The looms were cut and labeled...
warped and folded...
and some have started to weave....
Students will use yarn for their weft and yarn needles to speed the weaving along.
The safety rules for the needles are:
1. If you use it like a weapon (even pretending) it's a quick trip to the office & you will have to weave only w/your fingers.
2. I put the needles on the table, I pick them up at the end of class.
3. Do not walk w/needle in hand - tuck it in the pouch if you need to get up to show me your work.
Of course, I count the needles back in at the end of every class which reduces the chance that any needles 'walk' out the door! I ask the students to limit their colors of yarn to 5 - this ensures that even if we run out of one or two of their colors, there are still other possibilities. I pre-cut the yarns into approx. 30"-36" lengths to save time - I wrap several colors of yarn around the end of one of my 3' wide tables and then cut...
Here's hoping we finish before our last day on June 2nd...
So,the folding allows for a little flap at the top? I've done bags, but not like this. How do you get them off of the cardboard? Tutorial, please?
ReplyDeleteHow about I take some pix of the finishing process? I have at least 1 student who should finish in the next week so I'll post the steps. The teacher does most of the finishing simply because it would add another 2 - 3 classes to the project if you had to teach the process to 3rd graders. Older kids could do it up on their own, tho...
ReplyDeleteI've made pouches with this same method with 5th graders - the kids LOVE it but the only problem is getting them all done together. Some kids are so SLOW with weaving. Finishing them is always the biggest challenge. I haven't done them for a while but I'm inspired. I have plenty of yarn, so next year for sure!
ReplyDeleteThere are a few things that I've found to help speed the process along:
ReplyDelete1. 6" weaving needles for those who have demonstrated using 3" needles safely.
2.Using 2 pieces of yarn in the needle at one time. The eye of the needle is large enough for 2 pieces of regular weight knitting yarn & using 2 colors in the needle at the same time can provide a new texture look and fill space twice as fast.
I agree that some kids fall behind because it takes them longer to grasp the concept of the weaving pattern. The slower students have to sit at a table with me until they demonstrate proficiency. Most prefer to stay because it's quieter & it's easier to concentrate.
I try to slow down those who grasped the tabby weave process quickly by teaching them another technique such as egyptian knot, soumak or rya knot. Those are more time intensive and just doing a few rows can give the other students time to catch up. Provides more interest to the weaving as well...
My biggest problem this year is I just ran out of time. Usually I allow 6 - 8 class periods from start to finish but only had time for 4 - 5 weeks this year...