Monday 21 March 2016

AKA Amigurumi Apparel: Harmony Day

Close up of Kwokkie Doll's head and shoulders, wearing an orange beanie with blue trim, orange vest and black top. The blue strands around her neck belong to a cape she is also wearing.
Kwokkie Doll is ready
for Harmony Day


It's "Harmony Day" and Kwokkie Doll is ready to participate!


Each year in March, our local schools use Harmony Day to celebrate the cultural diversity and heritage of our community. The 21st of March was chosen to mark Harmony Day because it coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Past activities include the wearing of traditional costumes, sharing stories and songs, dancing, cooking and sharing food of one's ethnic heritage. School uniforms could be abandoned for the day if one was wearing a costume or the symbolic colour of orange.

Kwokkie Doll definitely needed something to wear on Harmony Day if she is going to work very closely with the Little Colourful Teacher.


Front of sleeveless orange vest.  There is blue embroidery on the back and it's reverse side can be seen behind the v-neck of the vest.
AKA Harmony Day Vest
A slip stitched edging was added for a neater finish.
Made by Jodiebodie 19 March 2014
Pattern: 'Denim Vest' for 'Denim Lily Doll'
(Lily Sugar n'Cream / Yarnspirations)


 
It began with an orange vest.  This one can also do 'double duty' as a high visibility vest to accompany Little Colourful Teacher on 'yard duty' (when teachers supervise the students by patrolling the playgrounds at break times).

The next necessity was a hat. Lots of schools have the "no hat, no play" rule–students must wear a hat outdoors during the Spring and Summer terms to protect themselves from sunburn and the risks of skin cancer. One needs to set a hat example so Kwokkie Doll now has an orange hat with a blue trim.
 
The front of the orange beanie with blue trim.
AKA Harmony Day Beanie
The orange beanie with blue trim is for Kwokkie Doll to wear
on Harmony Day, yard duty or with jeans.

Made by Jodiebodie 19 March 2014


I chose a beanie because Harmony Day is in autumn and the cooler weather is coming. I had intended to make another hat for the summer but ... I got distracted and plain forgot!  (Sorry Ms A.K.! I can't blame it on fatigue fog this time!)

Kwokkie Doll had already moved away by this time so we did not have the benefit of costume fittings as the vest and hat were being made. They were posted on the 19th of March and were happily received just in time for Harmony Day on the 21st.  I love sending smiles in the form of surprise parcels in the post! 

A tryptich from Little Colourful Teacher on receipt of her parcel: 1. Kwokkie Doll sitting on the desk wearing an orange vest and orange beanie together with black top, dotty skirt and red/white sneakers. To her left is a black stapler and colourful stripey pencil case made of zippers. 2. The envelope addressed to Ms A.K. 3. Kwokkie Doll in Harmony Day clothes with a red, white and green striped teacup on her lap.


My memories of Harmony Day are of  a very supportive school community with people dressing up in ethnic costumes, wonderful luncheon buffets and the annual school assembly with children holding hands in a circle singing
Little Colourful Teacher (Ms A.K.) smiling as she holds up Kwokkie Doll who is modelling the new outfit. Ms A.K. is wearing jeans with a white T-shirt which has stylised pink and blue flowers. A lanyard around her neck has chevron stripes of white alternating with bright colours. Little Colourful Teacher is sitting on an office chair with a desk cubicle behind her.
Happy recipients.
Little Colourful Teacher helps Kwokkie Doll
to model her Harmony Day clothes.

Come and join our circle of friends,
There's always room for one more,
A circle that never ends,

Come on and open up the door … 

… I don't remember any more!  That line will doit rhymes!
(I never learned all the words but I do remember feeling emotional when I heard the children singing lyrics of peace, love, celebration and most of all, welcome and social inclusion.)


It warms my heart that our children are being taught to respect each other and value diversity.

"Our diversity is our strength" is the official theme for 2016.

From the harmony day web site:


It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.

It is a day for all Australians to embrace cultural diversity
and to share what we have in common.




The back of the sleeveless orange vest has the initials A.K. embroidered on the back.
Little Colourful Teacher's initials
are embroidered on the back of the vest.
 
What do you and I have in common?  It is highly likely that we have either crochet, chronic illness or general craftiness and friendship in common. What else?

Every culture in the world has its forms of art and craft, whether that be weaving, knitting, lacework, net-making, stitching or wood and stone carving, just for starters.  Even within the realm of crochet alone, there are variations across cultures in the shapes of tools, techniques used and the types of specialty items traditionally made by specific cultural groups.

It fascinates me how these areas of expertise gradually spread across the globe to survive long enough for us to post and retrieve the information on the world wide web!

I like to think of this blog as a small piece in the puzzle to bring people together in crochet wherever we are.


The central message for Harmony Day is that ‘everyone belongs’,
reinforcing the importance of inclusiveness to all Australians.

It’s a day to celebrate Australia’s diversity – a day of cultural respect
for everyone who calls Australia home.




Is Harmony Day marked on your calendar?

The sleeveless orange vest has been opened out to display the right sides of the fronts and back sections. The back is embroidered in blue stitching the initials 'A.K.'
AKA Harmony Day Vest
Outside, opened out.

Project Details


Completed: 19 March 2014
Materials: 8 ply acrylic yarns with 4.5 mm aluminium hook with red plastic handle (Pony)

Yarns
  • Kmart Homemaker Everyday 8 ply Acrylic
    Colour: 378 Orange; dye lot #774542 
  • Moda Vera Marvel 8 ply Acrylic
    Colour: 1016 Primary Blue; dye lot #770670

AKA Harmony Day Vest
Pattern: "Denim Doll" free pattern published by Lily / Sugar'n Cream which now can be found on the Yarnspirations web site.
Orange used:  8 grams / 25 metres
Blue used: 1 gram / 3 metres
Notes: The finished vest weighed 8 grams.

AKA Harmony Day Beanie
No pattern: improvised
Orange used: 6 grams / 19 metres
Blue used: 1 gram / 3 metres
Notes: The finished beanie weighed 7 grams. 
A simple beanie worked top-down in a spiral fashion until ready to make the trim. Beginning with a magic ring, each round was increased in multiples of 6 stitches until 30 stitches around, then worked evenly to required length. The spiral was completed by joining with a slip stitch and subsequent rounds were joined. The beanie had a total of 11 rounds.



References


Australian Government Department of Social Services, Harmony Day, web site: http://www.harmony.gov.au/

Lily / Sugar'n Cream, "Denim Doll" free pattern, Yarnspirations: http://www.yarnspirations.com/denim-doll.htm

Little Colourful Teacher, blog: http://littlecolourfulteacher.com

United Nations, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, web page: http://www.un.org/en/events/racialdiscriminationday/

Yarnspirations:  http://www.yarnspirations.com


Related Posts on Lupey Loops



AKA Amigurumi, 31 December 2015: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/aka-amigurumi.html

AKA Amigurumi Apparel: Sundress & Dotty Daywear, 21 January 2016: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/aka-amigurumi-apparel-sundress-dotty.html


4 comments:

  1. Very interesting to hear about Hamony day. I am afraid the concept is new to me, but it sounds great! Mutual respect beween cultures is a very important thing. If only we could use our diversities as a strength instead of eying eachother suspiciously. The world would be a far better place. Love the doll, and her mission. Pam in Norway x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Pam! I am glad to see you and hope you are well and having a good day.
      Why can't people see others as just 'people' intead of trying to categorise them and putting them into boxes like nationalities, skin colour, gender and socioeconomic stereotypes etc. Surely everyone has the same basic needs to feel loved, safe and be happy. Suspicion is bred by fear. People's energies are better spent looking within to seek the source of their fears and deal with that rather than directing their anger outwardly and causing harm to others.
      Diversity IS a strength. We complement each other with our differences. I would like to put the word 'acceptance' together with 'diversity'.
      I believe we can all contribute as individuals by leading by example - swallowing some fear and having courage to respectfully be open to others and accept and even embrace our differences. Education and communication are the antidotes to fear.
      I appreciate your sentiments very much. xx

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  2. U have not heard of harmony day before but you can be sure I will celebrate it next year on our spring equinox.
    When I was teaching full-time I would have loved a doll like this for my classroom. I think I will make one for a friend who is taking a grade one class next fall. Thank you for the heart warming and educational post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a nice idea, Mary Anne - to blend Harmony Day with your observance of the equinox.
      According to Ms A.K., Kwokkie Doll was a 'total charmer' to the children on Harmony Day. Kwokkie Doll is a good catalyst for storytelling and enhancing interaction between students and teachers. Did you ever have class mascots at school? We had a class pet occasionally. What are your ideas for using a doll in the classroom?
      I hope you will blog about the doll or other mascot that you make. That's so generous of you to make one for a friend. I am sure it will be appreciated just as much as Kwokkie Doll is here. Have fun!

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