Having seen a few of my kite-making friends post huge catalogs of kites they have made, I figure I need to start cataloging my own.
Kites #1 and #2 – March 2021
I made a pair of quadline kites for my LED lights, one a full sail and the other vented. Story here.
Here’s a video with the animated lights.
Kites #3 and #4 – January 2022
I made a pair of quadline kites, white for memorial flying, one a full sail and the other vented. These were in memory of my brother who died from a crash on 13 November 2020, and my mom who died on 14 February, 2021. I entered the vented version both at the Washington State International Kite Festival (WSIKF) kitemaking competition and took first place in novice class, and again at the American Kitefliers Association national convention and won in novice class.
Kites 5-8 October 2023
Kites made at the American Kitefliers Association Convention
At the AKA Convention in 2023 both Sarah and I spent a lot of time sewing kites. I ended up making 4 kites, 2 for myself and 2 for the convention arch. They were a diamond hata kite with applique eyes from Mike Dertien’s pattern, and a “O’Hashi-style Suruga” kite from Mitch Cordover’s pattern that I thought about using for applique but decided I liked the solid red. Traditionally both styles have applique of animals or more popularly, of actors from Kubuki theater, or famous sumo wrestlers, war heroes, and similar famous faces in dramatic forms. The “bird over cloud” was my first simple applique for the arch’s theme of nature at the site plus the eclipse. The AKA logo was when I was thinking of making a second kite for the arch and someone said “We don’t have a logo kite, someone needs to make one!” I ended up learning a bit about applique and re-starting halfway though. The hata is a fun little eyes pattern because that’s about as complex as I dared to create. Sarah also sewed three kites.
There will be more to follow, for certain.