The Impact-Crafting with Yarn 影響—毛線的力量－Shermy=Share with Me 六寶媽日誌

Yarn Sticks and Handprint Leaves Mobile 毛線樹枝與手印樹葉掛飾

After a series of IOTA21 conference, I had a totally different view of wisdom that’s hidden inside the pattern and weaving in our everyday cloth. As I myself was never good at knitting, weaving and sewing, I really like to learn and embed the skill to our young kids in the community.

在結束一連串的IOTA21會議之後，我對藏在日常服飾中的編織與圖騰智慧有了全然不同的看法。我本身並不擅長於縫紉、編織或打毛線這一類的事，但是我真的很想學，也想把這項技藝帶進社區給孩子們。

As my job as a program facilitator in our community, I choose to do some natural crafts combined with yarns while planning out the school holiday projects for the youngster: yarn sticks and handprint leaves decor.

我有一份工作是在社區辦小朋友的手工藝活動，在學期春假的時候，我植入了幾個結合大自然的材質與毛線的手工藝：毛線樹枝和手印葉子掛飾。

Cute Yarn Sticks creation可愛的毛線樹枝創作

The idea of Yarn Sticks came from the kid’s gallery at Curtin University. I used the same setup, a big branch hanging on the wall with hanging yarn sticks on it, but with my variation: I wrap the big branch with some yarn as well!

毛線樹枝的點子，是在Curtin大學看到兒童藝術展覽館中所效仿的。我用了一樣的布置，找來了一個很大的樹枝，在上頭掛上小毛線樹枝們，並裝飾掛在牆上，但我加上了自己的創新：我把大樹枝也繞上了不同顏色的毛線裝飾著。

Kids are really involved 孩子們專心創作

The idea of Handprint Leaves Decor turned into something much unexpected through everyone’s creations. The original idea was just do some handprints, cut out, punch holes, tie knots on a stick, done! But when I was playing around the materials, I changed it into a mobile, which you still do handprints, cut out, punch holes, but tie knots on “two sticks that’s forming a cross shape.” This extra step of tying two sticks together, later change to a weaving net from my kids. All my kids age from 5-9y, boys and girls, all enjoy weaving the net and had created so many of them! That’s something I never expect, the power of weaving happens on my own kids.

手印葉子掛飾在每個人的創作下一個個作品皆出人意表。我原來的點子是，印手印、剪下、打洞、綁在一根樹枝上，完成！但當我在隨手玩弄著手邊素材時，我把它做成了像風鈴般的掛飾，從一根樹枝改為”兩根樹枝，綁成十字模樣”。結果因為這多加的一個步驟，變身成為孩子們的蜘蛛網編織創作。我的孩子從五歲到九歲，有男有女，每一個人都對編織網有著濃鬨的興致，並製造了好多的網！這真的不在我的意料之中，編織的魅力竟然發揮在我自己的孩子身上了。

From yarn and sticks into a fascinated weaving process by my 9yr old boy 我九歲的大兒子從毛線和樹枝中找到編織的樂趣

Compare to the other crafts I’ve done with the family and kids, I noticed that, if there’s yarn provided at the craft table, people seems to sit and stay longer, whether it’s because it’s a bit “tricky” or more “delicate” whatever you call it, the craft time turn into a quality time within the family and among all. I can feel there’s a need of bringing weaving, sewing and all the fabric craft into the community. And I already have some plan out for simple sewing craft for the whole family, and now am waiting to roll out.

我之前也和家長及孩子們做過不同的手工藝，但我發現，只要有毛線的出場，參與者都會坐得比較久、待的時間也變長了。也許是毛線較”棘手”或是比較”精緻”，不管你怎麼說，手工藝時間因此成為了Quality Time，不只在家庭成員間，也在與其他人的互動上。我可以感受到這個社區對編織、縫紉的手工藝是有需求的，而我也已經計畫好了一些全家人都可以做的簡單縫紉手工藝，現在就等待哪天能實測。