wip

Vitamin D in Madelinetosh Pashmina (Cloak)

Felt Elephant for Steiner Craft Curriculum Course, Class 5.

 

Lots of 16 ply wool, for more more more crocheted bags so our family can go out together all bearing out crocheted bags!!!! I think I'm addicted!

And a lovely link to Camilla Engman's post about a fantastic knitting related book!!

Norse Myths in Stitches

In Class 4, the children in Steiner schools are immersed in the tales from Norse mythology. God and Giant, ice and snow, golden apples and the deceiving Loki's trickery being the undoing of all! Such contrasts and colour for a child venturing into the world with curiosity and a thirst for challenge and adventure!
In the Craft (Handwork) curriculum, the children make a colourful tapestry, having first drawn a picture inspired by a story from the Norse Myths (check out this book for a great retelling), and then launching freestyle into a the huge array of colours to create their picture.

My tapestry began two years ago at Steiner Teacher Training, and I started using very small stitches to create a picture of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. When I picked up my unfinished tapestry again a few weeks ago, I aimed to do stitching more like what the children would be doing, so went for bigger expressive strokes. The piece ended up quite irregular in shape, which must be one reason why the framing for these is often done using two pieces of (perhaps?) plywood, with the front framing piece carved in an organic shape with curved edges.

on the needles

In Class 5 in the Steiner/Waldorf school the children learn to crochet. I haven't crocheted since I was nine! There is something strangely addictive about the quickly growing piece. My Class 5 girl noted that crochet sparked an unprecedented fervent passion for Craft among the boys in her class! With 16 ply (bulky) wool, it doesn't take terribly long to see result and the freedom to shape and add things onto your work at whim must be exciting for the children.
I'm making a school backpack for my chicken number 2, who desperately wanted one after seeing her sister's creation.

 

 

Ravelled here

On the knitting needles I have Vitamin D, by Heidi Kirrmaier, using the splendid and lushy Madelinetosh Pashmina in the Cloak colourway, which is a dark graphite/black with oh so subtle lilac wash through it. I am so loving this fun pattern, yet can't wait to get it off the needles and onto my back!!

Fair Isle Knitting: Class 4

 

In craft in Class 4, the children are such consummate knitters they are ready to make an item using Fair Isle patterns.  Ideally, the repeated pattern is no more than six stitches in total, which makes the knitting manageable and less likely to be pulled in at the back. The children are left to discover for themselves how to get the results they want. I started with alternate single stitches and soon got hungry to experiment and make the yellow "chook-monsters" at the top.

I found this process very free and creative. There were enough parameters put in place, ie. the stitch limit, two colours, selection of about ten colours, to provide a clear path.  Yet within those limits, a whole world of discovery, learning and enjoyment. I slowly branched out, changing colours, assessing the effect, devising my plan to finally get my monster chooks.

I know some people see Steiner education as too prescriptive, criticising the limit in colour choice in the early years or the sameness of the craft projects, but my experience has been that a few conditions set in place provides a safe space in which to create and discover. For children this seems ideal! And no two Fair Isle pieces could ever be the same. 

I also love how children are developing the skills to make themselves useful objects! A water bottle bag, a knitting pouch, music bag, water bottle cover, a pillow or a vest,

even a present for their baby brother, as my own child discovered she could gift her Class 2 doll to her new brother. 

Empowering! Love iT!

Crossing over with some helpful stitches...

Around the age of 9, a child reaches a place of "crossing" over, or out of the dreamy realm of childhood. There seems to have opened up within the child a quiet space which no-one can know about but themselves. If we make a cross gesture across our chest with our arms, we can feel the presence of an internal space within our heart. To a child who has hitherto had an open connection to all around her, this discovery of a private space can be quite a shock, and a new responsibility to bear. This can be a trying time for a child, when nightmares arise, fears of death, of being abandoned, wondering if they were indeed adopted, and of questioning the dreamy realm of magic and wonder which just slipped a little into memory...

In the Steiner/Waldorf school curriculum, the cross as a gesture is made wherever possible by the child, to meet them at this stage, as support, and bringing this new consciousness into the limbs, in fact, the whole body.

Running figure eights as a class, with the challenge of running through each other without colliding, and in craft, cross stitch. The children make their own knitting bag, decorating the front folding panel with a simple, symmetrical design using crosses. A single thread is used for the first time, requiring more attention to the work than previously.  The bag will house the future knitting and crochet works in progress. It feels good to have made a bag like this: waiting to protect treasured new inspirations, delicate works unfolding. I can imagine a nine year old being pleased with this also.
Mine already has the next Class 4 project: Fair Isle Knitting.