I’ve been having a great time tutoring two little boys.  They keep gravitating to my rug hooking frame and trying to hook.  They are six and eight years old.  I think I’ll try them with a piece of linen and a frame the next time I see them.  Their mother is in favor of me giving them “life experiences” and “doing crafts” with them, as well as teaching writing…which is what I was originally asked to do.  So today they sat down and drew a basic picture on half of an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper.  Friday I’ll show them how to transfer it to backing and start to hook.

Part of our lesson yesterday was to make some blackberry ink and use it to write a letter.  Well the boys made it and drew on paper with it using calligraphy pens, but they decided it would take too long to write a letter with it.  So we re-arranged the sentences we had written previously, editing out some unwanted ones, and I ended up typing the letter on the computer.  They, though, drew pictures with labels on them, to accompany the letter.

The blackberry ink recipe we used?  One half cup blackberries, 1/2 tsp. white vinegar, 1/2 tsp. salt.  Mash the blackberries real well.  Put them through a sieve so you just have juice.  Add the vinegar and salt to set and preserve the ink.  Use as a wash in drawings/paintings, or to write.  I have no idea how fugitive this ink is.  I’m testing it now.

So here are the blackberries and the equipment for the experiment.  I have to admit, the second container of blackberries was eaten…