Back to School

I haven't shown you anything from school for a while. Those of you in the US are nearing the end of the school year, if you haven't already arrived there. We will go on until the 1st of JULY!! I've never taught in July before. A shorter summer vacation here means longer holidays spread throughout the year. Like it!

Here we go. We've been learning about Harris Tweed this term. It is a woolen fabric that has a long history on the island, is truly unique to any other woolen and lovely. We've been studying the process from sheep to shop, you might say.

The wool comes from cheviot sheep. They live on the mainland. Their wool comes washed and ready to be dyed, spun and woven here on the island. Here are two illustrations of these sheep.

Of course I forgot my camera when we went to the big mill where the wool is processed, so I don't have pictures of that. But in art they children were taken outside to see how the colors of the landscape have influenced some of the Harris Tweed designs. They did their own landscapes, chose tweed that reflected what they were seeing outdoors for the matting and here's the result.

We are in to process of making notebook covers from the stuff. Here are some not quite finished. I'll show you them again in a week or two when they are all done.

And a map on of the students made showing the island and some places associated with Harris Tweed's past and present!

Finally, some of the lovely faces I see every day! Bye for now.