It is easy for children to relate to the work of Wassily Kandinsky. His pieces are composed like visual music, communicating emotion through harmony of design instead of words or recognizable images. After looking at examples of Kandinsky’s work, try your hand at creating a simple weaving craft based on his famous multicolored concentric circles. See the slide show for step-by-step images.
You’ll need:
A variety of yarn scraps
Old CDs or DVDs
Twist ties or bobby pins
Scissors
Steps:
1. First, thread the yarn through the hole of the CD and tie a knot on the printed side, as shown in the slide show photo.
2. Begin to create the warp by looping the yarn through the middle of the CD around to the edge as many times as you want. If you have an even number of warp strings, you will have spokes that stick out in the design. If you create an odd number of warp strings, you will not see the spokes. Once you have created as many warp strings as you want, tie a knot on the printed side of the CD and leave the excess string hanging.
3. Form a needle out of a twist tie, bobby pin or hole-punched plastic and attach it to the end of the yarn. Pull the string through the middle of the CD (to the shiny side). Now you are ready to begin weaving.
4. Using an over-under pattern, work your way around the warp strings on the shiny side of the CD. When you run out of string, tie another piece of yarn to the one that you are working with and keep going. Once you are finished, tie a knot.
5. You can display your radial weaving project on canvas or cardboard. You can also attach the CDs together with twist ties or yarn to form a wall hanging.
Stephanie at Make it a Wonderful Life has some beautiful examples of radial weaving on CDs. For a lesson plan on Kandinsky, check out Edu Art 4 Kids.
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