Making a Silk Tepee

Tepees are great fun for outdoor and indoor play!

As we've found out, they also can be an abode for curious pets....

If you are studying Native Americans this year, you can work on creating a more authentic tepee and and incorporate this into lessons.

Learning how to do knots and lashing to create a sturdy frame is wonderful, too!  Look at scouting manuals for help.

Maybe sleep in it overnight?

Play clips, yarn, twine and clothespins are helpful if you want to reuse the silks or fabric.

Rainbow Silks in our Etsy shop.

Wood play clips from this Etsy shop, and this one.

Tie-Dyeing

Tie-dyeing is one of our favorite crafts to do while at the Griffin Dyeworks Dye & Fiber Retreat each year.  This year, we dyed a shirt for each of us, socks for Joey and a silk scarf.

Ercil is the best teacher!  She taught us how to prepare and fold the fabric.  We soaked the shirts in water and soda ash. 

Then, we squirted dye colors on, bagged them up, and let them sit overnight.  We also dyed shirts for children who were flood victims.

The next day, we rinsed them, and then washed them when we got home.

Handwork

Merino Handspun Yarn (ready to knit, crochet, weave, felt or dye! www.syrendell.etsy.com)

Handwork plays a central role in our homelearning.

Joey's handspun yarn Tunisian-crocheted into a mobius loop for a customer (she takes custom orders! www.tlwoldc.etsy.com)


Rick's handcrafted and painted Syrendell snails ( terrific stocking stuffer! www.syrendell.etsy.com)

Jennifer's naturally-dyed silks (orange is always a favorite! www.syrendell.etsy.com)

Naturally tie-dyed cotton skirt (soft, stretchy, comfy! www.syrendell.etsy.com)

Nature's Counting Blocks ( great holiday gift! www.syrendell.etsy.com)

Felted acorn puppet family (we made these last year, but are bringing them out for play!)

The boys are knitting their flute cases. Joey is busy crocheting scarves. The kids are making most of their holiday gifts for friends and relatives this year. We are still weaving our Winter table runner with our handspun, naturally-dyed yarns (making progress!).

Jennifer spoke this morning in a live chat. The chat features audio, a Powerpoint presentation, and questions from attendees. Lifetime members received access to the recording today. Non-members will be able to purchase the recording soon at: www.earthschooling.com.

Our Handwork in the Dell eBook is now available in pdf format: www.syrendellacademy.com and in our Etsy shop. Tools, patterns and more fiber arts equipment available in our webshop, www.goshyarnit.com.

Rick has been busy teaching science and math at East Bay Waldorf School this week! Check out his blog, www.thewaldorfway.blogspot.com for details about teaching the digestive system to 7th graders. I think finger-crocheting the length of the intestine is happening, soon! There's always a way to integrate handwork with learning.

Steiner said in Handwork Indications (available as a free pdf download at www.rsarchives.org):

...during the first year of school...the child wishes to experience beauty in a living way. His soul is open to all that comes to him through the teaching of handwork. All teaching must take an artistic form. From Play, through Beauty, to Work: This is a golden path for education.

Enjoy doing handwork as a family as we move from Fall into Winter...a quiet, creative time of the year....

Just for Me

It seems like I am forever crafting for others...the kids, the home, customers, friends. It's been so long since I've made something just for myself....

Back in 2006, I was fortunate to be able to attend SOAR (Spin-Off Autumn Retreat) in Lake Tahoe. I purchased some lovely Polwarth/silk fiber from a booth that said that they raised the sheep themselves up in Canada. I spun up the yarn on my spinning wheel, and then the yarn sat in a knitting bag...and sat...and sat....


I always knew that I wanted to make something special with the yarn, but who knew that it would take another two years before I did anything with it? The yarn was soft, warm and beautiful, but not enough for a scarf or larger project. Finally, I decided to Tunisian crochet a rectangle with a slightly ruffled edge, using a knit stitch. Then, the project sat...and sat...and sat....

Finally, this past week, I pulled the rectangular piece out of my "UFO" (unfinished objects) box and decided that it was time to make something just for me! Not to sell or give as a gift...just something special that I could enjoy and use. I debated on what type of button to add, and finally decided to put every button that I liked on it!

I wore it for the first time today while going on a walk with the family. Guess what? The neckwarmer was warm, and soft, and best of all -- it made me smile. I think that I need to remember to stop and make myself something now and then. Hopefully next time it won't take 3 years to finish! --Jennifer

Natural Dyeing with Indigo

We love to do natural dyeing at home, but there are some dyes we only use when we are at the Griffin Dyeworks Dye & Fiber Retreat. Indigo is definitely one of those unique, natural dyes that is best done with masterful dyers around!

Dyeing with indigo is unique -- you can see in these pictures how Ricky is dyeing his handspun yarn. First, he dips the yarn into the blue dye pot, then he pulls it out right away. The yarn looks green! Oxidation occurs. Eventually, the yarn turns blue. If he wants it darker, he can dip it again.


We dyed our own handspun wool yarns, some silk ribbon and a few silk scarves with indigo dye this past week while at the retreat. Some were redipped for a darker color, while others were first dyed with other plants, and then overdyed with indigo. Here are some of our creations:


1. Brazilwood, then Indigo = lavender, purple, indigo colors

2. Broom, then Indigo = blue-green, lime green colors

3. Onion Skins, then Indigo = med.-deep green colors

4. Broom, then Indigo, then in the Brazilwood rinse water = aqua color

Mommy had fun using the rinse waters to change the tones a bit and ended up with some light, fairy colors! Can't wait to make the yarns into a family project. The silks will be used in our nature table and around the Dell for homelearning activities and play.

Natural Dyeing

We learned to dye fibers naturally with plants a few years ago at the Griffin Dyeworks Dye & Fiber Retreat in Castaic, CA. What fun! Camping, pots of steaming dyes, people spinning and weaving, crocheting and knitting...kumihimo, lucet, Viking whipcord braiding, felting...fiber arts and fun! We definitely will be going to the retreat again this year (it's in May).

Natural dyeing is a wonderful way to use what nature provides while creating a rainbow of beautiful colors! We have dyed yarns, fiber and fabric with indigo, brazilwood, kamala, onion skins, berries, walnut shells, lichens, and more. During the 2007 retreat, we dyed a variety of our handspun and other wool yarns with natural dyes, brought them home, and then wove the yarns as a family into a beautiful table runner.

At home, we dye simply with herbs, plants, fruits and roots. This week, we dyed silk play scarves, silk ribbon, silk cord and wool yarn with tumeric (vibrant yellow), brazilwood (orange), and blueberries (blue/indigo). The brazilwood batch was initially red, and then we added a bit of vinegar to set the color and the batch turned a lovely light orange! Sometimes the color surprises that occur are the most fun. The blueberries dyed very well this time. What a treat! We've decided to share some of our dyed objects in our Syrendell Etsy shop. The rest are either serving as capes or forts or decorations around the house.