How to Finger Crochet

                       

The summer holidays are well under way here in Wigan!

Sadly, the weather isn't what it should be: it's raining, cold and I've had to put a wooly cardigan on as I refuse to turn the heating on in July.

Miserable weather doesn't have to mean miserable children. There are lots of exciting art and craft activities you can do at home that will keep your little ones (and yourself) entertained. 

Finger Crochet

Finger crochet is a fantastic introduction to crochet. Children often find it tricky to co-ordinate the hook and yarn and finger crochet offers them a way try it out.  I taught finger crochet as part of a family learning session last year, and the children lived making great long chains which they then plaited together to make necklaces and scarves they adored wearing. 

All you need to get started is some yarn and your fingers! You want something quite substantial and thick: chunky yarn, a few strands of finer yarn held together or you could even cut up an old tshirt or  fabric to make your own yarn! 

This is a great video, showing you how to finger crochet. I recommend that you just stick with the chaining for children (shown at the start of the video). How to work into the stitches is shown later in the video, great for teenagers and for yourself as I'm sure you'll be joining in to! 

Once you get started, there's no limit to what you can create - from one skein scarves to beautiful rugs -  there'll be no stopping those crocheting fingers.

Under the Sea - A Water Themed Art Project

So last week I was in a lovely school in Wigan, St Catherine's, working on a big felt project.

The theme was water and that led us to a lovely design featuring lots of sea animals. The school has links to a school in South Africa and two teachers came to visit that week - Vivienne and Godfrey. This influenced the design with a mixture of British and South African sea animals featuring. 

Part of the project was making a smaller hanging to go back to South Africa - it's very exciting to think that a piece of my work is now over there! 

Every child, members of staff and both visitors participated and contributed to the work. I love sharing felt making with others and my favourite bit is when they've managed to felt and stick the wool together - it's like magic! 

Here are a few photos from my week!

           A gift to take back to South Africa

                         Making felt seaweed

                                         A little fishy before felting

                                      How amazing is this Killer Whale?

       Creating the first panel - British Sea

  The second panel all ready to felt - South Africa Sea

The panels are now all dry and ready to be prepared for hanging (I sew a thin channel of fabric to the back to be threaded onto a pole) and then I'll take them back to school to be hung. I can't wait to see them up!