woman wife momma

Monday, October 12, 2009

Waldorf Co-op - Weeks 2, 3 & 4

WEEK 2

We met at the creek - it was such a beautiful day! Actually it was a bit warmer, around 80 degrees.

We had yoga and Circle, with Apple leading and doing a beautiful version of the Giant Turnip. After Circle, we did our craft - crayon drawing on turnip shaped paper.

We took a walk up the trail to a new favorite spot at the creek. The shore is more level and the mommas can sit and do handwork and chat while the children are in plain sight.

WEEK 3

Erin took her turn to lead co-op. Clover turned 9 that day, wow! Erin's rendition of the Giant Turnip was beautiful. Lots of animals were there helping, and the kids were cracking up at Erin's woofs and meows. Instead of the mouse being the last to help pull out the turnip, it was Baby Sister Rose, who whispered to the turnip gnome underground to release the turnip.

Our craft was decorating birthday hats.

Shy Laurel!

We all sang happy birthday to Clover, and enjoyed delicious butternut squash muffins with chocolate chips. Mmmmm!! Erin has the recipe over at her website - here! Afterwards Clover opened her gifts - it was so sweet to see the genuine appreciation she had for all the thoughtful presents in her honor.

WEEK 4

Well, no pictures from today! It was cold and rainy (again, as it was last week) but everyone was a bit better prepared. Tanya and Blake led Circle, and told the story together. It was very cute - Blake did a great job and was obviously confident in speaking. Impressive!

We also added a new verse, about a pumpkin, which everyone took to quickly. We are making that our new Autumn verse.

Our craft was embroidery. Tanya brought turnip shaped felt, and the kids sewed it with floss onto another piece of felt on a hoop. The creations and work of the kids, especially the older ones, were amazing.

Next week, we'll begin a new story with some new movement verses and fingerplays. I'm so happy with the structure and rhythm of co-op this year. Things are much more peaceful and relaxed.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

WiP (Work in Progress) Wednesday

There is a Flickr group out there where you can share you current Works in Progress (WiPs). I think it is a wonderful idea! I have no idea how Flickr works (though I haven't tried) but I thought I would try at least to share a creative Work in Progress on Wednesdays. To keep a record and to keep me motivated!

Here we actually have 4 Works in Progress. Bad lighting in the photo because it was too difficult to move the loom outside. ;)

On the left is a sesame yellow and red striped "elf cap" from last Autumn's Living Crafts magazine. After making one I see some areas that I would tweak (for my picky children, not the pattern in general which is wonderful as is). I still haven't added the ties to the ear flaps - Lela wants to finger-knit them.

In the middle is a scarf using wool that my girls painted last week. It was such a fun process for us all! They wanted it to be a rainbow, so we took turns with the red, yellow and blue dye. They couldn't resist adding more and more dye, so the rainbow came out with a few grey clouds. Mike and I dyed another batch that was more vibrant, but not necessarily more beautiful. :) I was playing around with dropping yarn overs, and trying to duplicate a scarf that my friend had been making last year. Then, lo and behold, I found the pattern on Ravelry. I decided to just go with that pattern, which is seafoam. I'm wondering though if I couldn't have reinvented that wheel after so many tries. It was gratifying to see that I was on the right track and that does give me more confidence in my knitting skills.

Next is a waffle dishcloth - because you can never have too many dishcloths!

And everything is sitting on my loom. I'm still working on getting it balanced correctly, which is turning out to be difficult, especially when little girls like to work the treadles so vigorously! I'm currently just learning on it - so there is no specific Work there. And yes, that is toilet paper - to take up space at the beginning until the warp becomes even.