SO DELICIOUS

KNITTING NEEDLES W/ POLYMER KNOBS & HAND DYED YARNS

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

doweling, polymer clay, clear nail polish, food dyes & wool yarn

Meet Rachel Kannampuzhz and her yummy colors her has created with food dyes and Polymer clay.

She is the other lone ranger in my 2nd year 3-D class.

In Period 3 this year I have thirty 3-D beginners and Rachel.

She was one of my top 3-D beginners last year

 and I was delighted to get her back into the fold this year for the Intermediate class.

Her first assignment was to make her own knitting needles out of doweling

with coping saw, sand paper and wax for her needles,

and to sculpt knobs from Polymer clay.

At the same time she was also required to mix up several colors of food dyes

to dye her wool skein with,

and to make sure those colors would flow visually when knitted together at a later date.

I've got 2 shots of her knobs.

I like the top one the best for the rose forms she made,

but even with color correction I couldn't show the real colors until I took another photo below.

I look forward to sharing Rachel and more of her pieces in the coming months.

She astounds me on every assignment with her critical thinking skills,

especially when she works most of the period without my guidance 

because I'm being pulled in 30 different directions by the beginners.

Thank you Rachel for your constant understanding and patience.

A DIFFICULT GLOBAL LEARNING SKILL

KNIT SCARF SAMPLER

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

hand dyed wool yarn & handmade knitting needles

So many people have approached me over the years 

when they see me knitting in public, 

to tell me they gave up knitting because they couldn't "get it".

I tell them to try it again until they do get it because it's a global skill.

That means you will probably fail at first,

you must practice over & over until to get it.

Then you will have that "Ah Ha" moment when it becomes easy.

Think about learning to ride a two wheel bicycle, or learning how to snow ski.

Or watch a baby learning how to walk,

see them fall many times before they get it.

Same thing.

So don't give up!

Then there is senior Helen Park who took to knitting like a duck to water.

I was dumbfounded as I watched her get it from the get go.

There never was a struggle like I'm so used to.

So it was a real pleasure teaching her this very complicated global skill

(usually it's like pulling teeth)

Another benefit was that she is the only student in the Intermediate class.

Usually I'm trying to teach at least 10- 15 kids at the same time how to knit.

The reason the class is so small,

is that all my brilliant 8th graders had to start their languages this year 

so they won't be back till their 11th grade year when they can fit me into their schedules again.

And of course my Beginning seniors last year all graduated and there was only one junior,

Helen,

who had room in her academic schedule for me this year.

so I'm thrilled to work with her again and share all she makes with you.

Just so you know,

Helen mixed up food coloring to dye her wool yarns with before she started her sampler.

She also learned 10 different knit/purl patterns that she incorporated into this piece.

She knit each pattern separately,

then learned to sew them together to balance her design.

Just in case you are wondering,

Is Helen all alone with me the whole 55 minutes of class?

Gee,

 no.

I have 3 other classes going on during Helen's class period this year.

Ceramics II, Intermediate 2-D Art and Advanced 3-D Art.

I just bounce from one group to the next all period.  

A great calorie burner let me tell you  :)

ON IT'S WAY

Oh Boy!!

something got finished,

 and it's on it's way backeast to Old Lyme, CT.

 The recipient is 2016 Alumni Hapshiba Kwon.

Last school year I sent this one to 2015 Alumni Daphne Chaing in D.C. 

Every year when I teach the Solar Dyed Yarns &

Beginning Knitting Unit to my Intermediate 3-d kids,

I'm able to demonstrate each step and pattern,

so that I actually stay one day ahead of the class,

which leaves me with a finished piece at the end.

Woo Hoo

This year we covered 10 patterns,

Knit & Purl garter, Stockinette, 2 by 2 Ribbing, Mistaken Rib, Cable, Log Cabin, Seed, 

Stripping & Intarsia.

Finished the blocking and hubby put it in the mail for me today.

I'm hoping just in time to keep Hapshiba toasty in the Conn. snow.

Looking forward to her sending a pix with her wrapped up in it.

Also hoping she'll like the colorways I came up this year.

I always go into my demos blind so I put no pressure on getting things just right.

I find that working spontaneously is a whole lot of fun.

Hapshiba,

everyone here at Whitney sends you hugs and warm wishes 

for the Holiday Season with your family. 

And give your brother Daniel a big hug and kiss from me.

Love you always sweet girl.

xoxoxoxo

MY KNUTTY KNITTERS

KNITTED SCARF SAMPLERS

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

hand dyed wool yarn & handmade knitting needles

We saw these cutie patooties earlier in the school year dyeing up their yarns. 

And here they are later in the quarter learning to knit with the needles they made.

I have 8 Intermediate students this year and we are a tight bunch;

today exchanging our Secret Santa gifts.

I taught the kids Nine Knit Patterns,

and they used their own colorful dyed yarns to learn the patterns 

and make the samples with.

They were also allowed to incorporate some variegated solids 

I had on hand for contrast.

Then they sewed their samples together to create a scarf.

Some even sewed the ends together to create an Infinity Scarf.

The results were amazing,

the learning of this new global skill difficult.

But all the kids hung in there,

and one has just recently finished her first knit sleeveless top.

So let's take a look see.

Senior Kristine Luong took to knitting like a duck to water,

and had the courage to also learn a Log Cabin Pattern (mid right).

(note: these scarfs had not been blocked yet,

that came later after I had taken the pix)

Senior Antoniette Jabat used neutrals to compliment her glorious dyed blue yarn.

And senior Hazel Cruz turned her Autumny feeling creation

 into an Infinity Scarf. 

Senior Amber Wu balanced out her scarf with bold stripes.

And make sure to check out her Intarsia Sample at the top center.

Looks like a prism.

Here are the last four.

We start with senior Liana Chie,

and her yummy sherberty dyed yarns.

Next we have junior Jacqueline Yu.

Jac is the one who just finished her first top.

She,

 like Kristine,

 took to the knitting skill very quickly.

And our only male,

 senior William Kim,

was another quick study.

And lastly junior Shreya Sheth 

has knit this strikingly beautiful piece.

I'm so proud of all of you for not giving up 

and conquering this challenging global skill.

By the way,

I also taught them to crochet,

because all of them were required to put an edging around their scarfs.

INTRODUCING MY MAD SCIENTISTS

HANDMADE KNITTING NEEDLES & HAND DYED YARNS

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

wood dowels, polymer clay, food colors & wool yarn

These 2nd year young ones are having way too much fun dyeing their skeins of wool yarn

 with Wilton cake dyes.

I had them experiment first with very tiny skeins so they could adjust their colorways,

and then I gave them each a large hank of Bulky wool yarn

and away they went!  

Above we have seniors Amber Wu and Kristine Luong,

and below senior Antoniette Jabat is working with that intense dark green color.

Too yummy!

Above are seniors William Kim and Liana Chie taking the more cautious approach  :)

The kids were also required to learn to use the Umbrella Swift and Ball Winder

so that when their gorgeous yarns were dry they could turn them into center pull balls.

By the way,

 the cutie patootie on the far right is junior Shreya Sheth.

Here is the group shot below of all their hard work.

I'm so proud of them.

And what a great way to start the new school year  :)

Close-ups of ...

Antoniettes...

Williams...

and Lianas.

Wait till you see what they are making with their beautiful yarns and needles.

Stay tuned...

Nutty Knitters

KNIT SCARF/PILLOW SAMPLERS

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

handmade knitting needles & hand dyed yarns

Earlier this year we saw the colorful yarns these gals dyed up on their handmade knitting needles.

Well the next step was to teach them to knit with them,

and to purl & crochet too.

All of these are global skills, like learning to ride a two-wheeler,

so they are difficult to learn.

But once learned, 

you have them for the rest of your life.

Here are two of the three Intermediate girls getting started,

seniors Kaili Hamada and Daphne Chiang.

Daphne took to knitting like a duck to water because she had learned already at an earlier age,

so she was able to brush up on her skills,

but for Kaili and Bianca,

it was a bit more challenging.

I taught them 9 different patterns,

and then they had a choice whether to make a scarf or a pillow with those nine.

Kaili made a scarf with a double crocheted edging.

Daphne did a nine patch pillow with single crochet edging,

and senior Bianca Tolentino made a two sided heart pillow sampler.

I'm so proud of these three for hanging in there and learning this very difficult new skill.

Bianca loves it so much that she is making several knit scarves for friend's Xmas presents.

What's Laarnie What Too?

Spinning, dyeing and building her own drop spindle.

Senior Laarnie Barcelon is the lone ranger in my Advanced 3-D class this year.

But that's a good thing, she is able to become completely absorbed in her work and go deeply into Right Brain.

As a result she is producing incredible works of art this year.

She started the year off by dyeing raw fleece with food colors.

Then I taught her to spin on a drop spindle and also on the spinning wheel.

She took to the spinning wheel like a duck to water.

Just look at her lovely tail spun yarns here.

All these yarns below were either spun on the drop spindle or the spinning wheel.

Drop Spindle

She was also required to build from scratch her own drop spindle.

It was so beautifully designed and crafted that I had to take several shoots at different angles.

The cross bars are from the leftover molding pieces we used in the barn

 up at the cabin this summer.

She was required to build it from at least two different types of wood.

I believe she used oak. alder and poplar.

I adore how she trailed beads and gemstones around the layers 

so that our eye wraps around the piece.

Lovely work Laarnie.

 I'm so proud to showcase your work!

Passing On The Fiber Arts

KNITTING NEEDLES AND SOLAR DYED YARNS

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

wood, polymer clay, yarn and food colors

It's really remarkable what you can do with very few supplies to make the Fiber Arts come alive for this next generation.

Lori Lawson of Capistrano Fiber Arts, do you see your three pieces on my display wall??

Here is adorable senior Daphne Chiang hanging her freshly dyed yarns to dye outside the art room door on our handy-dandy branch /wire rack.

Below are Daphne's knitting needles that she has made from scratch and her beautiful yarns are wound and ready for use.

Oh wait, she is using them already.

She's learning to do the knit garter stitch.

A cute close-up.

And then here is hard-working senior Bianca Tolentino mixing her dye solutions from Wilton's cake dyes.

All nice and safe.

Below are her needles and yarns.

She is in the process of casting on.

And a close-up.

And lastly we have colorful senior Kaili Hamada who wrote up a guest post on Monday about how much she loves color this year.

And look at her go, she is done with her knit and purl garter's and is moving on to stockinette.

Sadly, Kaili has lost one of her needles somewhere in the Whitney halls.

Hopefully it shows up soon.