Handwork: December 2025
First Grade:
Most of our First graders are now knitting! Our knitters carefully watch to be sure no sheep go missing or wander into a neighbor’s pasture—because in our classroom, the “sheep” are the stitches on the needles. It always brings a smile when a student asks, “How did I get my neighbor’s sheep?” or “Where did my sheep go?” after a stitch has slipped away. Using storytelling as a teaching tool is one of the main components in the Waldorf curriculum, and the positive effect on the students is clear.
The first knitting project for First Grade is a small pouch. Older students from the Middle School will make something special for this project. It is one of our school traditions that the older students create something for the First Graders’ very first knitting project.
As we learn to knit, the children also practice finger knitting and finger chaining.
To support the children’s developing skills, at home, you can give (or gift!) your child a small basket or shoebox with some string or yarn, small fabric scraps, scissors, and a sewing needle (if you feel it is safe and appropriate). It is also lovely to make a special place in your home where your child can do handwork and to help them keep their supplies together. This helps everything stay tidy and makes handwork feel like a natural part of the day.
Second and Third grade:
The class is filled with hard workers! Second Graders are strengthening their knitting skills, learning new stitches, and taking on new projects. All of them are working on a four-legged animal. With this project, they learn how, in the middle of their knitting, to cast on, cast off, increase, and decrease stitches.
Most Third Graders are crocheting. Each student works at their own pace, progressing through projects such as belts, cup coasters, pencil cases, water bottle holders, hats, and later, indoor frisbees.
We also paused our main projects to do some special handwork together. We wet-felted a community piece for our classroom, sewed finger puppets, and finger-knitted crowns for St. Lucia Day. All can tell, this is a very hard-working class!
Fourth and Fifth Grade:
We took a break from our main projects to work on our school’s annual Lunar New Year puppet show. Each student created an animal and sewed it together to be one of the stars in their puppet play. They worked together and helped their classmates, too. This was a wonderful opportunity to practice sewing skills and to work together.
Fourth Graders have finished their scissor holders and needle holders and are now working on sewing handwork bags. For these, they will design a monogram or their initials and transfer the design onto their bags. The final step is to then embroider the design to complete the project. After finishing the handwork bags, we will begin our cross-stitch projects.
Almost all of the Fifth Grade students have finished their “Mini-Me” knitting projects! Next, the students will move on to fingerless gloves or socks. These projects will continue until the end of the school year, though some students may need a bit of extra time to finish them next year.
Middle School:
The Middle School students have been exploring and working on three-dimensional wet-felted projects. As Middle School studies move deeper into history, the class learned about wool as one of the oldest fibers used by people. Historically, wool was used as a material for clothing and for daily comfort. Our wet-felted projects have included a vessel, a cup holder, a decorative mushroom house, a bag, a hat, and slippers.
Eighth Grade students are also working with patterns inspired by Indigenous peoples. In class, we discuss how each tribe has its own designs and symbols that help identify the tribe. Students selected patterns from one tribe, drew them, and some also created fine beadwork based on these designs. Lessons also included a little sharing of my Latvian culture—although it comes from the other side of the ocean, the patterns are so similar.
As we finish our wet-felting work, the class will return to one of our school traditions: making small pocket babies for the First Grader’s first knitting project.
Wishing you a lovely holiday season and a happy New Year. I am grateful for every day I can spend with your child.
Warmly,
Ki Ieva
Parent Handwork–A Look Ahead:
In our parent-handwork sessions, we are covering different skills each month:
January – Mending
February – Knitting
March – Crocheting
April – Felting
May – Possibly weaving
