Urbanscapes and Letterforms in the Built Environment

I’m tempted to leave this picture stand on its own merits, because “a picture’s worth a thousand words.” But I’m proud of it, and figured I’d share why:

I’ve been a photographer since high school, when I was privileged to take two years of art photography with one of our better teachers. We were given black and white film, ASA 100, and taught to see the world around us with new eyes. This is well before the digital revolution took the photographic world by storm.

Fast forward to a few years ago, when high-quality digital cameras first started appearing in cell phones. What a revolutionary idea for me! I’d resisted joining the digital photography movement because I prefer to shoot with an SLR camera (Single Lens Reflex) and the little point-and-shoot jobbies didn’t satisfy. But now, with my ubiquitous phone, it allowed me to snap things as I saw them, instead of lament not having a digital SLR. (In a side note, I inherited my husband’s old SLR when he upgraded to his new one in his freelance photography business, and I once again can wander around of an afternoon haunting my environment.)

This particular image caught my eye on a bridge over the railroad tracks near the Chicago Art Institute, the subject of my “A” entry on the main blog of this very website. The bridge is made of cast concrete, and joined with whatever substance one uses to join such things. I caught sight of this obvious “C” and had to have it. It’s a hyper-close-up, as the original object is only a few inches across, smaller than the length of my hand.

Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge. If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too. If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

The theme on my main blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo. Join me as I explore Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago. Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year. Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12^th to the 17^th, you’ll be getting live convention reports. Join the conversation!

The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland. Check it out!

My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

Darla M. Sands, Awakening Dreams and Conquering Nightmares with a Pen
Kari Trenten, The Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration

Write on, and Happy Blogging!

B Is For Bush! (No, Not THAT Kind of Bush)

I got home and downloaded my pictures and, for the life of me, could not remember what I’d intended when I shot this one. Then, as I was writing about doing the challenge, I said something like, “B is for bush,” and it hit me – I must have meant bush!

Now, as I am putting my posts up, I realized it’s because it has Berries.

You know, with a B?

Sequitur much?

Okay, on that topic, I have to share a cute joke with you:

How many Zen masters does it take to change a light bulb?

Fish.

Thank you for joining me for the A-Z Blog Challenge. If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave me a link so I can come visit you too. If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

The theme on my main blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo. Join me as I explore Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago. Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year. Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12^th to the 17^th, you’ll be getting live convention reports. Join the conversation!

The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland. Check it out!

My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

Darla M. Sands, Awakening Dreams and Conquering Nightmares with a Pen
Kari Trenten, The Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration

Write on, and Happy Blogging!

The A-Z of the Natural World – Letterforms In Nature

I waffled on whether to do the A-Z on my craft blog, because I’m already doing it elsewhere. But I already went out and took half the photographs for my idea, so I decided what the heck, I’m gonna throw my hat in the ring.

So here’s what I’m doing:

The A To Z of the Natural World – Finding Letterforms in Nature

Inspired by calligrapher Margaret Shepherd’s blog, I decided to take a different tack – rather than look for human-made letters around my neighborhood, I am looking for letter shapes in the natural forms made by botanicals and objects in the built environment. Over the next month, I’ll share with you my discoveries, beginning with today: A In a Tree.

Enjoy, and Happy A-Z!

Tuesday Tips – Cat Litter Containers

I have a lot of yarn.

No, really.

The problem is, that all that yarn piled into a mountain in the middle of my living room would be a lot of fun, for about five minutes.

Then, The Cats.

So, what to do with it until I’m ready to turn it into something?

Cat litter containers! I might as well get SOME use out of all the shitsand we use at our house. ~grin~

Many of the litter companies sell litter in large plastic three or five gallon-size containers with locking lids. Once you’ve used the litter, wash them out and store your yarn. They also have the advantage of stacking well, which is useful if you have an unused corner behind a door, say.

What about you, Dear Reader? What are your favorite supply storage tips?

Work In Progress Wednesday

I looked at the ratty holder I’ve been using for my transit card the other day and got embarrassed. It’s falling apart! The leather’s all rubbed off on the corners and it was built to hold a cell phone that I haven’t had for two phones now.

I’m a knitter.

This should be a solvable problem, yes?

Ergo, I’m making a small knit pouch wallet for my transit card. I decided to try the woven stitch, but it curls a lot at the bottom. I may add an edge of seed stitch or do the whole thing in seed stitch, we’ll see. I’m still farting around with the swatch.

But I’m having fun designing again! That’s almost better news than the fact that I’m knitting.

What about you, Dear Reader? What’s your Work In Progress for Wednesday?

Stash Sunday

Rachel and I wander around a lot, and as part of that, we search out local yarn shops, or what knitters like to call LYS’s. During Rachel’s last trip here, we visited The Knitting Pot in Elmhurst, Illinois. Rachel fell in love with some lovely overdye purple yarn, but there was only one skein of it. It’s been sitting on my idea board for the last two months while I try and figure out what to make with it.

I like Cascade yarns. This is a nice, chunky yarn that’s soft and has a nice hand. This colorway is interesting because it’s so understated, all plums and grey. It’s a lot darker than it seems in these pictures.

Here’s a shot of the back of the yarn band. The colorway on the left tells you what the manufacturer’s color it is. The lot number on the right tells you which batch it was dyed with, so that if you’re using more than one skein, you can make sure all the pieces are the same lot number.

Here’s the tough part:

I don’t know what to make with it.

So, here are my ideas:

A stuffed elephant/truffle. (A truffle is an imaginary creature that Rachel and I invented for our Persis series; it’s a cross between a cocker spaniel and an aardvark.)
A lace table runner.
This is currently my favorite: an Amazeball. Here’s my idea: make a large ball, stuffed and cushie. Send it to a friend when they’ve done something amazing. They get to hang onto it, kind of like a trophy, until they feel like it’s time to pass the award on to the next person. Ooh! As I’m typing this, maybe include a pocket, and each person giving the award can write a note to put in the Amazeball to pass it along to the next person.
A set of tree ornaments.
Use it in a woven piece where I wind on a continuous warp, and use this as one of the weft pieces.

What about you, Dear Reader? What would you make with it?

Saturday Stashbusting

I’m working on busting my ginormous stash. In order to do that, I need to work on the projects I started.

The Stash List

Block the Jewel Scarf
My hat
The red cable bag
Line the Uglii Bag
Bind off the Uglii Afghan; decide if I’m adding to it
Buttons to the red blouse

This was originally a list of 5 things, but I realized I need to block the Jewel Scarf too, and that’s something I can do on Sunday.

Oh, and here’s Boria keeping the Uglii Afghan warm for me. I know, I featured him a couple days ago, but it makes me laugh so I figured I’d share again.

What about you, Dear Reader? What’s in YOUR stash?

Thoughtful Thursday – 3D and Writing

No epiphanies this week. Just a hat. I decided to try making one with lace, rather than straight ribbed stitches, and like how it’s coming out so far.

Boria and Kolya both keep sleeping on my Uglii Chair Afghan, which is annoying. Kolya wants to chew the ends of my knitting needles.

I think I’ll make him into a hat.

Tuesday Tips – Sheet Protectors

I know those really neat fabric roll-ups are a cool way to store needles and hooks. But until I can afford one, or make one for myself, what I’ve been doing is using sheet protectors and a large binder. I organized the needles by size, and put the crochet hooks in the back one (which you could reverse, if your primary craft is crochet).

I keep my circulars in a zipper pouch organized by needle size; I splurged one year and got a set with detachable needles. I highly recommend this, if you can swing it, because it makes sorting out the circular needle mess so much easier. I really like KnitPicks needles for their smooth joins.

What about you, Dear Reader? Got any favorite storage tips?

Make Something Monday – The Jewel Scarf

The Jewel Scarf is done. It’s nice and soft. I’m not sure what I’m going to work on next; maybe a top-down sweater. For now, here are some more views:

I like long scarves, but I think this will fit well on the person for whom I designed it.

It actually drapes well, which is nice. I haven’t blocked it yet; this is just off the needles. But I like the flow of the fabric even without blocking.

What about you, Dear Reader? What are you making?

Knoontime Knitting

One Writer's Journey Into 3D | Bestselling Author A Catherine Noon

Category Archives: Knoontime Knitting – One Writer’s Journey Into 3-D