Search Results for: weaving

Sketch Tuesday – on a tree

I thought it was high time that we got back into joining in Sketch Tuesday over on the Harmony Fine Arts blog.

The girls were reluctant to have a go – I think they are too used to drawing what they want rather than within a theme. It’s a great way to challenge your drawing skills and expand though, so I told the girls that I intended to draw a picture and so they could too. It worked!

This week’s theme is “on a tree”. The youngest decided to draw a tree in bloom.

My 9 year old girl drew a kite stuck in a tree.

My 11 year old drew some Barn Owletts.

And I drew a Fairy Wren. Do you know how long it’s been since I actually sat down and drew something? Me neither! Too long!

I think I will try to do this more often. Maybe you and your children want to join in the fun too?

Planning to NOT fail

by Kelly 8 Comments

Last year was a bit of a doozy in our little homeschool and it’s only in the past couple of weeks that I’ve figured out what went wrong.

I was trying to juggle the demands of family, homeschooling, activities outside the home, volunteer roles and a growing home business and so I assumed that there was simply too much for me to do on my own. This lead to exhaustion and a definite lack of hope – how could I get through everything that needed to be done?

Towards Christmas and in the holidays afterwards it started to dawn on me. Each day would start with that overwhelmed feeling, knowing I would be chasing my tail until I fell into bed that night. You would think after 12 years of doing this, I would have systems in place, but life is ever changing as people grow and every year is different to the last. I started thinking – does it have to be this way? What positive changes could I make to avoid another year in this state?

Well, a few years ago, I decided that I hated planning. I felt that if I spent the best part of my day educating the children, why should I spend my precious evenings planning for the next day? So I did away with all planning and I think that is where things started to go wrong, though at the time I felt I was freeing myself of a great burden. I think also over this time period, the kids, whether consciously or sub consciously, began to lost confidence in me. And I definitely began to lose confidence in me!

But now I was ready to give planning another try – not in the way that I used to. At the start of this year, I bought a planner from Homeschooling Downunder and printed out the pages I felt would be relevant. I bought colour coded folders and boxes for each child.

I sat down, mostly amongst the noise and interruptions that come with having your children with you 24/7 and I spent hours writing lists and schedules. I didn’t like doing it. I would much rather have been weaving! But now, as our homeschool year has begun, I am already seeing the fruits of having a solid plan.

The kids have learned how to find their own schedules in my planning folder so they know what is expected of them. This worked perfectly yesterday morning when I had to sit in a medical waiting room for 2 hours. Under the supervision of their older brother, my 2 middle children worked independently, while I had the youngest child with me doing our current read aloud.

There is a new jobs roster too – ensuring that everyone pitches in to help because it is written down and followed. I’ve scheduled morning tea teams, which I’m hoping will lead to lunch teams and eventually dinner teams – lessening the time that I need to spend in the kitchen each day and teaching the children to work together responsibly in food preparation and clean up.

I do a quick 10 minute prep each night to ensure I have materials ready for any experiments or activities the next day. I’m finding that the children thrive on this organised schedule and they even admit that the day goes more smoothly when they get up early and are at the table ready to go. I’ve also decided against some activities outside the home this year – our home is our hub and should be treated with love and respect!

Is it perfect? No way, nothing ever is! I still have very full days, I still have to deal with poor attitudes sometimes, I still don’t love planning! But, there does seem to be more time in the afternoons for me to focus on my weaving and business and the children are much happier with a set routine. So, for now, this is how we roll.

I wish you all the very best in your homeschool this year, may it bring you many blessings and much joy!

Slouchy satchel bag – new lessons

by Kelly 1 Comment

Remember that gorgeous looking warp from my last post? This is the result! The whole project was woven on the rigid heddle loom with two heddles but different techniques. The bag was woven as a tube so it’s completely seamless, and the strap was woven as double weave, providing a firm and sturdy fabric.

A lot of people have commented on the yarn, and rightly so, it is wonderful. It’s called Bloom and is available from Bendigo Woollen Mills.

If you’re interested in weaving your own bag, the lessons are available on my Weaving Lessons channel and include all the instructions you will need from materials, warping, sewing and finishing.

I look forward to seeing you there!

I’m a silly sausage!

by Kelly 10 Comments

What?! 6 months since I last took the time to post here?! Outrageous!
But let me explain.

Just over a year ago I uploaded a couple of weaving videos to Youtube. I was just interested in sharing, considering I don’t actually know any real life weavers, I suppose I was welling up with excitement at all my weaving discoveries. And sharing is fun!

So, what happened? Well, very unexpectedly, the videos were well received. People started subscribing to my channel and talking about them in Facebook weaving groups. And they’re still subscribing and talking!

All of the enthusiasm and positive feedback inspired me to make more videos. The rest, as they say, is history!

I now have two Youtube channels. One is free to watch, the other is on a paid subscription basis. I started the paid channel because many (most) of my videos take hours in the planning, filming, editing and instructing. Plus the cost of all the materials. I have made the channel affordable and aim to have a huge library of videos available to subscribers, as well as exciting projects, techniques and the occasional giveaway. It’s the place that I’m happy to give away my weaving secrets 🙂 I’m really pleased that many have joined this new channel and hope that it grows over the next year.

Growing the dream.
All of the above has allowed me to hope a little more that my dreams may be possible. I may eventually be able to move past the “pocket money” stage of online teaching into the “actual income” stage. I may be able to start teaching real life classes.
And ultimately, one day, I may be able to have my own teaching studio. Big ask, I know!

in 2017 I’ll be putting a lot of work into my paid channel. Doing videos for both channels this year has been rewarding in many ways, but in addition to my homeschooling commitments I have found myself a little burnt out and suffering some niggly health conditions at this end of the year. I feel I spent way too much precious time sitting at the computer! So, the paid channel will be my main focus next year.

If you haven’t seen my channels yet, you can find the free one here and the paid channel here.

I hope you had a most blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

I’ll try to make it here more often, really I will…

Honeycomb without the calories

by Kelly 6 Comments

The title is a little misleading, I am, of course referring to the weave structure honeycomb rather than something edible.

It is a gorgeous structure though, and one that is easy to achieve despite the fact that it looks quite involved.

Check out my latest video series on weaving honeycomb on a rigid heddle loom.

Follow this link to the introductory video!

New weave along series!

by Kelly Leave a Comment

I’m so excited to be announcing my very first weave along! Officially it started a couple of days ago but participants are welcome to join in anytime. We will be making a lovely tote bag and instructions will be given from start to finish. I’ve been wanting to do this for ages and considering the response I’ve had on Facebook, lots of other enthusiastic weavers are loving the idea.

The introductory video can be found here and if you subscribe to my channel you can keep up with all the other videos as we go along.

There is also a very active Facebook group you can join to discuss the weave along, share photos and trouble shoot as necessary.

Hope you can join in the fun!

Life and Learning at home

by Kelly 1 Comment

This last week, the little one has had a nasty cold which means we have spent a bit more time at home than usual. This is a good thing! To wake up and have the day just waiting and full of potential.

Every now and then I write down some of the things we’ve done in a day. Especially if I’m feeling the kids haven’t focused enough on academics or, the ever gnawing feeling at many a homeschool Mum, that they haven’t learned enough.

Today it was challenging to write that list, there was too much! I thought I’d share with you some of what we did to give an idea of an average day and to show you that even if you don’t feel like you’ve done a lot, it’s pretty amazing when you reflect back.

Slip knots. The little one learned to make a slip knot from her sister and is now happily slip knotting everything in sight!

The list is randomly arranged and outlines activities that have happened at home today.

Knitting project, piano practice, music reading (the 2 older girls are teaching themselves from a book), baking, garden work and planning, animal care and lots of animal hugs, pats and trick teaching, World War II history, Ancient history, writing practice, Kahn academy, online physics game, singing practice, reading novels in bed, English, spelling and phonics, science – a lesson on reptiles and a fun activity that involved the taping of fingers to create webbed feet, prayer and religious education, library visit, grocery shopping where the girls used the self checkout to purchase, free play, drawing, movie watching, and chores.

And how could I not mention standing on your head? There are some in our family who must be upside down for at least a part of the day!

Youtube channel update

by Kelly 3 Comments

I think I forgot to mention that I have some new videos on my Youtube channel! Firstly I have an overview of tools used in rigid heddle weaving.

Another is an explanation of sett, which can be confusing to new weavers. The next is how to determine sett for your project. And then, just for fun I have a slideshow of some of my weaving to inspire you!

I have so many ideas for more videos, but there are limiting factors – chiefly lack of time and money! I’ll keep building where I can and I do have what I hope will be a really exciting series of videos planned, so stay tuned for more information!

Whey, sourdough, yeasted – what should I call this bread recipe!

by Kelly 1 Comment

I’ve been playing around a lot in the kitchen lately. Grinding grain, making lots of good food from scratch, preserving, culturing, what fun!

I made this bread as an experiment today and it was a success. It’s a little unconventional in the combination of ingredients, but it works, so here is the recipe!

Whey Loaf (I decided on a simple title!)

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients
450 grams wholemeal flour (freshly ground if possible)
50 grams rye flour
500 grams white plain flour
2 teaspoons yeast
1/4 cup sourdough starter
200ml whey, room temperature
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
500ml warm water

Method

Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add sourdough starter and whey. Start up your mixer with a dough hook (or mix with wooden spoon if mixing by hand). Mix honey and oil with warm water and gradually add to mix. Continue to mix on low for 10 minutes, or mix by hand until combined and then knead for 10 minutes or until elastic.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with glad wrap. Allow to double in size (usually an hour depending on the weather).

Divide dough into 2 loaves and shape either into bread tins or into rounds on a tray. If using tins, be sure to oil them or for trays, use good quality baking paper to avoid any sticking. Cover with glad wrap once again and allow to sit for another 45 minutes – 1 hour.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 250 degrees (C).
Slash tops of loaves with a sharp knife or razor blade and place in oven. Set the timer for 5 minutes.
Turn oven down to 220 deg (C) and bake for a further 30 minutes*.
Turn out and cool on wire rack.

* Due to the wholemeal flour, your loaves may brown more than you would like. If they start to brown too much, cover with a large piece of foil for the remainder of the baking time.

Labneh

by Kelly 6 Comments

I may have a new addiction. Labneh. I made some from my homemade yoghurt and all I can say is wow. If you’ve never tried it you really should!

I started with 1 kg homemade yoghurt. I’ve detailed one method here and my current preferred method here for making your own yoghurt.

I have written instructions for labneh in the past but I like this way of doing it more, it’s easier and it makes more sense to use a colander.

So, you have your large square of muslin lining the colander and just dump your yoghurt in the middle. Have the colander set over a bowl or container to catch the whey.

To keep the muslin tidy and to let gravity work for you, tie the corners of the cloth loosely around a wooden spoon handle so that it is slightly suspended.

Place in the fridge and leave for 24 hours. Make sure your bowl or container is big enough to collect the whey, or pour off the whey occasionally so it doesn’t overflow (don’t get rid of it though, it’s precious! More of that in a future post.)

Unwrap the labneh. Stir in half a teaspoon of good salt and whip it up a bit with a fork. Now it’s ready to store in an airtight container in the fridge. There are so many ways to use it – my favourite is to spread generously on a slab of homemade bread drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil or to place globs of it in a yummy salad. You can roll balls of it in herbs and place in olive oil. Just digging a spoon into it is a major temptation!

With homemade yoghurt, labneh is a mild, creamy, healthy delight that you may well find as addictive as I do!