A year of handwork through the grades

Thank you to Ithaca Waldorf Handworks & more and Teaching Handwork for sharing their lists of the handwork they plan to do with each of the grades they teach this year!

Frohe Ostern!

Aren't these little bunnies cute? The pattern is from the Spring 2008 issue of Living Crafts magazine. And, it's super easy. Once I made one, I was set (which was terribly convenient, as I misplaced my magazine for a few days...).

The bunnies are smaller than I thought from reading through the pattern. It turns out that they are perfectly pocket-sized. In fact, T has been carrying his around in his pants pocket!


I'm having S knit a bunny of his own -- it's essentially a rectangle which you tie off and sew together to shape. However, he's decided that he prefers sewing to knitting. [Hey, I'm not going to argue with a kid who wants to sew. :-) ] I'm still going to insist on basic knitting skills. In the meanwhile, here's S sewing up the bottom of a bunny we sent to my nephews:

Handmade Holidays

I have no idea when [if?!] I will have time to sew. But, I'm going to enjoy reading through the Handmade Holidays tutorials regardless!

Fingerknitting with Wandering Henry

I stumbled across this fun set of instructions for fingerknitting. It spins a yarn (I couldn't resist the pun!) of Wandering Henry.

How to make cloth wipes

I continue to think a lot about how we can reduce the amount of waste our household generates. The boys can be generous with their use of toilet paper, and even when TP use is modest per, um, application, the total does add up over time.

I also continue to think about how we can live more simply, which for me, includes having less stuff. So, I'd been wondering about that stash of soft, flannel baby receiving blankets in the bottom drawer. Certainly, I could donate them. Or, they'd also make a great material with which to test the cloth wipe concept...!

The fabric: My sewing assistant, T, helped me smooth out and measure the receiving blanket on our "cutting mat," the living room carpet:

The size: What size is good for wipes? We decided to try 8" x 6" rectangles. Perfect! We were able to cut 16 pieces:

Hemming: I knew that, on their own, the edges would fray. For the cleanest edge, I could have sewn two fabric layers together, right sides together, and then turned the rectangle inside out. A simple zigzag around the edges would have achieved a similar goal. But, these are "just" wipes! A little fraying wouldn't be a problem...

Never mind that I've had this lovely Husqvarna sewing machince for eight+ years. I'd never tried out all of the fancy stitches. With nothing to lose, my assistant and I tried out stitches with abandon!

Action!: While I "steered" the needle across the fabric, my trusty assistant manned the foot pedal:

The wipes: Here's a sampling of our finished product:

The presentation: A little basket in the bathroom for storing the wipes would be nice. Or, you could use a glass napkin holder to do the job:

Update, August 17, 2007:

• As expected, the edges are doing some fraying. This is ok.
• The 8"x6" size is very convenient.
• I'm planning on sewing up a second batch for our other bathrooms. I think I may try the cleaner hemming method (for 4"x6" wipes, as I'll fold the fabric rectangles in half), just to see how that works out for us.
• We've washed the used wipes (we've only used them for #1) right along with our other laundry -- no presoaking or any other special treatment -- and they've come out beautifully.
  

How we made our own knitting needles

The "before" shot of the dowel:
S measured out and marked two 10" lengths:
He carefully used the saw to cut the dowel into the smaller lengths he needed:

Then, we headed outside to our front walk, and used the concrete to rub points onto one end of each needle:

Back inside to smooth out the rough bits with sandpaper:

Each sanded needle was "finished" with a light application of olive oil:

Still to come: we need to put ends onto each needle...

When the natives get restless, assign a meaningful task

It was late afternoon, and the boys' play was tending towards the wild side.

We had soup on the menu for dinner, and I had just started with the requisite slicing and dicing... As I listened to the ruckus in the living room, I was reminded of a workshop, given by Barbara Dewey, I'd attended several years ago. One of my "take home messages" was to let kids try out some of those "dangerous activities" -- like using knives, or lighting candles with matches -- under your watchful eye.

So, I whipped out some more knives and cutting boards, and called in my young chefs. We discussed the task at hand, and, then... They happily turned their energy from fighting to chopping... and I put my faith in them. In relatively short order, we had a bowl full of cut-up ingredients -- and no injuries!

Art/Craft supplies

Play silks

I tried buying my own square yard of silk and then hemming it... that quickly disabused me of that idea.  First, the fabric was not all that cheap.  Second, rolling and sewing that hem was an exercise in patience, to put it mildly.  Buying pre-hemmed scarves is the way to go!  Plus, dying them is easy and fun.

• www.thaisilks.com
  
• www.dharmatrading.com