.

The students have been learning it for about a week now while listening to stories of Saint Francis. We are making a book about his life so to speak. It will include his famous Canticle of the Sun, which they are learning by heart. Some illustrations are crayon drawings, while others are paintings. Here's some of the work thus far...

Yes, the lower case "t" is crossed all the way at the top. It looks a bit unusual, doesn't it? But the author says that each letter as an inner meaning. The "T/t" is about destiny - how far are we willing to reach to find our destiny in life? All the way! Thus the "t" is crossed at the very top. I've given my students the image of reaching for the stars, crossing the "t" way up there...

The students are also working hard on memorizing the class play. I wrote last year's class play, but I just couldn't wrap my mind around it this year. This year's play will be Saint Athracta's Stags.

We're playing "Amazing Grace" on the pentatonic flutes. Yup. It works!

I'm having the class take a break from their regular handwork project, the gnomes, and they will be making the Spring Chicken Egg Covers from Peace Fleece. What wonderful yarn! Such a great kit. The children who have completed their knitting projects will then move on to crocheting a shopping bag. Crocheting goes nicely with learning cursive writing.

Yes, I'm busy!

In Darkest Winter Night...

Instead of choosing the oldest or youngest child in the class to be Santa Lucia and instead of rotating a Lucia crown with burning candles among the students before we enter the various classrooms, I decided that the nine girls in my class should all be Lucia this year & I'm asking parents to come felt Lucia crowns at my house. The first get-together was last night & look how beautiful they all are! The boys will have stars, cut from wood, painted golden & attached to a long dowel. I'm looking forward to Santa Lucia's Day!

Nate's Stripey Hat

Nathan finished his hat a few handwork classes ago. He was in a knitting frenzy! One night I caught him secretly knitting under the covers after 10 p.m. Since this put him way ahead of the class, the handwork teacher now has him work on bike helmet earmuffs before going on to the "traditional" 5th grade socks. The boys do like to ride their bikes to school. I'm sure the earmuffs will come in toasty this autumn & winter.

Gnome Pattern

This is the pattern for the gnome featured in the blog post, "The First Gnome." Above is another one knitted by one of my second grade students. I just love how they are turning out. The students are so into their gnomes, too. It seems to become a theme that they want to knit them backpacks, which is turning out to be another great project for them.

The students are using worsted yarn and size eight needles, but gauge is unimportant for this project. You will also need some fuzzy mohair yarn to make the hair & beard for which I used a crochet hook to work the strings in as one would do in rug-hooking. It is helpful to knit the pieces in the following order as the BODY and SHOES require knitting only, whereas the other pieces incorporate purling as well. Since the pattern is intended for children in their 2^nd grade year of knitting at a Waldorf school, it is not in the round, but requires sewing up. If you are an advanced knitter, you will see that the pieces can easily be knit in the round.

BODY --- Cast on 30 stitches. Knit 30 rows – 15 ridges. Next row: BO 2 stitches, knit until 11 stitches are on your right needle, BO 4 stitches, knit 'til end. Next row: BO 2 stitches. Work 6 rows for each leg using the 11 stitches between BOs. BO all stitches. Sew up leg seams & crotch. Close back seam. Stuff with wool batting. Sew top seam, but leave feet "open." You will later attach the shoes.

SHOES (Make 2) --- Cast on 6 stitches. Knit 40 rows. Bind off. Fold in thirds, sew up the sides & back. No wool stuffing needed.

HEAD --- Cast on 28 stitches. Knit one row, purl one row. Repeat these two rows until a total of 16 rows have been worked, ending with a purl row. Row 17: k1, *) k2tog, k2, repeat from *) until last stitch, k1. (21 stitches remain). Row 18: Purl. Row 19: *) k2tog, k1, repeat from *) across (14 stitches remain). Row 20: Purl. Cut yarn leaving a tail. Thread needle & pull through the remaining stitches. Pull closed. Sew up back seam. Stuff with wool stuffing. Sew up top.

HAT --- Cast on 32 stitches. Knit 4 rows. *) Next row: k1, k2tog, knit until last three stitches, k2tog, k1. Next row: Purl. Repeat from *) until 4 stitches remain. Cast off. Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Sew up seam.

ARMS (Make 2) --- Cast on 8 stitches. Knit 20 rows. Change to skin color. Knit one row, purl one row for 4-6 rows. Bind off. Sew side seams. Stuff with wool.

FINISHING --- The head is placed about midway onto the body & secured with a few stitches. The hat goes over the head & meets the body in the back. It is also secured with a few stitches. The arms are attached on the sides of the body, but reaching to the top of the body piece, thus creating a bit of a hunched look. I run a whip stitch around the wrist to shape the hand a bit better.

The First Gnome

Can you believe it? I thought this project would take at least until Christmas to complete, but one student in my class has finished knitting her gnome already & others are going to follow quickly. The planets must be aligned to "knitting frenzy," because Nathan, too is starting to decrease the hat he is knitting (in the round on 4 double points) in 5th grade.

Yes, knit by a child who is seven years old. Isn't it amazing? We used yarn plant-dyed by Mama Jude & pretty knitting needles from Peace Fleece for the gnome. I sewed the gnome up for the child. It will be on her desk in the morning, just as I promised today - along with a little gemstone gift. He's about 12" tall. There were lots of seams since 2nd graders don't knit in the round yet. I stuffed him with wool batting.

My students are so creative. They actually suggested we should start knitting booties & hats for charity & I think we will do just that. They are hearing so many wonderful stories of human beings with saintly qualities this year, I think it's very fitting to take these images into the will-life.

Felt A Story

I taught "Stories-N-Felting" camp for three days this week. I know many (teacher) friends started school already. We're not going back 'til September 8th. The children attending camp were five to seven years old. The pictures you see are their creations. It's helpful to keep that in mind when reading about the projects.

In the first story I introduced a beautiful beach with a clear ocean. In the back rose rolling green hills that eventually gave way to snow-capped mountains. The story was about a fish happily living together with his fish friends. One day a shark disturbs the peace. The fish swim away fast, loosing each other in the process. The fish finds a lil' seashell and eventually makes two good friends, a crab & a seahorse. The inspiration for this came from an old issue of Living Crafts magazine.

Inspired by my friend Angie's post "Treasure Bag" (Thanks, Angie!) we felted little pouches. These pouches would later hold the felted little fish, the seashell & a small dyed silk. - Sort of a "mini puppet play in a pouch."

Felting the fish in one piece didn't quite work out as I thought it would, so we created a flat piece of felt, cut out fish & blanket-stitched two pieces together. We added a little loop so the fish can easily swim through the water as puppets. So cute.

Pins & Pencils

Nathan's 4th grade contribution to our family heirloom pieces of cross-stitch. His designs. The pincushion he made for me. Underneath is his pencil-case.

A Family Heirloom

"Crafting" - a functional crafting, not crafting because it's "hip" - has always been part of my life. My mother is a seamstress, and so was her mother. My Mom taught me how to knit when I was five years old. At the time my parents were building a house out in the country. Money was tight & no fancy clothing was needed to roam the woods. I remember wearing warm sweaters my Mom knit. For 'Fasching' I usually wanted to be a princess, and she would always sew me fancy, unique costumes. My first sewing attempts on a sewing machine were made on a sturdy Singer machine in my grandmother's "crafting room." She worked from home, and when she would have her coffee break, I loved to sew little dresses and pillows for my dolls using her fabric scraps. I think I also got my love for coffee from those experiences. I associate very good things with the smell of coffee - our extended family gathering in my grandmother's wee lil' kitchen around the woodstove to have afternoon coffee & cake. Ahhh. So wonderful.

I don't have many heirloom treasures from my childhood. You know, lil' things you keep or the like. Since I was about ten I have never lived anywhere for longer than two years. When I moved back to the U.S. with Noah & Nathan a bit over 2 years ago, I sold most of our belongings. We had 6 suitcases. That's all the airlines allowed. Some treasures I boxed up and a friend was keeping them for me to be mailed at some point in the future, but everything - except for one box with a few Ostheimer treasures from the boys' early childhood - was destroyed when her basement flooded.

So, one of the few family heirloom treasures I do have is the needle-book my Mom made when she was in elementary school (sometime in the late 1950s...). I use it often as "crafting" is such a big part of my life.

The outside is decorated with embroidery.

For the inside she actually knit the lining. The yarn used is very thin. I would guess the needle size used was no larger than a US 2. I can't imagine how many hours of work went into creating this needle-book.

When I was in 4th grade, I made a needle-book, too. The outside is embroidered as well, but the inside was left plain. Nathan just told me the other day that he is working on a cross-stitch pincushion in handwork class that he wants to give me for Mother's Day.

It may seem insignificant to some, but to me these are family heirlooms I truly treasure.