A recap of Rebecca's pleasant spring weekend...
Mom was supposed to come visit us this weekend, but her car battery died on the day of departure. I didn't mind. It was a better excuse than most of the reasons that she usually gives for not coming, and besides, I had plans for this weekend and wouldn't have been able to spend much time with her, anyway.
On Saturday, for the first time since I started crocheting with plarn, I taught a class on how to do it! It was at a local library that had been collecting grocery bags from patrons and had almost an entire room full of them! I was nervous (I've always hated getting up in front of people), but I think it went well. There was a pretty big turnout (about 30 people). I did a demonstration in front of the whole class on how to cut the bags into plarn, and then people broke into smaller groups to learn how to crochet.
The plarn part was fairly easy, and I've taught it before, but teaching people how to actually crochet was a little tough. I hadn't anticipated how much harder it is for beginners to learn how to crochet on plarn, rather than yarn, and it didn't help that everyone wanted to try making a homeless mat right away, even though I encouraged them to just crochet a small swatch of plarn to get comfortable with doing it. Nobody realizes the time and work that goes into a homeless mat until they're a foot deep into one. Not everybody at the library stuck with learning how to crochet (there was one boy with his mom who clearly didn't have the attention span for it), but for those who did, it was rewarding to see them finally get it. Two high school girls started out knocking their own work ("It looks awful! It's so bumpy and crooked!") but by the end of it, they had really improved ("It looks like a real thing!"). I told them next time, they could teach the class.
The library was near Cici's, where I don't often get to go, so after class, I went straight there and stuffed my face. Then I came home and gave Mayim plenty of outside-time in the sun, which she loved. She laid on the grass and watched the birds and squirrels for so long. The spring weather here has been really nice. The pear trees, redbuds, and wisterias are all blooming, and my drive to the animal shelter (out in the country) is so beautiful, it should be illegal. We finished the evening with watching Allied and Edge of Seventeen, and they were both darn good!
Crazy to think that this May will mark five years since I discovered plarn and ten years since I started this blog! I'm getting old!!! :)
On Saturday, for the first time since I started crocheting with plarn, I taught a class on how to do it! It was at a local library that had been collecting grocery bags from patrons and had almost an entire room full of them! I was nervous (I've always hated getting up in front of people), but I think it went well. There was a pretty big turnout (about 30 people). I did a demonstration in front of the whole class on how to cut the bags into plarn, and then people broke into smaller groups to learn how to crochet.
The plarn part was fairly easy, and I've taught it before, but teaching people how to actually crochet was a little tough. I hadn't anticipated how much harder it is for beginners to learn how to crochet on plarn, rather than yarn, and it didn't help that everyone wanted to try making a homeless mat right away, even though I encouraged them to just crochet a small swatch of plarn to get comfortable with doing it. Nobody realizes the time and work that goes into a homeless mat until they're a foot deep into one. Not everybody at the library stuck with learning how to crochet (there was one boy with his mom who clearly didn't have the attention span for it), but for those who did, it was rewarding to see them finally get it. Two high school girls started out knocking their own work ("It looks awful! It's so bumpy and crooked!") but by the end of it, they had really improved ("It looks like a real thing!"). I told them next time, they could teach the class.
The library was near Cici's, where I don't often get to go, so after class, I went straight there and stuffed my face. Then I came home and gave Mayim plenty of outside-time in the sun, which she loved. She laid on the grass and watched the birds and squirrels for so long. The spring weather here has been really nice. The pear trees, redbuds, and wisterias are all blooming, and my drive to the animal shelter (out in the country) is so beautiful, it should be illegal. We finished the evening with watching Allied and Edge of Seventeen, and they were both darn good!
Crazy to think that this May will mark five years since I discovered plarn and ten years since I started this blog! I'm getting old!!! :)