Dust to Dust ... er... Mud to Mud?

On Monday we did the last Adopt-a-School program: Mali Mud Cloth. Judy, who just returned from Africa, was an excellent presenter, telling the kids about the geography of Africa, the chemistry of dye and mordants, and the symbolism of the African art. She even let Barbara and me do our own Mali mud cloths!

Judy suggested to the students that they use symbols from their own lives -- so I made mine symbolic of my fiber hobbies. Of course, there is the central sheep (with an odd hump back -- it must be sickly) and rabbit. I would have drawn an alpaca, but I didn't think I could get it right. The corners are decorated with (crude) knitting needles and balls of yarn. The left and right sides show a spinning wheel flanked by two partially full bobbins. Above the sheep are four drop spindles and at the very top is the symbol for infinity to indicate the longevity of these crafts. The black dye is potting soil and the red is Georgia clay. It was an interesting craft and the kids seemed to enjoy painting with mud.

For the past two weeks I have been doing my penance to the knitting gods. Lo, they were very angry and smote me mightily for picking up a crochet hook. It took me ages and the patience of Job to pull out all that mohair crochet work -- but at last the gods are appeased and the evil crochet is no more. The mohair is happy. It apparently had no intention of becoming a shawl. It has gone into a plastic bag to think about it's waywardness and may one day emerge as a felted hat.