Brother Autumn

Brother Autumn has come to join us in the handwork room at school!

I posted last week about Lady Autumn.

I have so enjoyed crocheting the little shawls and baskets for these seasonal figures, and  it's been really therapeutic to breathe life into wool again.

I am really excited to see how these nature corners develop over the year, and how we can involve the children. I am already dreaming up my King Winter : )

I've just finished reading Kathryn Stockett's The Help, I grew very fond indeed of Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter and I was left imagining what became of them all...great story : )

I am happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along.

It's tricky for me to post on Wednesdays now because that's a teaching day for me so I'll be linking up later than usual, hope you'll still find me ; )

 Speaking of teaching, I look forward to sharing some wonderful needle felted figures made over the weekend at the young people's workshop I gave at the Weekend in the Woods event. We felted through the wind and scattered showers and as always, so 

inspiring to see all the boundless creativity and effort.

'Til then, thanks so much for your visit x M

With Autumn in the air

It's been a while I know, I've missed writing and sharing here with ye!

Fiery orange leaves are appearing now, more every day... I have been watching and waiting. Probably my favourite season this one, I so love the symbolic nature of what's happening to the trees. The transformation, the new colours, the letting go and the laying bare. For there are big Life changes happening for me too these days. Challenging times, not easy but also full of promise, as change always is. 

There is much to do and take care of and I Thank God for the days when I wake up and feel like I'm able for it all, to work my way down through my 'to do' list with a vengeance, for not every day is a day like that ; )

We're up early these brisk mornings stirring porridge and making school lunches, and smallie is still very enamoured with his first real 

lunch box and totally enamoured with the story of Mr. Straight and Mr. Curved that they are hearing each day. I love listening to him in the car on the way home giving me the latest installment and telling me about that day's new colours they got for their crayon roll from one lovely new teacher. It is all so very exciting for him, fresh, new and sprinkled with glimpses of a whole new world opening up.

 The promise of being able to read enchants him. Exciting for me just to witness : ) I see how he was so ripe for the academic learning and is loving working in his main lesson book and 'busy bee book'. When I see that big ole schoolbag on his back as he wanders up the path towards me at pick-up time I see him so grown up, so capable and I know it's all perfect timing, life moving on exactly as it should.

And boy, we have been busy bees in the handwork room, getting everything set up for the term ahead and getting to know new students. I'm not quite past the feeling of overwhelm yet and look forward to feeling 'in the flow' of new curriculums and lessons.

I just felted this Lady Autumn for the seasonal table for Class One and crocheted a shawl for her, to keep the Autumn winds at bay : ) She is joined by a little acorn child. 

 Honestly, one of the things, if not the most heartfelt thing I grieved the loss of on leaving the kindergarten, was their daily forest walk, now reduced to weekly. A nature table in the classroom reflecting/celebrating the seasons, goes at least some way towards bringing it into their daily conciousness. 

It was good to set these up, then let them go, for already little drops of candle wax and a little settling of chalk dust have christened them ; )

I felt like she needed a brother so I'm just putting the finishing touches to Brother Autumn. He is bound for the seasonal table in the Handwork room, I'll share him with you next week.

Hope you and yours are settling back into good routines too. I'm happily joining with Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along.
Thanking you for your visit xM

P.S. I will be teaching a Needle Felting workshop at CELT Weekend in the Woods in Bealkelly Woods in East Clare on this Sept. 29th-30th if any of you locals feel like joining us under the trees to form wool into figures! I am so looking forward to this : ) I posted about a workshop I took at this event here

To school

Something small in my heart lurches at the thought of my small boy walking through the doors of the main school today to join class one!

 He's my only one and this is the very beginning of sitting behind a desk, the beginning of academic learning and so many other exciting new things that he is ready for. He has been such a dreamer, such a nature boy and his four years in kindergarten held him within that world. I keep remembering arriving at that little wooden gate to pick him up and so many times hearing 'Mommy!' and seeing him run towards me in his rainy, muddy waterproofs with holes worn in the knees.
But time and life move on with or without us right? So I'm taking that deep breath, I know how Life calls us up to let go of what has been, and embrace what is.

Early this month, feeling that tinge of sadness, I poured my love into sewing the few small things he needed to have for school.

I am still just getting the hang of using a sewing machine and when handed to me, the pattern for the crayon roll seemed baffling at a glance and I decided I'd need the help of a willing school Mama! As it turned out, I woke up one morning and just decided it needed to get done and I would begin it that day. I figured it out, it was actually not complicated at all, just took time and I gave the time to it. It ain't perfect, but it's Mama made and smallie chose the materials from a small stack of leftover stuff from school.

As a handwork teacher, I love that the children will learn to tie and untie bows when they use these. One more little skill mastered : )

Making it got us both excited about this new chapter in his life, helped me feel like I'm ready for the next adventure too : ) As I stitched away I pictured him reaching for his crayons when it was time to draw and colour in school and the stories the children will work from. Making something always helps, right?

Here is his hat. I made this some time ago but it only fits him now. It was the very first thing I made when a beginner knitter at our Woollygatherings. The pattern was for a plain slouch hat but I had to have some fun with it ; )

This was before I discovered circular needles, love them now. All made in DROPS yarn, the green is a wool alpaca mix and so lovely to work with.

I was kind of amazed by mattress stitch, once I got the hang of it.

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along.

Thank you for reading x M

The zen of finger crochet

 A pair of hands and a ball of wool. For this, that's all you need... that simple, and in a complicated world, boy do I love simple!

If I could capture one tenth of the quiet wonder of this little journey, that would be something.

It started, when beginning to teach crochet to class two last month at our local Steiner school- finger crochet seemed a wise warm-up activity. I'd never done it myself before, but my son is a dab-hand. They do this 'two finger knitting' in kindergarten and he loves it. We made these simple flowers at home from the finger crocheted cords before doing it with the class.

I thought back to a 'social saturday' we'd had over the summer as part of our woollygatherings. A visiting mama joined us with her small boy who goes to a Waldorf school in America. And as we all sat around knitting, he nonchalantly began to crochet on all fingers of one hand. Wow, I was impressed with his focus and dexterity. He laughed as I tried to follow along with his movements but couldn't keep up. Before I knew it, and with the greatest of ease he was wearing a headband he'd just fashioned. That done, he ran off and joined the other children to play : )

Got me thinking about lots of things, chiefly how lovely to have a wee one 'knitting' at your side while you knit. And I remembered reading that Rudolf Steiner once said
 "the child's most ardent wish is to imitate the work of grown-up people, whether it is done with a spade or with a knitting needle."
 And while this five-finger knitting is actually crochet and not knitting, the process is a wonderful experience of the mechanics of how a stitch is made.

I wondered about a scarf that a child could easily make, a child who cannot yet knit. I made one this way for fun to see how it might work.

I connected the rope into a big loop and added a couple of those finger knitted flowers. It falls into a different configuration every time I put it on : ) The only use of a needle in the making of this was in stitching the flowers in place, the rest all done on the fingers. Somehow I've grown quite fond of this cosy neckwarmer.

What I'm really chuffed about though... is that my small boy took this photo!

At six, he has not yet learned to knit...feels like he will be ready soon and I am excited to teach him, but I'm biding my time. I taught him this five-finger crochet and he took to it easily and quickly. Amazing for me (and for him!) to see that thick, crocheted rope getting longer, and longer.

 The day he got to the end of the yarn, I helped him to fasten off and he promptly wrapped it about his neck, and with quiet satisfaction headed outside to play. Just.like.that. And I have never succeeded in getting him to wear a scarf all this time ; )

Here's the thing...for a child's hands to become skillful is vital to their holistic development. And in ways I'm only beginning to learn about- handwork supports literacy and numeracy skills later on... Steiner wrote of how 'knitting begets thinking'. It is as much of course about joy and peace, for the practice of handwork offers many therapeutic benefits.
 We have a basket now in smallie's patch of our living room where he's got a few different finger crochet projects on the go. I see him go to it at various times of the day... or hear him say 'I want to do some finger knitting now' especially once home from school, tired, and I'm busy in the kitchen. Often I'll notice a quiet has descended on the living room, and when I look he'll be sitting there stitching away contentedly. He settles in to it quietly and I see something universal in that. I too go to my knitting or other handwork when I need to throw off the shackles of the day, to shed the cares of the outside world. I see the deep personal satisfaction for him when he produces and finishes something, especially when he gets to use it in some fun way.

On the practical side, you can take this anywhere easily, its a perfect low maintenance, clean activity for long journeys or trips away. Half of a 50g ball of yarn is probably plenty, I would go for chunky weight and variegated colour for ease and fun. You'll find a tutorial here.

And what to do with all these fine finger crocheted cords I hear you ask? The kids will come up with endless possibilities I've no doubt, but here's some I've come across so far;

 as straps for bags

for tying and binding toys in different ways in play
for making the boundary of a field or pond in a play scene or puppet play

for use in weaving projects

for making necklaces or bracelets

for making flowers

And the lengths produced in the more sophisticated five-finger crochet;

Worked in hemp or twine, these make great skipping ropes
snakes

mighty fine scarves or neckwarmers, or a very sweet scarf for a teddy bear

garlands for decorating at home
hairbands and belts

And though I've not tried it yet, you can make a basket by coiling the rope around and stitching in place.

Speaking of stitching in place, and on a seasonal note...no more glossy conkers to be found around our favoured chestnut trees last time we looked. Shucks, all over for another year. But before the ones we'd gathered dry and harden, I just had to make them part of the place somehow.
Made a simple garland to honour a favourite sculpture... (Once I'd placed it there I kept seeing 
India, and how I often happened upon a Hindu statue decorated just so when travelling there.) 

And who could resist making a conker cobweb? Smallie and our little friend loved making these.

The wonder of
  fingers and yarn... and all you can do with them : )

Windfall

There is a little river walk that winds through our local village. We stop there sometimes on the way home from school, especially when I've had a harried morningtime or if smallie's restless in the car. Yesterday we ambled through there, and were enchanted by all the treasures lying in the grass and in the river...all in that one small place.

My son remarked how 'its a great year for conkers this year' and promptly started to fill a bag with the best. Indeed we stumbled upon loads of really big ones. When it was time to go and I was trying to round him up, he said 'I just need to say goodbye to the chestnut tree' wrapped his arms about the trusty trunk, gave a little kiss and a 'thanks for the conkers... see you next time' : )

 I keep thinking of this beautiful little children's verse we just sang at a parents morning at school

October
There is sunlight in your hair
See the colours grow golden

 That evening, inspired by Svenna over on Stitch and Purl, and with Michaelmas still in the air we thought we might make a conker dragon. It was a hasty, joint effort between the three of us at home before bedtime. Smallie loved using the awl to pierce, and was thrilled with his finished beast, who has been taken up mountain and down dale.

It jogged some fun memories for my partner about his wild boyhood, he reminisced about how as children, there was a big rush at this time of year with jaunts to their favourite chestnut tree, to search for the biggest hardest conker they could find. A length of baling twine was strung through it, knotted at the end and all hopes would ride with that conker, for much fame and glory followed the bearer of the prize-conker that would outlast all the others : ) There were tricks and theories about how to prolong them with soaking in vinegar or painting with clear varnish. He said those conkers burned holes in their pockets at school, with the anticipation of the next round of battle in the yard at lunchtime!
 He recalled playing 'helicopters' with sycamore keys, climbing the tree and letting them drop... and
'Truffing' apples from the nuns, a planned escapade with two or three of them in a gang for there had to be a 'look out'. And the others had to be fast on their feet when chased by the gardener, with handfuls of robbed apples gathered up in their shirts ; )

A generation later, children still love to play with such simple things as that which falls from the trees around us.

a sprinkling of gold 

As I write, it is the eve of a new school year. Bittersweet. Trying to squeeze every last drop of sunshine and of freedom from these last days!
 My small boy has been asking me to make him a golden crown for some time now, its been on my summer list of 'luxury tasks' I wanted to make time for. He chose all the colours and shapes/symbols and I worked from his simple drawing. He waited impatiently, I stitched while he slept and while he ran wild with the cousins long after bedtime...it seems to celebrate the elusive sun of an Irish summer  : )

I would've loved some golden thread to weave in here and there but alas, I was on the road with limited supplies though I did find copper in my small box of tricks. I worked with pure wool felt, next time I'd favour my own handmade felt... I keep seeing a sunset crown in my mind's eye : )

 I've been lucky enough to be around some other crafty mamas who've inspired a creativity different to the kind I've come from. Thanks to Liz and our school Craft Group, projects like this are an ease and a pleasure now where I totally shyed away from stitching before.

Speaking of the promise of gold, heres a silk we dyed with onion skins. Still fantasising about how I could use it as a panel in a nuno felted garment... maybe. It's subtle hues are lost in translation here. I've been told the colour shines through more beautifully when the silk is ironed, somehow the use of an iron just doesn't seem to be in my nature ; )

Another fun thing to be borne of this summer were a few sweet hogs. It all started when my lovely niece and I sat up late one night crafting pom poms (hers was gorgeous). Next day I thought 'what to do with a pom pom..?' hmmmn and wondered if I could needle felt wool into it. I'm constantly amazed with how wool wants to fuse with wool in all kinds of felting contexts. This works! 

Children seem to really fall for these little guys, their softly spiked and rounded bodies feel delightful in the hand. I was thinking it would be an ideal handwork project where wool is used for its therapuetic properties. And it makes a really warm toy. 
Amazed to find conkers on our local river walk when it's barely September, smallie filled his pockets and once home carefully left them for the hedgehogs to nibble on. I happened upon this scene on the living room rug : )

Autumn has indeed crept up on us this year. Welcome!