New Skills

So I decided to challenge myself to knit a jumper with a fair aisle motif, and with some rather heavy hints - well a list to be exact I received a kit to produce a jumper. The key thing for me is that it was all knitted in the round  - so no sewing!

When I started I realised that along side the fair aisle design working with a chart - my original challenge to myself - I needed to learn German short rows! It was interesting and am not totally sure  I didn't make any mistakes but I have enjoyed the process








 - its not finished - obviously!! But it already looks like a jumper and I have extended my skills.

Little did I know that these were not the only skills I would be learning and re-learning this year. I am not sure I did half of the maths the girls are doing the first time round.

Lockdown has made me extend my knowledge and skills in many areas!

I have learnt that zoom is not simply something you do on a camera!! I have had to learn to communicate in new ways, in different ways and to get over seeing myself on screen!

The children too have been extending their skill set, alongside the challenge of on-line studies.




Rebecca has extended her crochet collection and is reading patterns with minimum help and is working hard on her GCSE art work.

Anastasia is learning to knit, cook and to paint with watercolour.

Sophie has learnt block printing, growing strawberries and practicing cubism as well as extending her
cooking knowledge.

Together we are learning to paint a pear with water colours!
We are about half way through but so far it is looking kind of pear like!



For us we are trying to embrace the opportunities this experience has given us. To recognise that having a task or a focus helps our wellbeing and engages our brain. Over the years rather than crafts being something I 'just' did, I have recognised their value and the positive part they can play.  Never more so than now.

A case full of cute!

Being a crafter means I spend many enjoyable hours trawling through craft sites - as a result my facebook ads often feature craft materials which to be fair is great, though I ignore most of them!!

Shortly after Christmas with one Christmas present  project on the go already an ad popped up for the cutest little knitted dolls - and with a nieces birthday in April I couldn't resist!  I wasn't quite prepared for the learning curve knitting  with a bamboo and wool mix in 4 ply on four miniature needles - something I hadn't done before.




























I was so please with the result - not perfect but very cute.




I found a case in The Works (pre-lockdown!) and knitted a blanket and mattress with some spare yarn.
















I made a sheet and pillow from some scrap fabric to finish the bedding.

















Hope a little girl has fun playing with her dolly.

Take a break!

With two teenagers and a pre-teen in the house I needed somethings that they could do to refocus when tensions became raised, or they had become frustrated. Both of these have occurred over the past two weeks - though possibly not quite as much as I feared!

I had seen a sensory trail on a link several months ago but the only link back to it was via Amazon where it was unavailable so I decided to make my own.

We have a relatively small space in our hall and it needed to be robust enough to survive said teenagers!! so I cut simple shapes out of felt. Circles, squares, handprints and footsteps. In addition I printed a finger maze and spiral to go on the wall.

Initially I set the trail, but as it was taken up each afternoon the following day I asked my youngest to set it up - however she chose - she made it far more physical and really enjoyed it - incorporating the stairs.
Todays version included a chair squat and the plank!

Simple things that gave them time away from their computer and a chance to re-centre.

Sidney's super secret science!

As you entered the church for this years holiday club you might think that you had entered the wrong building as you found yourself in a child's bedroom....

But lurking behind the bookcase....

Lay a secret tunnel, leading to ....

Sidney's secret lab!

 

 

Here the children, explored the miracles of Jesus through drama, music and stories. Sidney tried to do experiments but was sabotaged by the evil inspector Munch!

Each room also had a science theme - my group was the hazardous lab!

In our groups we managed to do some experiments that did work! Exploring paper chromatography, reacting acids and alkalis to produce CO2, secret writing and caramelisation, water tension, ph scales and

Slime!

We won belly flops ( mutated jelly beans!) for contributing to the group and for learning daily signs and memory verses.

I love being creative in prayer so we explored ways of talking to God, flip flop prayers, glo balloon prayer,

Thank you fish, even chromatography prayer!
We explored the stories we had learnt about ....

Using a scientific approach - what should have happened , what did we expect to happen. What actually happened and so what - what can we learn, what relevance might the story have for me?

We made crafts,

Kaleidescope

Weaving

Glass painting, as well as log boats and bead fish!

Mad, noisy, fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just for fun: Decopatch

..... Or paper mache to you and me!!

When this craft hit the shops it looked amazing, beautiful racks of thin paper, self varnishing glue, and inspiring paper shapes to decorate.

I do love the papers, and the shapes, but is gets expensive especially when the girls want to join in! So let me let you in on a secret .... It doesn't have to be! You can cover anything! The self varnishing glue? - pva works equally well, and here's the best bit ... tissue paper works and it's so much cheaper!! How did I discover this? Well having spent hours wandering round hobbycraft looking for their Union Jack Decopatch paper which they had used to decorate a pillar I finally asked if they still had any ... The response - it's tissue paper!

And kids can do it well! Which is useful when they announce that they need to decorate a bottle for school, Sophie wants to make it into a dog and it has to be handed in tomorrow! Paint is quick but doesn't cover plastic well so Decopatch it is!

We tried recycling a brown paper bag for Sophie's dog but it was too thick but we did manage to use the handles for legs!

I am not sure if it counts as recycling if you have to empty the milk into a jug in order to use the bottle!

Once they were covered the children got chased to bed, finishing their animals off early next morning!

Annie created a flying sausage cat!

Sophie a puppy called Su

And Rebecca a pig!

So despite having the activity thrust upon me it turned out to be a couple of hours working together as a family to create something together which was totally worth the late bedtime and morning rush!!