I've come to that point in the year where I realize I need to be three places at once stirring a cookie dough while wrapping presents. The list has gone from what I'd like to do, to what I need to do, to what I can possibly do over the next week. What I need is a wife. Some of you may have read Judy Brady (Syfers)'s article back in the day or later in your feminist theory class (I have a sneaking suspicion not a lot of you were in feminist theory courses, but I can dream...) (Anyway, if you've never read it, I found it for you; go have a look.)
Adrienne of Martini Made has a question for you all. She needs pattern ideas for a 12 year old beginner cross-stitcher. I thought the Mary Kirby series from Bright Needle; Lizzie * Kate or Bent Creek, especially early patterns; or the Just a Quickie series of monsters from Amy Bruecken (pictured).
I've been asked to teach a class at our local adult school. A craft class...only, I have no idea what to teach. They've asked me based on the work I did during craft month. The woman who is recruiting me attends library stitching. She's been trying to get me to teach for ages. The thing is, I mostly feel like what I did was gluing stuff...that anyone could do it if they just follow the directions. So, dear reader, can I ask,
Which of last months crafts you might want to learn in a class?
I look forward to your answers in the comments or via email. Thanks! You're the best. :) (As a former instructor, I know I can't lift the instructions from designers, and that I would have to change the projects slightly and create my own directions etc. So no worries there.)
Today was the day I led the Teen Craft Circle. We had three kids show up--two girls and a boy. The had two patterns to choose from--Heather Holland-Daly's "Pyramids" and "Universe" from her book Stitch Graffiti. The boy picked "Universe" and the two girls picked "Pyramids" so they could choose their colors (though the young man chose his own).
We were supposed to go from 2:45-4:00. Well, we finally got them to stop at 5:00! And the boy's mother had to call him a second time before he went home. (Now, he's 14, so I'm kind of wondering if he was really interested in the stitching or maybe interested in one of the girls, but either way he's stitching.) (But he did only respond when the librarian asked, "Want to make a bookmark?") He did decide that "this hobby is for people who have patience. And maybe a lot of time." One of the girls is already planning her next project. She's decided to draw a star on the perforated paper and fill it in--and then started flipping through Heather's book, so maybe not a star, maybe a pattern from the book. The other girl was having some trouble, but she kept at it until she had to go off and do her homework. I also got the teen librarian--a knitter--stitching. She had some trouble in the last two weeks since I first started her stitching, and she came this week with quite an impressive hole in her perforated paper. (We went over proper technique for removing stitches, and I suggested she loosen her tension a bit.)
It was fun. I spent most of my time walking around the table fixing problems and confirming which hole they should be stitching in. The two hours flew by! I'm looking forward to seeing them again in two weeks.
Apparently children get election day off from school. Because, you know, they need the whole day to vote. (I understand that a lot of schools are used as polling stations and you don't really want to have sinister citizens--the kind who vote--hanging around schools where children are attempting to learn.)
At any rate, the teens didn't show up at the library today.
I was able to have a dry run with the librarian. I chose perforated paper because it's easier to hold, and that worked the way I planned, but the pattern makes it difficult to secure the threads (a lot of vertical lines). I think a waste knot might be a good approach. I also might mark a place for them to start, because even when I said half an inch in, I still had to show where.
With extra time, I'll be able to finish both patterns so the students will be able to see their choices.
We had scheduled a second session for finishing, but we're going to use that as our first session. Expect to hear (and see) more in two weeks.
Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater. ~Gail Godwin
At the library Gala a couple of weeks ago, I was introduced to the teen librarian as "a knitter." When I corrected my introducer that I was a cross-stitcher and general crafter, the teen librarian perked up; "we have a craft group, if you ever want to come teach." And since I was halfway into my cosmopolitan, I volunteered to teach cross-stitch. "I could teach a cross-stitch bookmark since it's for the library!" A few weeks later I got the call, and next Tuesday I'll be holding forth in front of a couple of teens. (Over the summer they had about a dozen kids, but reports are the numbers have declined because of sports and other after school programs.)
I have written to Heather Holland-Daly (monsterbubbles) and she has consented for us to use her patterns. We're using the Three Bracelets pattern and stitching on perforated paper.
I've gathered all the materials we'll need: paper, floss, patterns, needles, and scissors. I've made a list of ideas I need to teach:
Stitching on perforated paper: smooth side
Start in center
"Rules"--no knots; top-down
Show how to make the ex
Show how to anchor the thread
I'll be searching for a good diagram for making the cross, and for how to start and end stitches.
I've got the three-fourths theater sewn up, so how's my preparation? (I have to tell you I've done a lot more prep already for these two weeks than for the three times per week for three weeks teaching an intermediate project to Polish speakers.) Any other ideas?
I am making slow and steady progress on the afghan in the post-dinner hours, but little reports on this without the assistance of visual aids is getting boring, I think. So I am going to tell you about my trip to Poland in 1998.
I went to teach English as a Second Language to high school students with The Kosciuszko Foundation; I ended up in Tczew [t-cheff], about an hour south of Gdansk. The coolest thing about this area was that it was held by Teutonic Knights from 1308-1466. It passed to Russia in 1772 and was back in Polish hands just after WWI. The students came from all over Poland. Most came to Tczew because it was the closest they would ever be to the sea. And we did spend some time in Sopot and Gdynia for them.
Each day I taught English from 9:00-12:00. Two days a week, I also had to lead two extra-curricular activities. I chose crafts. It was difficult to bring along materials for too many activities so I focused on cross-stitch and crazy quilting. The trip organizer promised me that the students would be proficient needleworkers. Sue Stokes of the Nutmeg Needle gave me chart packs of one of her lacis designs (defintely for intermediates), a fabric company gave me the cuts I needed for the design, and DMC gave me the floss. Also, many wonderful rctn'ers sent me extra fabric, floss, and hoops. I also brought along two "two hour stitching" books. So I set off armed with my knowledge and three pairs of scissors.
You know something's got to go wrong, right? Well, everyone--including the Polish teachers--wanted to learn Sue's piece. And no one had ever held a needle. So here I am, on my first afternoon of teaching the extracurriculars, with about 35 students and 25 chartpacks. I naively ask how many have stitched before. No hands. I tell them they'll have to learn some basics before I will give them the chart, and that they'll have to commit to three weeks in the class. Only a couple decline. I rush back to my room, thankful that someone sent me two yards of 22 count fabric. I "rexo" (xerox--bad I know, but I was desperate) the "ABC" from the chart so everyone has one. We spend the first week with them learning the ABC. After a few hours, about 1/3 of the class--and all the Polish teachers--can't believe how little progress they made. Many drop. I end up with plenty of chartpacks, but still too few scissors.
The wonderful thing about teenagers (and there is something!) is that they don't have the attitude that they can't: don't want to, definitely; but can't, not so much. So, twenty or so young women show up dutifully for three weeks. They all learn how to do each of the steps. They all get the grid for the lacis wrapped. Many of them decide to skip the last day to go to the pool, but they all get to the finishing point. And one girl completes the whole design. I have the best picture of her--she's so proud.
Others were interested in learning, but not in spending three weeks engaged in one project. So I teach another class on smaller projects. I choose three designs out of the "Two Hour" books I brought, regraph them, xerox them [nb: I really don't advocate this, but there was nothing! nothing! else I could do.] and hand them to my dozen or so students. The only trouble they give me is that I have to remind them to ask for the scissors in English. Many resort to making clipping motions with their fingers to avoid it. A couple of students get really into it and borrow the book. The rummage through the floss and fabric and make the designs using the colors they like. It's very refreshing.
On the last day in camp, my duties are over, so I hightail it to Gdansk with some of the other teachers for McDonald's. I know it's disgusting, but sometimes it feels like home. Especially after you've been so disconnected from your own language. The saddest part is that one of the girls who has borrowed the book has a present for me. She leaves before I get back. She's made a trio of teddy bears and has my name below it. I tear up just thinking about it. I can't believe I wasn't there to receive such a fabulous gift.
Adrienne of Martini Made has a question for you all. She needs pattern ideas for a 12 year old beginner cross-stitcher. I thought the Mary Kirby series from Bright Needle; Lizzie * Kate or Bent Creek, especially early patterns; or the Just a Quickie series of monsters from Amy Bruecken (pictured).
Today was the day I led the Teen Craft Circle. We had three kids show up--two girls and a boy. The had two patterns to choose from--Heather Holland-Daly's "Pyramids" and "Universe" from her book Stitch Graffiti. The boy picked "Universe" and the two girls picked "Pyramids" so they could choose their colors (though the young man chose his own).
We were supposed to go from 2:45-4:00. Well, we finally got them to stop at 5:00! And the boy's mother had to call him a second time before he went home. (Now, he's 14, so I'm kind of wondering if he was really interested in the stitching or maybe interested in one of the girls, but either way he's stitching.) (But he did only respond when the librarian asked, "Want to make a bookmark?") He did decide that "this hobby is for people who have patience. And maybe a lot of time." One of the girls is already planning her next project. She's decided to draw a star on the perforated paper and fill it in--and then started flipping through Heather's book, so maybe not a star, maybe a pattern from the book. The other girl was having some trouble, but she kept at it until she had to go off and do her homework. I also got the teen librarian--a knitter--stitching. She had some trouble in the last two weeks since I first started her stitching, and she came this week with quite an impressive hole in her perforated paper. (We went over proper technique for removing stitches, and I suggested she loosen her tension a bit.)