Dye Day!

                                                   Oh , hey! This is my 100th post!

Time to dye yarn with Grade 5!  I've posted this before, but we use kool-aide to dye the yarn. I soak natural hanks of yarn from Brown Sheep  in vinegar and water overnight, and dye the next day.

After having done this for many years, I think I've finally streamlined this and have it down!  This can be done in one 50 minute class if you are prepared, but more time is better.  The yarn sits in the sun in those baggies for days (I have the students put them out in the morning, and bring back in at the end of the school day). The next class we have in a week, we will rinse and hang the yarn to dry.

Have I mentioned I have 2 fifth grades, both at about 30 students...that's a lot of dyeing!

First finished hat and wrist warmer set of the school year (5th grade 4 needle knitting)!!!  Look at the hand dyed yarn!  I love this, I love how every single child dyed their own wool!  Socks are next (the sock yarn was bought variegated yarn...pre-dyed).  Not every student will finish all three projects, but most will....this is a class of go-getters!

7th slippers and blacksmithing .

I sure haven't been keeping up on this blog!  Oh well, that means I have been very busy with students and handwork and a lot of fun in my personal life!

Anyhoo...here are some pictures of first, a few finished boiled wool sewn slippers from 7th grade.  They took to this project with such enthusiasm this year!  I would love to do wet felted slippers, but with 30 students it just doesn't work.  This is my second choice, and they really had some fun with it this year.

The next two pictures of the knife is actually my son's knife he made in his senior year at Sacramento Waldorf School in his Blacksmithing class.  He loved it, and he loves his handwork teacher.  The shape of the top is for a bottle opener...hmmm.  They had to go to the river to get the mud to make the forges, sew the bellows...chop the wood for the coals...I wish I had this class!