The Austin Maker Faire

This afternoon I took the older two kids to the Austin Maker Faire. It was fantastic. Next year I want to take them for the full day and turn them loose to explore.


Melissa weaving on a frame loom.  We barely fit this in at the end of the day; the other weavers were already packing up but this lady was kind enough to let Melissa add a few lines to the rug.


This man built his own computer-controlled drawing machine, kind of a fancy harmonograph. I'm pretty sure he normally charges for his work, but Melissa charmed a drawing out of him for free. She's immensely pleased with it.


Matthew and Melissa both learned to knit. Here they are with their balls of "T-shirt yarn," which Matthew and I cut and stretched from an old shirt. Matthew was the more apt pupil; I thought the instructor was just being polite at first when she enthused about how quickly he was picking it up, but she was serious. Apparently his prior experience with crochet with Grandma Linda helped.


A machine to decorate CDs with paint via centrifugal force. One of the least impressive things at the fair in my opinion, but the kids got a kick out of it



This gentleman was showing off his life-size, remote-controlled R2D2. He's the one in the sunglasses in the second picture; you can kind of make out his very apropos shirt.


This was my favorite: a learn to solder workshop from the ATX Hackerspace. Matthew and Melissa both successfully soldered an LED and a battery pack to a decorative pin

Things I didn't get a picture of: the glass blower. The soap maker. The robot builders. The stop-motion movie studio.

Can't wait for next year!