SLOW & GENTLE

Washing fleece is a wonderful activity to bring to a child of any age – you just have to make a few adjustments (water temperature for example) to suit your situation.

If you have can, try to do this outdoors.  If you’re working inside, make sure that you have lots of towels on hand to mop up any spills – the bathroom or a laundry room are good places to work.

Keep in mind that wool is happiest if you don’t rush it & treat it gently!

If you’re working with multiple ages, you might want to set up several “stations” where the little ones can play with a bit of fleece & make bubbles to their heart’s content while the older children actually wash the fleece in the correct (non-felting !) way.

Everybody will have a great time.

Carding fleece can be a very satisfying, rhythmic activity for children from around 4 years old.

Since the child only has to manipulate one tool at a time (while holding the other stationary) it is also a great pre-knitting fibre-based activity for older children who aren’t quite able to co-ordinate both hands moving at once yet.

Of course, younger children might like to try it & if you’re using  soft carding paddles (like cat brushes) then you can let them have some fun.  Fleece can be carded & re-carded for play time.  Keep bowls or baskets of fleece puff balls which will be turned into clouds, fairy beds, whipped cream….

Remember, over-carding can damage the fleece, so keep your “play fleece” separate from anything you might like to spin with an older child.

If you’re planning to stuff something with your fleece, then you really only need to make sure it has no foreign matter in it.  How well it has been carded won’t make much difference once it’s hidden inside your project!

Here’s a quick & fun project for you to try with your kids.

Fingerspinning is a way to introduce the concept of how something as soft & airy as fleece can become as strong & resilient as yarn with a few simple twists.

It is possible to fingerspin enough fleece to actually fingerknit or knit with it – if you have enough time & patience!

Once you’ve tried fingerspinning a single strand of yarn, you can then try to ply them together. See how many weights & thicknesses you can achieve.

Keep your samples in your KnitNotes Ideabook so that you can compare them with various purchased yarns.