Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

 Continuing on with my craft curriculum series, this is the sunburst cushion. The cat took a fancy to the sunburst cushion as soon as I put it down to take a photo.  It's a bit grey out right now, so I can't blame him.  Sunbeam stitches fill the hessian circle in this class two project, radiating out from the centre.  This filling of the circle goes hand in hand with how the class two children and gradually filling in the circle of their peer group and class.  The first side of my cushion is very tight and full.  Our teacher helped us look at ways that we can read a child's temperament from their sunbeam cushion, I'm not sure what this says about me! 

I tried a looser, lighter feel on the second side.  I think that the second side is more representative of what an 8 year olds cushion might look like.  My (not quite) circular cushions halves are sewn together with an over and over stitch around the edge and stuffed with wool.

I recently published a kids hat pattern on Ravelry.   Its called Pixie Tadhg.  I know its coming into the milder weather up there in the Northern Hemisphere, but you might like to have a look anyway.

See what other folk have been crafting at Nicole's place today.

Yarn Along

I'm flying by the seat of my pants here. I had a vision in my head of a fisherman pullover style jumper for me littlest girlie made from the leftovers of my Agnes. The catch was that the front panel was all knit in hot pink.  I spent a LONG time thinking about how to knit this in the round with two colours and all I could come up with was breaking and attaching at EVERY colour change (please feel free to comment and tell me how I could have done this more easily!)  Oh - and I didn't use a pattern I just did a bit of math in my head and adjusted the Agnes pattern.  So I'm on the last sleeve.  I've got a mountain of ends to weave in that are making it look incredibly bulky when I try it on her, but other than that I think it might just work out OK size-wise, and end up being super cute - bonus.

I started the Narnia book with the Dubhessa and Tadhg this week.  Dubhessa has declared it too scary and dark, so she opted out after chapter 3 and is doing her own bedtime reading.  Tadhg is loving it.  If you could please recommend some lighthearted easy to follow books for an 8 year old girl I would much appreciate it!

Happy Knitting!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

 

These are the first knitting projects that the kids undertake in Class One.  Some kids can already knit by this stage, but for the majority this is their first time with knitting needles.  At some schools the kids will actually make their own needles from some lengths of 8mm dowl sharpened at one end, sanded, oiled and finished with a bead, or gumnut on the end.   Kids of this age will use 16ply wool on their 8mm's in class we used 6mms and 4 ply.

The very first thing they will knit will be a square in one colour.  This square can then become a cat, a sheep, a bird or any little creature you can imagine with a little loose stuffing and sewing.   I guess to an adult we really have to use our imagination here, but to a child of 7, it really does look like a cat or a sheep.  Thats my sheep up there - looks more like a cat to me!  I struggled with the looseness of this little sheep, as my instinct was to sew it all up,  stuff it to the max and make it actually look like a sheep.  But I resisted.

The next knitting project, which will most likely happen a little later in the year is the shepherd or doll.   This is also essentially a knitted square, using more colours this time. A little finishing and stuffing, some knotted on hair and there you have it.   Below is the doll that my daughter knit in Class One last year.  She was so very proud of it and it is much loved.  You can see for comparison the size difference between the 8ply and 16ply wool.  Knitting is continued all the way through to the later grades in a Steiner school - I'm looking forward to the Fair Isle later this year.

 See what other folk have been crafting at Nicole's place today.

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

 

My craft course introduced weaving recently. I have to say, I'd never tried it before and I just loved it.  We started with the Class One project. A flat piece woven on a wooden weaving board using 16ply wool.  This is usually sewn into a purse, but can also be used as a little mat. 

But my favourite was the Class Two circular weaving on the toilet roll tube. This one used 8ply wool and its just so clever and accessible.   If you wanted to try it, the warp, which is the white cotton that goes up and down the tube is wound around little, 1cm, slits that are cut into the top and bottom of the tube. You need an odd number of these warp threads for the circular weaving to work and the warp is held in place with some sticky tape around the top and bottom.  Use a wool needle to feed the weft, which is the 8ply wool under and over each piece of cotton.  Leave a little tail at the start and end of each colour and overlap each new colour slightly.  Push the weaving down as much as you can so that you get a nice dense fabric.

This can also be sewn into a little purse or bag. On but on a bigger scale this could be made into a recorder case by using a larger cardboard tube.  I'm going to have to check if I can get one from the post office as I think the girls and I are hooked!

 

See what other folk have been crafting at Nicole's place today.

Yarn Along

I've been finishing off the knitting for the last size of a hat pattern that I hope to release on Ravelry in the next week or so.  Just in time for Autumn down under. Its a sweet little pixie hat inspired by my second girl Tadhg. She was pretty specific when she told me what type of hat she wanted and it suits her no end - she is a giddy mischievous little pixie herself.  - see below.

This hat pattern has been lingering for a couple of months now over Summer and I've promised myself I won't cast on anything else until its done. I have a ball of Poems Sock wool sitting looking at me right now begging me to knit some socks. Its taking a lot of will power to ignore it!

The Chronicles of Narnia, lets start at the start.  I havn't read these before though I do vaguely remember a tv adaptaion of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe from when I was a kid.  I never really got into the fantasy novels, but I'm looking forward to reading this one to the girls at bedtimes.

This is Tadhg in her new hat at the Handknitters Guild monthly Sit and Knit last weekend.  She was given a beautiful ball of Schoppel Wolle Reggae Ombre from a wee boy in her class for her birthday last Spring.  She's made herself a pair of fingerless gloves and is almost finished a neckwarmer.  I think she'll be wearing these with pride.

Happy Knitting!