Woolly Week Summer Camp for Kids
Day Four: Drop Spinning and Felting!
Concentration!
Our morning results
Felting our Shepherd's Rugs
Shepherd's Rugs on the line
No one wanted to go home today! I guess that is a good sign everyone is having a good time, right?
Fleece,
Abu
Woolly Week Summer Camp for Kids
Day Two in Pictures
Barn boots by the back door
Everybody loves George!
Picking and carding our washed fleece
Go fly a kite!
Taking the wool off the drum carder
I love busy, summer days!
Fleece,
Abu
I sure feel like I had my stuffing knocked out last week! Whew! The week flew past, and the next thing I knew, it was Friday, and all the moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, brothers, sisters, it seemed like all of Auburn was there for our art exhibition!
We had a great time! We dyed yarn and roving, made felt balls and ropes, finger knit jump ropes and shoelaces, spool knit crazy animals, and wove tapestries on cardboard looms.
Three parents came up to me during the "show" and told me my class was the only thing their kid talked about all week! They said it was fun to have something different rather than the usual painting class. They loved that I talked about history, and that the kids learned to do something with their hands other than play with video games, iPods, cell phones, etc.
You can see more great pics on the Schweinfurth's Facebook page!
I'm sorry to say there was not enough enrollment for Week 2, and both classes were cancelled :(
Here's to getting put back together!
Abu
Art camp started bright and early this morning, and did we have a blast! I have the older kids this week, ages 9-12, and they really held their attention as I discussed different fibers and their uses.
Poor Georgie. He really wanted to go to camp with me.
But there really was no room in the car, it was packed to the gills. So in his place, I told the kids how the wool is harvested, washed, carded, spun and dyed.
The fun really started when we got to spin. I bought ten top whirl drop spindles from The Bellwether last winter.
When you buy her spindles in bulk, you get a discount! I just love these drop spindles! (Yikes! After checking the link, the price has gone up. But if you are buying in bulk, you still get a discount, and I think it is a great way to introduce kids to spinning without breaking the bank).
Today the kids really stayed focused. You could hear a pin drop, they were concentrating so hard. One little boy said, "I can't do this!" I reminded him in baseball you don't hit a home run the first time you swing a bat (well, maybe with beginner's luck). It takes practice and patience to learn something new. I showed him why he was having trouble; and then he got it, and blasted off!
When I announced that we forgot to take a break for snack time, they said,
"Awwww. Do we have to stop?"!!!
"Can we spin while we have our snacks?"!!!
Oh my gosh! I think I have a next generation of spinners on my hands!
After snack, we talked about the color wheel and did some Kool-Aid dyeing.
I overheard the little boy who had trouble spinning tell another classmate, "I want to come to art camp every summer!"
Me too!
Fleece,
Abu
I haven't been able to get in the dye garden. Either it has been too rainy/wet or it was too hot! Yesterday was the perfect garden day; sunny, blue sky, and a temperature drop of 30 degrees!
Boy, was I in for a surprise.
The flax is coming along great, but the edge needed to be trimmed and the bed needed weeding!
There. That's better. The Professor gave me some advice. Weed more like a meditation, not like your life depended on it. Then it's not so overwhelming.
So I started to weed. The sun was warm on my back. A mommy robin built a nest in the bird box and kept me company. There was a nice breeze.
But then I got to wondering. What if it did matter? What if there was no Walmart, Target, (enter other big name box store)??? What if the clothes on my back were the result of my own hand???
I've been following Rebecca Burgess and her Fibershed project since last fall. http://www.rebeccarburgess.com/fibershed
Her goal is "To live for one year, in clothes made from fibers that are solely sourced within a geographical region no larger than 150 miles from my front door; this includes the natural dye colors as well!"
This was part of my motivation to have a flax and dye garden. A challenge to myself. Could I grow my own clothes??? I have the Shetlands for my nice warm woolies, but what about the one day of summer? Cotton is out. Can I grow flax and hemp in Central New York?
In my research about flax, it is a 1-1/2 to 2 year project, from seed to actual garment!!! Can you imagine our fore sisters growing their own clothes? Which is probably why they only had one dress. And why clothes were handed down and stitched and patched and stitched some more. Which brings me back to the thought about telling time through cloth.
I'm embarassed when I open my closet! (But now I see it as potential). I haven't done a F*R*U*gal project for a while, so it was time to dust some of those clothes off and make something of them.
In case you missed my previous posts, F*R*U*gal means I'm a Free, Reuse, and Upcycle kind of gal. Here is what I'm working on today:
Em, if you're reading this, stop here!
M's birthday is coming up, and I thought I would make her a market bag type thingy. My inspiration came from a bag a woman brought to Saori Worcester last month.
The "What if it did matter?" will continue to be a big question for me. It brings me back to all the research I did in school on fair trade, child labor, the environmental damage caused by the textile industry, women's cooperatives, my idea of bringing back the local mills (they were all up and down the outlet at the turn of the century), putting local people back to work, knitting from wind power, connecting with other local fiber producers, etc., etc. Oh, I need to go and weave to calm myself. This is too big a question for my little brain!
Fleece and be calm!
Abu
I am learning where I have to go. It is slow. This week, so many ideas. So many projects! I put this on the loom on Saturday, and finished it Sunday. Just going with it. Following where it wanted to take me. I'm not sure what it is going to "be" yet. It hasn't told me.
The little blue "island" in the picture above came from some fabric scraps Em gave me. It was from an outfit she made for Little Boo, and has since been passed on to Aimee. This started a whole thought process on time. Telling time through cloth. I will need to come back to this and explore some more.
I think I need to be one step ahead of myself. There is a sense of panic when I take something off the loom. I had two thoughts. One was to weave with some rag scraps left over from a floor cloth I knit for Sarah last summer. But when I balled them all up, this was all there was left.
I guess I need to attack my closet and Sal Val for more rags. Second thought was to weave a space warp; then felt it, creating little stain glass windows.
I haven't woven with wool in a long time. I just love the Saori way of warping and dressing the loom. It is so easy. No more fighting tangles. No more warps from he**! Smooth and easy.
I've been playing with these little woven bands from my car weaving. Folding and sewing in origami shapes. Just playing, but I think there are some seeds for a larger project here.
At night I've been working on the potholder loom, free spinning and cardboard weaving a larger bag to go with my shuttle bag.
I've also been practicing Navajo 3-ply.
This is fleece from my Romneys. I'm trying to make up lots of skeins for future dye projects. If the sun ever comes out, I will start to pick my Shetland fleeces.
Em and the grandkids came by on Sunday for the first time in a month. We went for a walk in the Wild Wood and saw lots of pretty flowers.
The kids hadn't seen the sheepies since they got their haircuts! The sheepies were so excited to see the girls!
Georgie loves company!
Ahh. Do you have to go?
Yes, and it's time for me to go, too!
Fleece,
Abu
Well, I got carried away. My dye bundles were just begging to be unwrapped, for me to take a peek inside.
Just those few little hyacinth blossoms I picked off the stem gave all this beautiful color!
Too pretty to toss, I pressed them in a phonebook for some future project. (Everyone in my house knows not to throw away a phonebook without checking for hidden treasures)!
Now what to do with all these pretty cloths? I can hear a low whisper. Maybe piece them together? Stitch. Sew. Pull. Cut in strips? Weave. Hmmm. I'm listening.
I finished the lilac scarf on Friday.
I couldn't wait to get a new warp on the loom. But I ran into a wall. I was reading a post about Saori and realized, it's not so much the color or design that makes the fabric. It's the texture. I'm really frustrated because I don't have a candy store of yarn to choose from when I sit at my loom. So Friday night I thought, "I won't let that stop me. I'll just have to make my own!" I sat with my drop spindle and some colored roving left over from a class. I gathered bits of threads, leftover fabric scraps, thrums, embroidery floss, etc. But by then, after pondering this dilemma all day, I was tired, and decided to wait until morning.
Saturday, I thought, "Don't make too much of a deal about this. Just listen to the yarn. Don't start with any preconceived idea about what it will or will not be. Just do it!"
I opened the cupboard, threw on the warp, dressed the loom in record time, because company was coming, and I needed to get the warp tied on. Sometimes maybe a little deadline pressure is a good thing.
Another thought. Maybe a little of something is better than a whole lot. Like chocolate. It's nice to savor. To let the rich flavor roll around and melt in your mouth. It's really fun to do the interlock technique, but maybe just a little bit here and there gives more interest.
I've sent in an application for a juried Art in the Park show at the end of June, so I will really have to hussle if we get accepted (Em will be selling her handknitted baby items). New items have been posted to Etsy. Please check it out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/fleecefulkingdom
I planted the flax garden and transplanted my dye plants, and then we had a week of heavy rain. Oh, my poor little plants. I've prayed over them every day. I'm not much of a gardener; I have a lot to learn. They looked so sad.
But yesterday, the sun finally broke! The flax is up and looks good!
I am following the Japanese method of no-till gardening. I spent the winter reading the "One Straw Revolution" by Masanobu Fukuoka. He is a pioneer and practitioner of natural farming. We'll have to see. It's an ongoing experiment!
The sheepies have discovered the breakfast bar is open 24/7!
May you have a fleeceful 24/7!
Abu
Oh, I'm having so much fun! I've been dyeing with forsythia and dandelions!
I had some Romney that I was playing around with trying to learn Navajo 3-ply since I only have two bobbins for my wheel. I pre-mordanted the wool with cream of tarter; then let it simmer in the dandelion dye for an hour.
Dandelion-dyed homespun hung on the line to dry.
The color is very subtle; a pale yellow-green. The next day, as I was doing dishes and looking out the kitchen window, my eyes fell on the forsythia blooming beside the garage. It's just about to loose all it's blossoms. Oh, goody! I thought I had better seize the opportunity while I had it!
The forsythia is on the left; dandelion on the right. Underneath is a forsythia-printed piece of linen which had previously been tea-dyed.
This past week I was busy weaving a scarf for the librarian who has so graciously helped me this year: scheduling rooms, emailing students of time and day changes, reminders. Oh so much of the little details that we tend to overlook, but that I appreciated throughout the year. This is for Meredith, woven in the Saori free-form style, with a great big Thank You!!!
I love the colors. They remind me of the beach. It seems I am always thinking of the beach. I am just a fish out of water, although there is water right out my window; it's just not the same!
I've continued working on my "gesture" weavings this week. I'm having so much fun. Kind of a synopsis of each day, some observations, some exploration. It's a very nice way to end the day.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
I need to talk with the Professor about binding them in some kind of book. He's the resident book expert. I'll have to see what he suggests.
Today is cloudy and cool. A perfect day for picking some newly-shorn fleeces and some more spinning! What should I dye with next?
Fleece be with you,
Abu
PS Georgie is doing much better. He is not limping as much and is hanging with the flock. Thank you for your suggestions!
Well, this morning I'm looking at my To Do list and freaking out. It's that time of year: the wreath to make, holiday decorations to get out of the attic, cookies to bake, the house to clean, company coming, knitting projects in every room of the house, packages to wrap, etc., etc.
But I just have to remind myself to slow down and breathe. I'm also trying something new, which I thought I would share.
Instead of feeling like you're just spinning your wheels by all the things you need to do, make a list at the end of the day of the things you did accomplish, and you will be amazed!
I just keep a running list in TextEdit and keep adding to it. I don't worry about punctuation or perfect sentences. The thing is to just get it down. I like to do it in TextEdit instead of paper and pencil, because I can then go back and search if I need to.
So here's to making a list and checking it twice!
Abu
I realized I will be spending the day in the doctor's office tomorrow, and I'm out of yarn!!! So I spun up a batt this morning. (Did I mention I bought a Fancy Kitty Carder? Mr. Anderson is the nicest man; his workmanship outstanding, as well as his customer service).
Anyway, I only have one bobbin for my Reeves Frame Wheel, which is no longer made! I ordered a bobbin off ebay, and it wasn't the right one for my wheel. The Professor was able to tweak it for me, but I was still one bobbin short to ply. (I think you can ply without bobbins using the Navajo technique, but I don't know how yet).
So I came up with this:
I wound the yarn off onto empty toilet paper rolls, took a box, poked some holes in the sides, and used these vintage knitting needles I found in my stash (where did these come from??? Scary!)
Check it out! .55 cents!
Well, that did the trick...
I've been knitting the Professor's Christmas scarf right under his nose! The whole time we were in the hospital (twice!), I knit. When he went for a test, I knit. I found this note in my wallet that I wrote when we were in the ER:
"It's 11:09 am,
They took you for a cat scan and MRI.
I sit and count the stitches,
the rows completed,
instead of the clock.
Knitting a scarf for the man
I hope they return to me."
For me, knitting is the same thing as praying. Well, I'll be knitting my little heart out tomorrow!
Fleece be with you,
Abu
PS I'm making progress on the placemats. Three down, one to go!
Welcome to my blog! I'm Abu, short for Abuela. I'm married to the Professor. We live on a small "farm" in the beautiful Fingerlakes Region of Central New York. I'll be posting on my journey to create a more simple life way.
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