Senior Projects: Day 13 and 14

On the last two days of senior projects, I finished my small sleeping mat and filmed two more videos for my YouTube channel.  After I finished the mat, I felt very accomplished and also relieved that I finished on time.  Now I am working on my presentation and my senior project poster.  The picture below is of my final products and all the work I did these past three weeks.

Senior Projects: Day 11 and 12

For the past two days I have been working on the plarn sleeping mat.  It is getting bigger and bigger, but hopefully it'll be the size of a yoga mat by Friday.  I have uploaded two of my videos on YouTube and will upload more tomorrow.  I will also film more videos and upload tomorrow.  Below are pictures of my mat and the current length.  The sides are decreasing, but I will fix the sides in the end.  By the end of the week I will buy the supplies and type u the instructions for the care package.

Senior Projects: Day 10

My sleeping mat is getting bigger and bigger! But sadly the mat is not straight; the rows are decreasing so it sides are uneven.  I have only finished 4 scarves within the last two weeks because last week I have been focusing on this sleeping mat.  This upcoming week, I am going to finish this the sleeping mat and make more videos.  I have made three videos so far: and intro to my channel, one that teaches how to start knitting, and another that teaches one how to knit.  Below are the videos that I have made.  

Senior Projects: Day 9

As my plarn sleeping mat gets bigger and bigger, I can't fathom the idea of how cool it'll turn out.  I have been working on my sleeping mat for two days and so far I have used up 25 garbage bags (the garbage bags are not like the Safeway sized bags, but the big white trash bags).  I have been slowing down on knitting my scarves because I have been working on this plarn project.  As of right now, I have 4 finished scarves.  On Friday, I will officially start my YouTube tutorial videos on "How to Knit".

Senior Projects: Day 8

As the days are quickly passing by, my hands are getting more and more tired from knitting.  On Tuesday I had a softball game and during the game the ball hit jammed thumb.  Right now it is a bit hard to knit, but I am able to continue on with my project.  Today I did more of the sleeping mat and also knitting the scarves.  I am half way done with my fourth scarf.  In the last picture, that was my progress for the day; that alone was 15 big white garbage bags.  Tomorrow I will cut up more and keep working on the sleeping mat.

Senior Projects: Day 7

Today I focused on how to crochet the plarn together into a sleeping mat.  I went into school and Ms. Ferrara taught me how to crochet the plastic bags together.  Since this is my first time crocheting, I hit a couple of obstacles, but in the end I got the hang of it.  Again in my free time/breaks I continued knitting the scarves.  Today I worked all day trying to figure out how to start and crochet the plarn and I also spent some more time knitting.  Below are some pictures I took of my work on crocheting the plarn.

Senior Projects: Day 6

On day 6 of senior projects, I spent the whole day continuing on knitting the scarves.  So far I have three finished scarves and am working on the fourth.  I worked over the weekend trying to cut up more garbage bags to add on to the ball of plarn.  Today I started at 9am and ended at 6pm.  My main goal today was to focus on knitting the scarves.  Tomorrow I will head to school and Ms. Ferrara will teach me how to crochet the plarn into a sleep mat!

Senior Projects: Day 5

On the 5th day of senior projects, I finished my second scarf and started on the plarn crochet project.  Plarn is plastic bags that are crocheted/knitted together.  It took me the morning to finish the scarf and for the rest of the day I spent it by cutting the garbage bags and tying them together.  Today I started at 9am and ended at 5pm.  Usually after I finish my 7 hours of work, I still spend time on my project because I try to knit as many scarves as possible within these three weeks.  Below are some pictures of the process I did to make the plarn.  

Senior Projects: Day 3 and Day 4

On day 3 of senior projects, I again stayed at home knitting like the previous days.  I did not get much done as I thought I would because I had a softball game to attend.  I did start on my second scarf and continued more on day 4.  Day 4 I spent my whole day knitting and finishing up my second scarf.  I went to school to talk to Ms. Ferrara about my project and how should I start the plarn process.  I will start making the plarn the next day.

Senior Projects: Day 2

On day 2 of senior projects, I spent my whole day knitting and finishing up this scarf.  It took much longer than I expected because the length needs to be longer than I thought it was.  Tomorrow I will continue knitting and start on the plarn project.  Below is a picture of the same scarf from yesterday and the progress I made today.  I will be able to finish this scarf by tonight.

Senior Projects: Day 1

My goal for this week is to get into the flow of senior projects and set a plan for the next two weeks.  I have been organizing my schedule to see what days I will devote that specific topic to.  My main purpose is knitting for the homeless, so most of my time will be spent knitting.  I will set aside a day or two for the plarn knitting and the video tutorials.  Tomorrow (tuesday) I will continue knitting for the homeless.  On Wednesday I was planning on coming into school and to learn how to plarn knit with my mentor, Ms. Ferrara.  Thursday I will work on plarn knitting and knitting for the homeless.  Every Fridays I will be focusing on the knitting tutorials. 

On the first day of senior projects, I wanted to set a goal on how much I am able to knit per day.  I started at 10am and finished up at 4pm.  I started out with knitting for the homeless and from what I am estimating, I am hoping that I will be able to make one scarf in every two days.  Today was a rough start because there was a small mishap with my project.  While I was knitting, my mom and I were trying to open a jar of salsa in my bedroom, which unfortunately splattered all over my scarf.  Luckily the yarn that I bought that morning was washable so I was able to get it off.  The picture below is the work I have done today; as you can see all the salsa is gone!

   

Product

The products that I will be making throughout the three weeks will be knitted wear for homeless people around the Bay Area.  I will also be creating a youtube channel of tutorials on how to knit.  On the other hand, I will be putting together a care package for Senegal with knitting supplies and easy instructions on how to knit sleeping matts with plastic bags.  I want to use this project to inspire others by showing how one can use a hobby to help other people besides themselves.  Everyone has a passion and I want people to use their passion for the greater good. 

Essential Question

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

How can one use knitting to turn around and contribute to the community at large?

Passion in knitting and investigate how knitting can help the community not knitting for myself.

- When does knitting become a service more than a hobby?

- Not just doing it, but to find more opportunities

>> Create a booklet of knitting opportunities for service.
>> Knit recycled sleeping matts (out of plastic bags) for the people in Senegal.
>> Create a YouTube channel teaching knitting tutorials.
>> Knitting for the homeless in San Francisco. 

NEXT STEP:

I would want to connect with the people I am working with to see what opportunities they can give me.  With Senegal and working with the homeless.  I will also start writing my proposal. 

Idea for Senior Projects

Recently I became really interested in knitting.  I love to knit during my free time and if I need to take a break from my homework.  Since I enjoy knitting, I decided to do it for my senior project.  I wanted to start up a YouTube channel and teach tutorials on how to knit.  While doing that, I realized that I should also give back to the community by knitting for the homeless.  I found this link that shows an organization that I could help by knitting for the homeless that is in the Bay Area.

http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/opp1180926.jsp