Okay, so this morning, I had intended to go in front of the Kindergarteners and show them how cool it is to make string from sheep fluff and then make that string into clothes. And then, as I was walking down the hall, the art teacher caught me and talked me into showing the fourth graders as well because they're doing a unit on early America and...well, 'cause spinning is cool. Iris's school is what is referred to as an "Arts integrated" school, so they do all kinds of cool stuff like have drama and art and music every week, no matter what grade you're in. Seriously, Iris has drama class every week. So they get very excited about the arts and I think that's extremely cool.
Anyhow, here are some pictures of my nervous self:
And here I am in front of the fourth graders. While I was spinning, a screw came loose and the spindle flew off of the wheel. Much to my surprise, I did NOT let out a stream of curse words in front of the class. You may commence with "screw loose" jokes now.
It seems as though they all enjoyed watching me spin and were absolutely mesmerized by the process. They all just wanted to sit and watch and watch and watch. Not just the little ones, either, the bigger kids thought it was very cool and so did the grownups. Spinning is just...cool.
I showed them the whole process, from raw wool to string and how string turns into clothes. I showed them the drop spindle and told them how every piece of fabric used to be made from handspun thread - even sails. They were all duly impressed.
Anyhow, at least I wasn't being broadcast on national TV, but I was nervous all the same - kids can be a tough audience. Whew! I'm glad this is over, but it was very cool and I had fun.
5 comments:
You go, Jess! Hooray for you for spreading the fiber madn^H^H^H^H love.
For my money, you had a more challenging situation that Stephanie did. Sure, she was being nationally televised, but her audience couldn't get close enough to throw up on her.
Puttin' your self on the line for the craft. w00t!
Better use a spindle next time...chortle :-)
Fourth graders? Oh my....
Kids do like spinning though, they are the ones that accost me the most ;-)
Have fun and be proud of spreading the fibre madness!
Judy
That's so cool! I took my drop spindle to the Yule gather and there were a lot of interested people there as well. Spinning is a really cool thing.
Three comments! From three separate people! (okay, four now, but it's me) This is some kind of record. I'm very excited.
Everything went pretty well. Perhaps some of the little rugra...er, dears will become fiber-obsessed geeks like us. One can only hope.
I am so proud of you! You rock so hard.
I offered to do a similar thing at my kids' school with quilting, but they never took me up on it.
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