Sunday, December 4, 2022

Origami is Beyond Me.

William's friend made him a flapping wing crane. It was quite clever and I got the idea to try to make one of my own. I am headed east next week and I thought it would be amusing for Iris. I began to unfold the crane carefully to see how he was constructed. 

William flipped. "You're ruining it!" 

"I'm not," I said. "I'm carefully unfolding it..." and I refolded it to show him that the seams would make it easy. 

Unfortunately, his shorts were well and truly in a twist at that point. He took the paper from me. I had a you-tube video up and watching the demonstration, step by step, and didn't realize right away that William was smoothing out the creases in his paper. 

"Don't do THAT?" I gasped. "I need those creases to reassemble everything!"

Oh dear, he was good and mad at me at that point and there was quite a bit of drama over this. "William," I said reasonably, "is making an origami crane possible or impossible?" 

He began to protest that it was impossible. 

"But it's not," I said. "You're approaching it as if it cannot be done but you had the evidence that it can be done right in your hands. If your friend made one, you KNOW it is possible. There are all kinds of instructions and videos. We just need to sit down and teach ourselves." 

But he was so mad by that point, I figured that it was better that I simply teach myself and once I had the technique down, to go ahead and teach him. 3 hours later...2 different videos...I can make a perfect crane, but damn if I can get his wings to flap. 

William is right. It's impossible. 


38 comments:

  1. Oh dear. Jack gets his knickers in a twist too when things don't go as he wants. It's tiring.

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    1. His problem is that he thinks everything is impossible. My problem is that I think everything is possible.

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  2. Things like that are frustrating. For almost any age.

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    1. I watched one video, following along step by step. I watched it again in slow motion. I watched it for the third time with new paper. Then I switched to another video which involved marking the folds with different color marker, and I swear to you that I was turning everything just as they did...but when it was over, the wings did not flap.

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  3. I'm so sorry the flapping crane was destroyed. Those aren't easy to make, not that I've ever tried. But intricate and accurate foldings are beyond me.

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    1. To be clear, I didn't completely take it apart. I had like the first six steps to a 't'. I was trying to see how the last folds looked in real time. I'd only unfolded it a little. I'm not sure why he flattened it all the way, but he was an aggravated fella.

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  4. Oh dear... but you both will get there...flapping and not in a flap!!

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    1. Well. I decided to give it another try today.

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  5. I think I would gave been miffed too if my Gran unfolded my lovely origami bird!

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    1. Ugh. I didn't unfold it all the way. Just partially to eye ball the last few folds.

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  6. Perhaps you can get him a book about Origami for Christmas? I know somebody who's got a black belt in Origami.😊

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    1. I'm sure that an origami books for Christmas would aggravate us both, me NOT having a black belt in origami.

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  7. I think you need to invite his friend over to put it back together and give you lessons on how to make your own! Grandma, what were you thinking!?! :)

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  8. Replies
    1. Yep. Note to the wise: leave origami to the pros.

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  9. Oops.

    Well, the friend can come to the rescue, hopefully!

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  10. I learned at an early age, how to make the flapping winged crane. It is the only origami that I know how to make. I can say from experience, it is perhaps impossible to reverse engineer as there are a couple folds in there that don't change anything other than the orientation of the layers of paper. If you miss one of those folds, the wings won't flap which is what I suspect happened in your case. In the case of the crane, both folds are made when the paper is in a rhombus shape, right before you start forming the wings and neck.

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    1. I'ma need you to make me one of those flapping cranes and put it in an envelope, pal.

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  11. Late edit: when I finally emerged from the office to admit defeat, I apologized. He was drawing his cartoons and looked up. "It's okay," he said. I said, "Well, I feel pretty bad that your crane got ruined." He said, "It's okay. I'll just ask my friend to make me another one." We agreed that I will keep my mitts off it.

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  12. I know the crane (and if you make 1000 it is good luck) but not the flapping variety.

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    1. It would take me a year to make 1000 cranes, even if they are the non-flapping variety.

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  13. Oh darn, Debby. I wish you were here so I could do it with you. There is a tricky part in it, but one thing you have to do is to make the creases carefully...point to point.

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    1. And if you send me your address, I'd be happy to send you one.

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    2. I don't know if you've seen these directions, but I thought I'd send you these diagrams. https://origami.me/crane/

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    3. Kay, you are such a kind person. I need to think of some kindness right back to you.

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    4. Please please don't worry about doing anything for me. It is truly my pleasure to help and this was nothing but fun for me (and Art).

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  14. Oh dear, now I want to make a crane even though I have failed every single attempt at origami - even the ones for children with the lines marked and everything. I admire your persistence.

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  15. I have a book somewhere that shows how to make all sorts of origami figures. Or maybe I gave it to one of my kids and what I still have is the book for string figures (cat's cradle, Navajo blanket, etc). All that kind of stuff ends up being harder than it should be for me. I really don't know why since I'm good at following directions.

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    1. Oh Kelly. Today a grandma was looking thru kids books for her Christmas books for her grands (lucky duck has 9!) She said to me, "what do you think of this?" And holds out a book on origami. "It even comes with paper." I burst out laughing. I related this tale of woe. Two grandmas, side by side, laughing our butts off. Wish I would have got her name.

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  16. My origami is limited to a box my dad taught us kids to make. It was pretty cool and fun to put something inside.

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    1. I have seen those little boxes. I have never made one. I don't have a black belt in origami.

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  17. Not for me! I have no patience! This is a fun post. I enjoyed it. :-)

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  18. I never comment normally - but I can't resist: it probably does flap, you just have done it too perfectly - just hold it tight just where the neck joins the body and basically hold the top of the tail and let the body bit unfold/fall part a bit, and then it will flap.... I learnt how to do them when I was 14, I guess just like WIlliam's friend, and you really can do it slapdash and it works as long as you don't mind dismantling it a bit to make it flap. Thanks for transporting me away from a big city and into the countryside every day. Cath from Paris

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