Birds

Although it may snow on Friday here, there are more and more signs of spring appearing. The green leaf tips of daylilies and daffodils are poking up through the soil. And the snowbells and crocuses are already blooming. The birds seem to be more active, and my toddler and I just spotted a tufted titmouse on our morning walk.


The last few days I have been reading Feathers for Lunch, by Lois Ehlert, with my toddler, and he's fascinated with the colors of the birds and their sounds. I didn't realize how much he had become interested in birds until we sat down to do the felted picture project designed by Kleas and recommended by The Crafty Crow.


My son wanted to make a bird picture, and I think it turned out quite nicely. He handed me the colored wool roving and told me what part of the bird it should be, and I placed it on the picture. He liked pounding the wool to felt it, too. (I lightly needle-felted the picture to a square of blue felt for a "frame.")

My son also decided that he needed another pair of binoculars to replace the plastic ones he had broken. So I put together a new set for him using the ubiquitous empty toilet paper rolls. He had fun looking through the binoculars at the bird pictures in Feathers for Lunch, and tomorrow we'll take the binoculars on our walk to try to spot some birds outside.

Simple Crafts

I tend to get very intense about thinking up crafts for my kids. I usually intensively research a craft, analyzing all the ways that other people have approached a specific project and then synthesizing them. Most of the projects I've done with my kids involve a link to a specific artist or theme for inspiration and the introduction of a new technique.

(Some of you may recall the three cool but complicated crafts I presented at my daughter's Egyptian-themed 4th-birthday party--an amulet, a hieroglyphic name plate, and a clay scarab beetle. Yikes; I was a nut!)

But sometimes I forget that the simpler the materials, the greater potential there is for creative freedom--and fun.

I started out this morning wanting to create a snow globe with my toddler. However, he preferred this project:



Step 1: Pour beads through funnel into jar.

Step 2: Pour beads out of jar.

Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 until bored.





Step 4: Discover a shoelace with handmade beads strung on it.

Step 5: Strip off beads.

Step 6: Put beads back on shoelace.

Step 7: Repeat steps 5 and 6 until bored.







This past weekend we went to a maple festival in Vermont, and we checked out the Kids' Corner in the elementary-school art room. The kids and I sat for about an hour making small carvings out of Ivory soap. I remember carving Snoopy out of a bar of soap when I was in 4th grade, and I think that this is one of those vintage '70s crafts that needs to be revived. It's relaxing and easy, and the cleanup is simple! Plus, you end up smelling like you've just bathed, a plus when you're slogging through rural Vermont during mud season.

How to Make a Knitting "Ned"

My son came home from school today and said, "You know how to make a Knitting Nancy, don't you?" I was touched that he considered me an expert in knitting after my three months of knitting on the same scarf.

But since I didn't even know what a Knitting Nancy was, he explained that one of his classmates had shared with the class that she was going to make one out of a toilet paper tube and popsicle sticks. "It's like a knitting mushroom," he explained further. His sister has a knitting mushroom, a wooden spool with metal loops at the top that you use to produce a knitted cord, aka I-cord, without knitting needles.

Intrigued, I did a quick search online and found a charming site by an engineer who has become an expert in Knitting Nancies of all kinds. He seems to have tested all of the mechanical knitting machines in existence. His site includes a picture of the popsicle-stick Knitting Nancy, which is easy to make. We're calling ours the Knitting Ned, just in case my son's masculinity is challenged by the Nancy label.

Here's what you need to make a Knitting Nancy or Knitting Ned:

--an empty toilet paper roll

--four popsicle sticks

--two thick rubber bands

--pencil (optional)

--ruler (optional)

--6 x 6 sheet of decorative paper (optional)

--glue stick (optional)

--scissors

--yarn

--crochet hook

--tapestry needle or other big-eyed needle

Step 1 Decorate Knitting Ned/Nancy
(This step is optional, but we felt that it would set Ned apart from Nancy.)

Apply glue to the back of the decorative paper. Wrap around the toilet paper roll, overlapping the edges. Tuck the ends down securely into the tube.

Step 2 Attach the Popsicle Sticks
You will be placing the popsicle sticks an equal distance vertically around the outside of the toilet paper roll. The popsicle sticks should stick up above the edge of the tube by about one inch. You can eyeball this or make a mark on each popsicle stick one inch from the top.

Attaching the sticks is a two-person job. Have one person hold the sticks in position, while the other person wraps the rubber bands around them. Place one rubber band near the top of the sticks and one near the bottom.

Your Knitting Ned is now ready to knit. Of course, you may want to use a stencil to spell out "Ned" on the tube, as my son decided to do.

Step 3 Knit the Cord
Learning how to thread and stitch on the Knitting Ned is a bit difficult at first, and it's easiest to do while referring to a diagram. This site has an excellent diagram of how to thread and make the stitches.

But I'll attempt to explain how we did it.

To thread the Knitting Ned, take the end of the yarn and drop a short length of it down the hole in the top of the tube.

Now wrap the yarn from the skein around the popsicle stick in the 12 o'clock position in a clockwise direction. Next wrap the yarn around the adjoining popsicle stick (the one in the 9 o'clock position) around the bottom edge first in a clockwise motion. Continue with the final two popsicle sticks in the same way. When you have wrapped the yarn around all four popsicle sticks, take the yarn and place it on the outside of and above the yarn on the popsicle stick you started on.

Holding the Knitting Ned and the yarn in one hand, take the crochet hook in the other hand and pick up the bottom loop of the first popsicle stick and pull it over the top yarn and over the top of the popsicle stick to the inside of the tube. My son says that this step is like doing Cat's Cradle.

Pull on the end of the yarn at the bottom of the tube to tighten this first stitch. You will want to pull on the yarn end after every other stitch to keep the stitches tight.

Turn the Knitting Ned to the next popsicle stick, holding the yarn from the skein above the loop of yarn on the popsicle stick. Pull the bottom loop over the top yarn and over the top of the popsicle stick to the inside of the tube. Repeat this step.

You will soon have what looks like a spider web in the middle of the tube.

A knitted cord will soon appear at the bottom of the tube, and it grows pretty fast. This tube can be used to make necklaces, bracelets, potholders, frames, etc.

Update: Bellaluna, a very helpful reader who tried out this activity, requested that I explain how to tie off the cords. Thanks, Bellaluna!

When the cord is as long as you like it, cut off the end of the yarn so that it's about six inches long.

Thread the yarn through a tapestry needle or other big-eyed needle. (Plastic needles for mesh canvas work really well.)
 Pull the needle and yarn through each loop in turn, which will remove each loop from the popsicle stick.

After the needle goes through the last loop, the cord will drop down through the tube. Tighten the end of the yarn, and you're done!

March Snow

Earlier this month I wrote a hopeful poem about the coming of spring:

A March Walk

Early March, the sun is shining through the lightly frosted trees.
I take a walk and hear
A symphony of incipient spring sounds.
The trees send down tiny shards of melting ice,
A tinkling of ice-edged rain.
The cardinals are busy in the evergreens,
Calling out to each other a hopeful morning song.
Melting snow rushes through the slate-lined creeks
And hurls itself into small waterfalls;
The rushing away of winter, I hope.

This morning we woke up to about six inches of heavy, slushy snow, which is typical for early spring in this neck of the Northeast.

Happy spring, indeed!

Mini Travel Journal Tutorial

For an upcoming trip, my son made a mini travel journal to keep track of interesting sights and fun adventures. I hope he'll fill it with notes, drawings, and later photos of our trip.

I presented this book-making activity at a school book fair last year, and it was a big hit. I pre-cut the paper (I used scrapbook paper for the book cover), cardboard, and ribbon, and the children assembled the books themselves. Some of the kindergarten-aged kids needed a little bit of adult help with the project, but most kids found it very doable--and inspiring.

What you'll need:

--12 x 7 piece of paper for the book cover*

--8.5 x 5.5 piece of paper for the inside of the book cover*

--approx. 5.75 x 8.75 piece of light cardboard, folded in half**

--3 sheets of plain printer paper, cut in half so that you have six 8.5 x 5.5 sheets

--14-inch ribbon (optional)

--electrical tape for book binding (optional)

--glue stick

--extra-long stapler (I can't resist office supplies, so I splurged and bought one of these.)

*I used pages from an old atlas to reflect the travel theme for the outside and inside covers.

**I cut an old manila folder into quarters for the cardboard.

Step 1

Apply glue liberally to one side of the cardboard. Glue the cardboard to the 12 x 7 sheet of paper, making sure that the pattern or image you want will show on the outside. The cardboard should be roughly centered on the paper.

Step 2
Apply glue to the outside edges of the "wrong" side of the book cover paper.

Fold long edges of the book cover paper down over the cardboard, and then fold the shorter edges down. Be sure to press down to make sure the paper and cardboard adhere. 

Step 3 (Optional)

Lay the ribbon in the middle of the cardboard so that about five inches of ribbon hang off the left and right side of the book cover. Glue the ribbon onto the cardboard. The ribbon will keep the journal closed for extra privacy!

Step 4
Apply glue liberally to the smaller piece of paper and glue down onto inside of the cardboard cover and over the ribbon.

Step 5

Stack six pieces of the printer paper and fold in half. Staple into the middle of the book along the fold. (I had to do the stapling for my son, and it's tricky getting the staples right into the fold.)

Optional: To reinforce the ribbon closure, staple the ribbon near the book edge. You may want to cover the staple with a sticker.
Step 6

Apply a length of electrical tape to simulate a book binding--and to cover up the staples. Give the book a title, and start writing!

Contest Winners

Stanley Krippner is the winner of the unannounced contest for the first person to leave a comment on my blog. Stanley, you'll receive something in the mail soon from me. Thanks for your funny comment--it's nice to know that someone out there is reading the blog!

Maya is the winner of my first official contest, to pick the fabric for the pinafore bottom. She did have an edge over you others--she stays up as late as I do web surfing and sewing, and she's seen my stash of recycled fabrics! Thanks, Maya, for the constant inspiration!

Don't despair, there will be more contests to come!

New Sewing Machine Fun

Lest you think I have gone completely off the deep(green) end and eschewed consumerism of all kinds, behold my new Pfaff sewing machine. Aint it purty?

I just bought it this morning and had to try a new method called "inserted strip blocks." It involves making a diagonal cut in the base fabric to get two trapezoid-shaped pieces. Then a thin strip is sewn to connect these two pieces. Follow the same method to sew in two additional pieces and then trim around the edges to make the base square again. You can find a more detailed tutorial here (with pictures). Here's what I came up with:

What will it become? A pillow? A wall hanging? Tune in and find out!