K just finished reading a really great novel called 'All Sail Set' by Armstrong Sperry which is a fictional story peppered with the true facts of the famous clipper 'The Flying Cloud' built in 1851 by Donald McKay. It is a beautiful ship with all of its billowing sails and K being completely obsessed with any kind of boat has set to work recreating it :)
Throughout the book are quite a few diagrams showing the layout and shapes of each of the sails....
as well as all of the intricate ropes that covered each of the masts.
Using scrap wood, wool from my yarn stash and scraps of muslin fabric he started building.
Each of the sails he carefully cut to fit and then hand sewed them onto the ropes :) I just love watching him work on it and I can hardly wait to see it finished. He's taking a bit of a break though as I think all of the hand sewing was a bit more work than he had anticipated *grin*. At least he knows his way around a needle and a thread! LOL
If you know of any great novels about ships that would be appropriate for an 11 year old I would love to know :)
~ Rosina
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