Dyeing wool with food colours

I decided to dye wool with the 5th graders for their first hat on 4 needles. Well, first they will make the needles...I bought walnut dowels, and am very very happy with that choice! Then we will do the food colour dyes...for now, here are some pictures of how the wool turned out that I dyed last night!

Some prep projects for 7th grade

OK so this may seem a little on the young side for a project for 7th grade, but I want them to get used to wet felting and dyeing before we make their slippers...so they are first going to make little inchworms getting used to manipulating the wool, and then a little pouch for the inchworm to live in...the pouch is wet felted around a smooth rock, which I am hoping they will be able to find by the river (if they go on a walk with the main lesson teacher...). Then, we will dye it with food dyes...we are using raw roving. I think that class will really enjoy it...we shall see!

Almost first day

Well, I have 5 more days until my first day of handwork instruction.
We have had a couple of in-service days with faculty and staff, and we
are so fortunate to have such a wonderful group...it just gets better every year!
We practiced a song that we will sing during our opening rose ceremony...it
is not my regular work day, but I think it is important to show a united front, and
I am anxious to see my students and see how much they have grown, or for my
8th graders, how much taller than me they are this year!!!

My projects keep changing in my mind, all these last minute ideas floating
around, my sanguininity is getting the best of me!! OK, focus, focus....

My wild card is the 8th grade...I have too few sewing machines for too many students!!
Part of this will be worked out after the first week, when I figure out where exactly I
will be teaching them and stowing the machines, etc (I am a roving handwork teacher...no handwork room for me!!) Soooooo, I have decided to break them up in groups (we will
be working in teams, which works great for this group) and give each group a part of the history of the sewing machine...they read it and present their part to the class...that way at least I know they know that part of the history, otherwise I stand in front going "blah blah blahh" and they think about what they will wear to the dance on the weekend....I look forward to those presentations! THEN, they get to draw the machine, and label each part. Then, we will possibly learn how to thread...baby steps. They are a rambunctious group!

We also got 8 machines donated to us from Sacramento Waldorf School (thankyou thankyou thankyou) because they are getting all new machines....jealous? a little....BUT we have now a grand total of 16 machines for I think 25 students....HOWEVER I have to spend some time with these machines, as each one is very different, but I think that will be a good challenge for the students...after all, there are many different types of machines, but they all generally follow the same concept...we shall see...

A new school year begins...almost.

Ha! I had high hopes for my blog, perhaps this school year will be the one! I am completely stressed out about this coming year, as my classes have increased in size, most around 30 plus, and I have no assistant, no handwork room (I go from classroom to classroom), and parents do not seem m to be very interested in helping out with the upper grades anymore. I am teaching handwork to grades 5 thru 8...so far. The budget cuts for our schools in Ca have been severe, and so we have increased our numbers of students. I have no idea how this is going to work, but work it will!

Lots of ordering of late, all the usual stuff, needles, fabric, thread, etc... I do love ordering! I want to buy everything and do everything! At the last minute, I looked into Naalbinding, and think this could work wonderfully into 6th grade, maybe 7th curriculum...I just need to learn how to do it! There are good tutorials on line...I had never heard of it, but evidently it predates knitting!

So, this year I ordered plain wool to be dyed for my 5th graders! The first month we will spend sanding and polishing our 4 needles for 4 needle knitting, and dyeing the wool...I am going to use koolaide to dye the yarn, which the kids will love. Yes, it would be nice to use natural dyes, but I decided on koolaide. First project is a hat. I let some students make the hat on two needles then sew it up, especially if they have never knitted before, and often I have many new to knitting students, and new to Waldorf. I do not need to stress them out or make them feel left out by not doing the same project as everyone else.

6th always begins with practicing stitches and making pencil pouches. We will adopt a farm rescue animal, and hopefully visit the farm sanctuary to visit our foster animal! This worked wonderfully last year! We have a new teacher that I have not met yet, so maybe there will be changes. Usually we make juggling balls too (I love this project)

7th and 8th, I have not decided yet...I need to look at the numbers. Smaller classes will get to do more, while 35 plus students might have to work as teams or....we only have 8 sewing machines! Woodwork is put on hold, I cannot be safe and teach woodwork to 35 students, obviously. Plus, there are not enough supplies for that many students at once. I am thinking of having a contest with groups of 5 or fewer to perhaps see what they can make out of old thrift store t-shirts...t-shirt re-con...Later on this.

Spring break!

Well, it is already time for Spring break. I am headed out of town to Seattle and Belingham to visit friends, and take a road trip with a friend!

Anyway, here are some pics I couldn't post as my computer was sooo sick, and now is better, so I am back in the saddle, so to speak...I am getting a little nervous about some projects not getting done, like our 8th grade woodworking project, and also about running out of projects the last couple of weeks of school because the students were quicker than expected...any last minute project ideas that last a few days?

I am back!

Oh boy, well, my intention was to keep this up weekly, but......

We have been busy bees in handwork! My 5th graders are amazing knitters, and have blazed through every project! I try to have a "giving" project, and ours is blankets, hats and/or booties for preemie babies. The blanket is so tiny, it makes us realise how small and fragile these babies are!

The 6th grade finished their pencil roll-ups, and we then moved on to making our gusseted animal. We chose a pig from a farm rescue named "Peggie Sue" (did I already mention that previously?) I will have some pictures of finished pigs by week's end--they are so cute, and we are making a "pig pen" to keep our completed piggies together and not running all over the classroom! Next, we have begun our tunics for medieval games. The class decided to dye the fabric red, a very suitable colour for this particular class I thought! It was so lovely to see the fabric flowing in the wind on one of the few sunny days we have had. The coat-of-arms and banner are to follow, and more on that later. (for Valentines day we felted hearts out of wool we dyed with kool-aide...they thought that was pretty awsome that you could dye with drink powder)

7th grade has been a challenge, mostly due to the class size, but also due to the fact that it is 7th grade. The big project is chef's aprons, and to my amazement quite a few have finished or are on the way to finishing...for those lucky acheivers, they will be able to create a marrionette!

8th grade is a joy, they all finished PJ bottoms, then the giving project of bags for kids at the children's receiving home (the kids can put their stuff in it and keep the bags). Now we have begun wood carving--first we made frames for practice, and now we are making a lecturn for the school as the 8th grade gift.

I only have a few pictures, my regular computer has been down for some time and holds most of my pictures!

ALSO, during these last months I have attended two Waldorf teachers conferences--both wonderful. More on that later too!