Spool Knitting, Tie Dyed Halter Tops, Braided Bracelets & Felt on Soap with Children

Teaching in Bermuda has been a fabulous time and experience for me and the class evaluations have been terrific! I have probably learned more than the children and, I feel they've learned alot!
So here is my last official Term Class report... But no worries, I have other plans for future reports for you to enjoy! I will be continuing to work on children's projects for the foreseeable future.

First of all there are some projects that we finished up that I want to tell you about, beginning with the Button Picture Frames that the 5 yr & 6 yr old class children stitched. I held their button work back so that I could prepare a parting gift for them. KAF had some wooden picture frames that I used to hot glue their button stitchery onto. I have taken lots of photos of the children during my classes so found photos of each student and matched it up to their work as a parting gift for them. They  came out great and the children were very proud and anxious to show their mom's their work and their photos! I so loved this project....


The next items to finish up included the 10 yr olds tie dyed halter tops. One student had a simpler embelishment design and finished hers last time but wore it to class for me to see and pohotograph. The others finished theirs this week and anxiously tried them on and gave the KAF office a mini fashion show! What fun! I was so proud of their accomplishments. For new stitchers they did a terrific job! They named this project their favorite because they had liscense to create the embellishing designs on their own and loved that they could wear their very own creations. I remember wearing the first piece of clothing that I ever made for myself and the self esteem and confidence that comes with that is priceless. I hope they enjoy wearing their pieces all summer long and remember them forever!

Our new project of the week for both the 5 yr olds and 6 yr olds was spool knitting. This age old art encourages hand eye coordination and repetition which I feel helps give a sense of achievement and accomplishment. When the tails of their work began to show form the bottom of their spools they squeeled with delight and were motivated by measuring their progress in inches. Even the younger chidren who often get bored or tired kept at it to simply be able to see their progress! They were so proud of themselves :-)

Such concentration and pride show up in the photos at left :-)

The spools were made from toilet paper rolls and lollipop sticks that you can buy in a candy section of your local craft store. I chose a chenile yarn that we had a bunch of becasue of it's soft texture and appearance of bulk. It created a nice fat and soft tube. Of course they asked what they would do with this tube so I put it right back at them and gave a few suggestions after which they were coming up with ideas of their own.
It was interesting to see how even the littlest ones caught on to the idea of turning their work round and round, repeating the same process over and over again. It seemed to give them a great sense of accomplisment since it seemed so complicated to them at first. When they got it, it was a big deal and it didn't take too long. I did purposely spend a few minutes with each child demonstrating and tutoring them as they completed the first stitches and went back to each child as they needed assistance.
I pre- assembled the knitters for the 5 yr olds but the 6 yr olds were able to make them themselves. I like to be able to show them that they don't need anything fancy for their tools; that often we can make them ourselves by recycling.
Each of the children left with their knitters in hand and very proud of the tails they had created :-)

The 10 yr olds melted my heart with their completed Tie Dyed Halter tops. The one student who had finished last time wore it to class and it looked so cute on her I couldn't believe it! Her mom looked just as proud as she did :-) And the backs are just as cute as the fronts!
This class was a modge podge of things allowing time for finishing remaining projects. One student had missed two classes during the Nuno purse classes and finished her bag with the exception of stitching the straps on. Her mom will help her finish it up at home. Halter tops were completed and we then moved on to a simple felt on soap project; one that this group had never done and wanted to before term was up. This basic felting project is a good way to teach basic felting and allowing them to go home with a nice gift or shower soap for themselves.

We had an additional half hour or so of class time after their fashion show and photo shoot so they migrated to the standing loom and decided to braid friendship bracelets for their final project. What a pleasure to see them enjoy practicing skills that I teach and helping them to learn how to tie off their work to create bracelets.
In the end a good time has been had by all and we will miss each other and our time together. I will hope to see them all in my classes during fall camps and Fiber Fest for one more chance for them to enrich MY life!

The content of my reports will change of course but I hope to keep you informed of my creative journey, especially with children.

So, until next time.................

Tie Dye Projects with Children ages 5-10

What a fun week we've had! This was tie Dye week at KAF. All ages participated, found success and had a great time!

The children in my classes are always so excited about their work that they want to take it home right away! As a result I researched using the Dylon dyes on line and found a reference that they can be heat set in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Though the colors are not as intense as if they are left on overnight or simmered in a pot which would allow only one color way, the children were more happy to take their proud posessions home, than have to leave them until next week to get a brighter color.

I had spent some time as always doing prototypes before the class to better assess the need for any adjustments to the procedure to

accomodate the childrens ages and limitations if any. I want them to find success and it always surprises me to learn that something that I take for granted is difficult for them to accomplish.

With this project, the 7 yr olds went first. Some of them had difficulty figuring out how to twist the rubber bands to bind them to the cloth. Though they were successful with a little guidance, I immediately knew that the 5 yr olds would never be able to get through it without great frustration to them and chaos for me:-) As a result, I ammended their procedure and used the time tested Shibori binding method with thread which they simply had to wind around the fabric. I took that even further and prepared a BBQ skewer with a large bead attached which the students used to drape their 18" square of cotton over. I told them they were making an umbrella which they all understood. Once they had their umbrella, the stick gave the fabric some stability and something for the children to hold onto as they    wrapped the thread around. The only possible glitch I found with this method is that once they get half way down they sometimes get the thread caught on the end of the stick and tangle it up. To further address this issue, the children can work in teams; one holding the stick horizontally and turning while the other keeps tension on the thread. This made a quick job of it and was an easy task for them to accomplish.

The older children chose to mix it up. Some used rubber bands while others used the thread depending on how complicated they wanted to make their designs. The beauty of doing the same project with all ages is to allow the older children to take their projects further either with design concepts or simply because they have better motor skills and can be more creative especially with the binding of the cloth.

In the end, the 5 yr olds were the most impressed with themselves and the transformation on the fabric from bright white to multicolored dyed designs. Those boys were so proud of their bandanas it was a joy to see!
The 7 yr olds were proud as well and were glad to take home two projects this week since they were able to complete their paintings on silk as well as their tie dye projects.
The older class is all girls and I always like to push them further when I can. I decided that their tie dyed bandanas would be turned into fun summer halter tops that they will embelish with beads, some of which they are dyeing themselves! They completed their tie dyes, worked out their designs and began stitching the straps on during this class. Next week they will complete them so be sure to check next week's post for pictures of their wonderful creations!
Until next time........

Children's Fiber Art Projects: Patchwork Clocks & Painting with Wool

It was a short week here in Bermuda. Monday was a holiday for us so my Monday class was off.

This week's class news......

The little 5 yr olds had a wonderful time creating a patchwork clock this week.This project was educational in several way. Not only did they get to practice the concept of patchwork and using their motor skills, but they ended up with a functional tool to help them learn to tell time! Using pre-cut pie shaped fabric, they glued the sections in place and arranged the clock face numbers which they also glued down. We used foam numbers which I  learned needed a full strength tacky type of glue. Hot glue would have been ideal but the children would not have been able to

do this by themselves so a good  fabric glue like tacky would be a good one to use. After they glued the numbers on they added a fat yarn around the edge to frame it up. The hands were made up of a tongue depressor and popsicle stick with holes drilled in one end and fastened with a brass fastener that has a head on it. They were all pretty proud of their accomplishments this week!

The older girls finished off their paintings with wool. After they finished needling on the wool to complete their scenes they wet felted them creating durable pictures that they can turn into pillows, bags or wall hangings. This project was about them designing their own holiday scene to be submitted for possible selection by local businesses as a holiday greeting card image. I was very pleased with their accomplishment. Each has a different style that reflects a holiday sentiment without words. I'll let the photo of their work speak for itself. Great work for 10 year olds with very little assistance!

The term is winding down now with only three weeks left before school is out for the summer. So much to do! So little time! I'm beginning to miss my students already :-( This is my last term of teaching here in Bermuda as my husband and I return to the states in the fall. I will get a last blast during mid term break next fall teaching fiber arts during camp as well as the Annual Bermuda Fiber Festival but will then be re-adjusting to life in the states and looking for another teaching opportunity where I can share my passion for fiber with interested children! If you know of any events seeking somone to teach children fiber arts, let me know!

Fiber Art Projects for Children: Painting on Silk, Painting with Wool and Mixed Media Wind Socks

This week two of my groups finished up incomplete projects.....
The monday class of 5-7 yr olds finished up their Solar System Mobiles  and began the planning and staging process of painting Silk Suncatchers which will be done using Kool Aid and food coloring for their paints. I love these non toxic dyeing options for children! The only draw back is the lack of color intensity that you get with chemical dyes. At this stage, children can learn all of the techniques which they can experiment with at home later, using easy to get supplies! A win/win situation......

They began the class by doing simple drawings. I had asked them to think about their subject as they left class last week. I offered simple creature shapes I have in the classroom for those who needed some inspiration and soon they were quickly putting them on paper. Of course some children have more aptitude for drawing than others but this is the norm. By the end of class, each child had done a drawing. They then traced them on the blank silk circles with washable gel glue which will act as a resist or dam. This resist will allow them to color in various parts of their creatures using different colors and prevent the colors from running into one another. Blank silk circles are available from Dharma Trading Co. on line.

Next week they will paint the dyes onto their silk. I can't wait to see the end results!

The five year olds also finished up this week. The Wind Sock projects needed to have their fabric glued on and hangers attached. A few still had to complete the "cow hitch knots" of yarn around the bottoms. Since I was busy with the hot glue gun, those who had finished first, helped the others by guiding them through the knotting process. I think they may have done some of the work for them but they loved being the helpers and the benefactors were appreciative:-)
This is my roudy group as I have mentioned before. I had an epiphany last week regarding this group though. One child indicated that he has a hard time focusing since it gets so noisy. He becomes distracted. I had no idea he was having an issue and thought it awesome that he would know this about himself at such a young age and tell me about it. I felt the need to address this in the classroom so I rearranged our seating so that they are seated in small groups and purposely assigned seats to specific groups of children. It seemed to work well! I will know better as we move to a project that they don't need me to participate in so much but I'm thankful to have learned this now while I can at least attempt to address it and have impact. I am told by this child's mom that she has noticed improvement in his focus since coming to my class. So, even if he is slow to complete a project, apparently the experience of working in a noisy and sometimes chaotic space has helped him to learn to deal with it better and what he does do, he does well! Bravo! I may have never known this and I'm so glad to know it now..... My mentor and education director at KAF has also given me some things to try to help rein in the mustangs when necessary. Hopefully a combination of things will bring greater sucess for us all!
They were all pleased with their work! They always are easy to please anyway. When they get to take something home that they made, regardless of how big or small or how well it is accomplished, it is an accomplishment and they beam because of it.... so do I :-)...............

My older group of girls is coming along so well! They love everything we do in class and this week one of them asked if the class could be extended from 2  to 3 hours! If all teachers could have this problem!

This weeks challenge was to come up with a Christmas season image for a drawing. This drawing is being Painted on wool pre felt with the needle felting technique and, using wool as the paints. KAF  was looking for holiday artwork that can be photographed and used as  holiday greeting cards by corporations who make a donation into the Holiday greeting card program. Our children produce the artwork, the corporation makes a donation and gets exclusive use of a photograph of children's Holiday art that they will use for their corporate greeting cards. The children of course keep their artwork but might have the honor of having one of their pieces selected by a KAF donor to be used as their holiday greeting card and sent to their many clients and business associates! How fun!
Drawings were completed and the paintings begun.... They are looking great and I can't wait to see the final products!

So, progress at KAF continues in the Fiber Arts!

Until next time..........

Yarn Windsocks and other Fiber Projects for Children

We are half way through the term already! WOW! When did that happen :-)

This week, the only new project that I began was with the 5 yr olds. The other two age groups are finishing up their projects from the weeks before and all is going well!

The Monday class of 5-7 yr olds is at the final stage of their Solar system mobiles. Only one child who started the term after we began this project, has not completed his planets. He has however made great strides and will spend our next class getting most of them done and strung. Good work! The rest of the students will also finish up and begin designing for the next assignment which will be Suncatchers painted on silk!

The Five yr olds did some great work this week! Their new project is to create a wind sock made from  yarns that they have to attach  to holes punched into the bottom edge of  the milk cartons with a "Cow" hitch knot. Using a crochet hook to pass the hanks of yarn through the punched holes in the carton, students found it challenging but managed to get he hang of it. Each found success. Though not everyone's work is even or tidy, they got the job done :-)  Yeah!

These will be very fun when done! As usual, students worked at varying paces but I foresee that we will finish this project in next class. At that time they will finsih up their knotting and then add pre cut fabrics with glue to cover and decorate the cartons. These little guys needs lots of attention so I find it hard to get action shots. I'll see if I can get some for next time :-) As well as the finished projects....

Above is an example of me doing the Cow hitch knot.

And then there are my 10 yr old girls... This week they finished up their Nuno fetled purses. Each did a bit more fulling to finish up and then they worked on their stitching skills to attach the straps. These purses are great and completely functional. I have hopes that this little item will remain with them for years to come!
Next week we will begin working on designs for a christmas card project that will be "painted" with wool on wool, using the dry needle felting technique. I know it's early for Christmas cards but this is a joint effort as a fundraiser for our school, Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation. A group of local corporations are each making a donation for the use of a holiday themed design created by Kaleidoscope students in various mediums. Selections will be chosen and photographed, and turned into holiday greeting cards exclusive to each individual corporation. A grand idea!
We have no idea if any of our pieces will be included but we will make a grand effort to bring them our best work for this project! At the same time, my class will be learning a new fiber art technique in the process! Wish us luck!
Maybe you know of a company who would like to have their very own exclusive piece of holiday themed art to be used for their holiday greeting card. If so, contact Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation at 441-542-9000 or email director@kaf.bm
Until next time................

Weaving, Felting & Nuno with Children!

This week has been a mixed bag. A little bit of everything! I often like to have children doing related projects but it hasn't been going that way lately....

The 5-7 yr old children are still working on their Solar System mobiles. Although I am feeling a little anxious about how long it has taken to complete them, they don't seem to mind and are having a good time. They especially are concious of the proportional relationship of size for their planets and worry about it much more than I do! I keep reminding them that it's ok if they aren't exactly correct :-)
We did make great progress this week and the only child who has not completed all planets just began class with us this week. He made great strides though and completed three planets. Great job for a first time felter! He may get most of them done while the others are stringing theirs together in the next class. I am including a picture of the class sample for you to see. It is not perfect... but it is perfection :-)

My 5 yr old group continues to be a very active bunch. 5 boys and 2 girls make this a roudy group! I sometimes feel like I have a group of wild mustangs that I am trying to rein in! I'm sure our class can sometimes be heard throughout the building :-) The good news is that we are having fun!

This week I prepared some burlap strips that they turned into bookmarks. Last weeks' class was a practice for the stitching/weaving used in this little project. I was unsure how successful they would be since the stitching was completed with mixed results. I worried that the small strips of burlap would be difficult for them to handle. But, they did a GREAT job! I was so pleased. Their only task was to weave their chosen yarn through the cloth from top to bottom so that the ends could be tied in a knot to hold them in place.

It was interesting how each child worked the piece. Several chose to use very small, evenly spaced stitches. This of course allowed them to only weave in one or two threads BUT, their work was very good; straight, even and very good quality as a result. It looked more like adult stitching! I'm sorry I missed a photo op for a sample of one of these but the child was still working on it when I took the pics.

The remaining children were at pretty much the same level. They completed three to four threads duirng our class time with varying degrees of eveness. I really was not worrying about how even it was or straight, I was more interested in them getting the concept of weaving in and out and having them complete the work. I believe that last weeks' practice had impact on this weeks results.
You will note from the photos that the shiny threads were of most interest and chosen most often over a large selection of various colors. They loved the bling! Don't we all.....

The older group continued to work on their nuno bags. No complaints about the labor intensive process, and they are getting the feel of the wool and how it changes at various stages of the felting process. They are noticing that it gets stronger by how it feels; that it gets thicker as it

shrinks and that it feels less fragile. They are beginning to sess out on their own, how much pressure they can exert without damaging the piece. This was a very nice revelation to experience with them! Though their bags are not quite there yet, they have enough integrity to not have to worry about damaging them between classes. They are well under way in the fulling process and will be able to finish fulling and stitch them together next time. I anticipate being very proud of their work when they are done as I am already! This is a very mature project for them and I hope a piece that they will proudly use...............................................

Until Next Time............

Fun with Children & Fiber Projects!

It seems I just posted but more than a week has passed. WOW!

Each week brings me new surprises and learning potential. I make notes in my teaching journal for future reference and hope that I will find opportunities to continue teaching children fiber arts once I leave the island next fall.

This week the 5-7 yr old group continued to work on their needlepoint on plastic canvas. They are doing a great job considering this skill is a tough one for their little hands and minds to grasp. Not only are they using motor skills to maneuver the needle in and out of holes, they have to choose the right one to give them the proper pattern! Most know when they have erred and call me to the rescue but unless they have a knot or have made an egregious error that will give them gaps in their work, I allow the stitches to remain. Age doesn't necessarily dictate their progress. One of my youngest students is a diligent and focused child. As a result, she has completed more of her project than any other in class. I have no doubt that this project would be done by now if they could keep their attention on their work instead of what happened at school..... BUT, they are still little children after all :-)

I will give this project a rest for next week. I do not want them to become discouraged or bored with their progress. Another time I would use a smaller piece to learn this technique. They are always anxious to finish a piece so that they can take it home and show it off to their parents. I fear that this is one that they will not complete.

The five year olds had fun this week creating Yarn Bugs! I called them Love Bugs since we used little heart shapes for their mouths. This project gave them motor skill practice as they wrapped yarn around a block of wood to create the huge pompom that would become their bug! I asked them to count 100 wraps; no easy task for five year olds! I gave them a scrap of paper and pencil and asked them to wrap ten and make a mark, and do that ten times. Several accomplished that task, though not without error, Still, it was a good lesson in concentration, something they all need help with at this age. Although they are all five, I can pick out the youngest of the group by their attention and class behaviour. Keeping on task with a job has to be about something fun. To encourage wrapping from this child, he was reeling in a fish from way out at sea on the line of yarn. It worked!

After their pompoms were made with help from them to tie the center knot, the poms were placed over a styrofoam ball and glued in place. I had to help get get pipe cleaner legs into the foam. I hadn't anticipated this to be a problem but finding your way to the foam through the yarn was a bit challenging and once hte pipe cleaner ends have been bent, they will never pierce the foam. They then chose pom eyes and a heart for the mouth which we glued on with hot glue.

They were quite pleased with their projects when they left the classroom!

Onto the bigger kids....

This group is finishing up their woven stash bags woven on a cardboard loom. While they were working on those, I had a wonderful Montissouri teacher helping with the class as I  began working on our next project. We are making a felt vest from commercial cloth which they are going to do crewel embroidery designs on. I have asked them to use simple symbols inspired from native american work. Wednesday I took two children at a time and taught them how to take proper measurements. We are not using a pattern since we are creating a very simple design using a rectangle of cloth that will have a slit for the front and a slit for the neck (in a T shape). The sides will be stitched up with yarn as in shoe lacing style and they will embelish the back of the vest with stitchery. While most of the class was weaving, I worked with two at a time so that by the time class was over, each had calculated the necessary dimension of their cloth, marked it and cut it out. We spent the last 15 minutes of class working on design. The most difficult part of that process is to have them understand what it means to have a simple design. I have found this time, as in the past, that they tend to get carried away with details in their drawings. I will have to help them edit to be sure they have not created a design that they will never be able to accomplish in our class time. I have suggested that they work out their basic design to begin with and adding steps of detail in small increments; stages if you will, that they can work on with good stopping points. This way as time allows, they can add a stage of development. My concern and what I am trying to avoid is a project that they can never possibly finish in our class time and their attention spans. It is important that they not bite off more than they can chew. It is important to me as well as them that they be successful and be able to wear this out of the last class of the term!

Until next time..................

Weaving with Children 5 - 7 yrs old

We are now in week 4 of classes and everyone seems to be settling in. It always takes a few classes for us to get to know each other so that children can focus on their work.
Last week we dyed yarns with Kool -Aid which they began weaving with this week. The 5-7 yr old group was given a cardboard circle loom which they warped on their own pretty well. I asked them to follow my step by step instructions and found that their biggest challenge was making sure that their first warp thread cut the circle in half which makes sure the center of their weaving is in the center of the circle.
Usually if left to their own choices I find that instead of students choosing complementary colors to weave with, that they choose colors that they like with no regard for how they look when put together. I like to give hte children choices but I am often heart sick when they do a great job with the technical part of their projects but end up with a caucophny of color that is more distracting than atracting. I of course always complement their work as wonderful in spite of their color choices! Since the yarns they were weaving with were dyed with a limited number of colors, I put out a variety of warp thread colors that would go well with all of the yarns that they had. It worked! They got to make a choice that I too would enjoy :-)
The tricky part of circle weaving is the center but once they got that taken care of, they all managed to finish their pieces enough so that with a few extra minutes in class with patient parents, we were able to get all but one tied off and ready to be taken home! Yeah!
I quite enjoy the 5 yr old class falling on the day after the 5-7's. I like to have them do the same projects if possible and I am able to  assess that easily after the 5-7 yr old class does their project. It was obvious to me that the 5's would not be able to deal with the fussy center of the circle weaving as a first weaving project. We also have only one hour in class and whenever possible, I like to have them complete a project in one session. I knew that the circle weaving would be too agressive for the little ones so I chose to do a simple weaving on a frame loom. No need to warp it. I did that for them ahead of time. I simply wanted them to begin to understand the concept of over and under to create a cohesive piece using the yarns they had dyed in a previous class. This groups attention span is short. Not having the older children in class as role models for focus, attention and discipline, seems to make a difference. They feed off of each other's energy which isn't always directed at their work. In spite of that, they do great work when they do focus so I k now they are gretting it. Getting them to work at it is sometimes another story. We did not get our weavings finished in one session but they all get it and are doing nice work!
Next week is a school vacation week so there will be no regular KAF classes. 1/2 term csmp will be in session and I will have a week off to spend extra time working on my own artwork for my upcomming show at the Elliot gallery in March.
Until next time.........

The Wooley Story Hour with 5 yr olds......

This is the first time I have had a group of children who are all five years old! After last week I quickly realized that I can not do all of the projects with them that I do in my 5-7 yr old class. It was interesting to conclude that when a few five year olds are mixed into a group who are up to seven years old, their behavior rises to the level of the older children in class; they take their cue from them. On the other hand, when put together with others of the same age, they have no role models; no one to emulate. Result? A VERY different atmosphere in the class room!
As a result of learning this, I shifted gears and have begun bringing their project levels down a notch or two. Additionally, the 5 yr old class is only one hour long which also is a limiter on the projects we can complete.

Now that I have experienced this learning curve, I am back on track and now know how to proceed with this group! We began with a lovely story book written by Elsa Maartman Beskow called Pelle's New Suit  which tells the story of a little boy, his lamb and how he  uses his lamb to get himself a new suit. After the story I did a brief drop spindle demonstration which always amazes.

The project of the day was for the children to do some wet felting in a baggie. This is an easy project for them to find success with which they all did! I had prepared the usual three layers of fibers in a baggie ahead of classtime and added a bit of soapy warm water to each. I had them work them until they were firm enough to remove from the bag and finish up by rolling them in bumpy shelf gripper.

Next week? Kool - Aid Dyeing. I will have them paint yarns which they will then use in a circle weaving project.

Hand Spinning with Children at Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation.....

This was spinning week with two of my classes.....

 I use an unconventional method with a clamp to teach them the basic concept of what's happening when a yarn is being spun. We used a coarse, short narrow piece of wool roving; A breed that might be good for needle felting so that it is less slick. The smaller narrower piece makes it easier for them to draft from and will spin less than a yard of yarn. I begin by demonstrating how to draft which each of them has encountered in my felting classes. I then show them how to twist the tip and clamp it to the table. Once they have done that They begin drafting and twisting in a clockwise manner until they reach the end. There was very little difficulty with over drafting to the breaking point and though there was not a consistent twist in their yarns, each was successful at creating a length of plied yarn! Next week we will add their yarns to some factory spun to do some kool - aid dyeing.
Once they completed their yarns, I demonstrated the drop spindle and each of them got a chance to try with my assistance. Spinning continues to amaze everyone who sees it being done. It's like magic!

The 5 - 7 yr old group worked with me as I had them draft....slide...
and pinch while I held the work and spun the spindle. Unfortunately I couldn't take photos while doing this but maybe next time I can try to get one of my student to be acting photographer!

I did the same with the 8 and up group but after they had a turn at the spindle with me, I gave them each a spindle to use. I was impressed that although it was challenging for them, they managed to spin without too many breaks. The hardest things for them to grasp are to add another length of roving to their work and which way to spin the spindle. Their insecurities kept me hopping so I never got a shot of them spinning on their own. I plan to have them work on their yarns during class down times  so will make a point of getting a photo of them in action another time!

In the end, I asked how much they enjoyed learning to spin in spite of it's challenges and they all were enthused and glad to be doing it! Another successfule class!

Felting with 8 - 10 Year Olds.......

I've now met all of my new students for the term at KAF and it's a great group of kids! The newest ones are the 8-10 yr olds and they are so enthused! Two of them are returning students glad to be back, and the others seem genuinely glad to be in class. All are looking forward to our next time together. What more can a teacher ask for?

In this class students learned to make a multi colored felt roll that was cut into slices and strung onto elastic thread to make a bracelet. The two hour class time didn't allow for us to string the remaining beads for necklaces but we'll finish that up next week.

Students did such a  good job of felting that it was a bit difficult to thread the beads! We had to use pliers to pull the needle through their work. Well done! This means the beads will hold up and not easily fall apart. It helped that we used Merino this time!

One of the lessons they learned is that felting is a labor intensive job. Children in my classes are always asking if they are done felting; is it enough.... I always try to get them to keep going but give them the option to make an informed decision by telling them they can be done, but that if they continue, their efforts will pay off with a stronger felt that will stand the test of time. Most respond by continuing to work but ultimately, it's their choice.

These students kept at it and have created some great beads! They can be proud of their work!

Next week, we spin a yarn! Stay tuned..........