B Is For… But…

How is it Tuesday night already?

Technically, I’m still posting today, so it counts.

I am working on making a very large ojo de Dios, or “eye of god.” They can be simply art objects, or they can be done in the traditional way where they are meant to be a prayer for something. Maybe you want to start a business, or you have a baby, or a new house. I’ve been making them for years as protection, manifestation, and even ornaments for my holiday tree.

This one is the second one of a series I’m doing, and they are the largest I’ve ever made. The dowels I’m using are thirty inches long. I’ll share the completed one another post, but for now, here are the shots of the center eye of the one I’m making now:

This is the center weave. I like to think of it as the pupil of the eye. I love the way the light catches the yarn, and the sheen of it.

This shot made me chuckle, because of the giant bag of cedar shavings behind it. Those shavings are for making sachet bags.

But that’s a post for another time. Cheers!

A Is For… The A to Z Challenge, of Course!

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! I’m getting started a little later than I intended, as I’m writing this on the 2nd of April, but I figure, leap, and the net will appear.

This image is from a series that I did a while back as an inspiration deck. I used the seven chakra colors plus brown. It was a fun project to think about, to come up with images that represented the color to me if not the chakra itself.

This month, for the A to Z Challenge, I will walk through my studio as I see it, not necessarily as I would show it to a visitor. I’m naturally a right-brained thinker, but since I have to live and work in the left-dominated neurotypical world I’ve learned to adapt. This month, I decided to try something different, and just post what I felt called to post for myself.

This blog, if you haven’t visited before, came about because I realized that I seem to have a learning difference in translating things from 2D to 3D. I’m hyperverbal (and thus a novelist), but I wasn’t always that way. I’ve always been a storyteller, but being raised in an abusive household I learned to hide my natural mode and survive as a left-brained thinker. I got very good at it, to the point that I now make a living in an analytical field and have an MBA in Finance.

In 2016, with the American election and the kickoff of what we now know is a strong Christofascist movement in our country, I started to feel seriously overwhelmed by everything. I didn’t realize at the time what was happening. The writing was the first to go, then the knitting, design work, and eventually, my weaving. I have done a few pieces here and there but nothing approaching my previous “normal.”

It’s been a journey but I’m finding myself closer to my “old me” than I’ve been in a long while, and I decided to take the opportunity of the A to Z challenge to challenge myself – to write, to show up at the keyboard daily, and to think about things that make me passionate.

And today, that’s craft: Knoontime Knitting: One Writer’s Journey Into 3-D. We changed it when we did a blog redesign, to “Where We Let the Squirrels Play,” and that fits too. Ultimately, it’s a philosophical discussion about craft as practice and a showcase, for myself if no one else, of what I did really do. A witnessing of my own process; midwifing my own creativity.

I hope you’ll join me, and that herein you will find some small inspiration for your own art, whatever that is.

Welcome.

Here are the rest of the images from the series:

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Indigo

Violet

Brown

Why Letterforms? – Reflection on the A to Z Blog Challenge, Letterforms in Nature and the Built Environment

My theme for the A to Z Challenge here at Knoontime Knitting was “Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.”

Why Letterforms?

I adore letters. I have my whole life. I started young as a calligrapher, and had a business at the age of thirteen where I did menus and certificates for local small businesses. While art was not something that was encouraged when I went to college, it’s always stuck with me in the back of my mind and I got back into daily calligraphy a couple years ago. It just seemed natural to look at letterforms in a non-traditional way, and while I was outside walking one day, it hit me. Why not look for accidental letters?

A book that was a deep influence on me was Alphabet Art: Thirteen ABC’s From Around the World, by Leonard Everett Fisher. This was one of the first calligraphy books I ever owned and I used to pore over it for hours, looking for similarities and differences in the way people make the alphabets that represent their language. I suppose because of this, it’s no surprise I studied languages when I went to university, or that I speak several now as an adult. My love affair with language and letters is a long one.

When I started the challenge, it was simply “In Nature.” I didn’t start adding the “Built Environment” until I was out on one of my photography walks, prowling the neighborhood looking for ABC’s. I found an “F” in a fence that made me laugh because of the double entendre, and it hit me that because I have become, of necessity because I live in the third largest city in the U.S., an urbanscape photographer, doing letters in built structures was a natural progression of the landscape photography training I’ve had. After all, “can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” And so, I set out to find more letters.

The more I photographed, the more I saw letters around me. I’d be waiting for a bus and examine a sapling waiting for Spring. Or I’d find letters in the joints of buildings and the elbows of signs. It turned out to be a lot of fun. I may even turn my photographs into a book, which tickles me because I can include narratives and poetry as befits the particular images.

On a more mundane note, as I did the challenge I realized that I needed some kind of footnote to explain to visitors what I was doing, and where, since I had multiple challenges going. Rather than re-write it each time, I created a “backmatter” file in my word processing program where I could write the notes, customized for each blog, and then just copy and paste each time. That really helped me feel like my posts were tied together with a common thread and helped me promote the different blogs where I was participating in the challenge. I’ll definitely do that again next year, because it made things feel much more professional.

Suffice it to say, I had a ball with this challenge and with picking a theme and, while it didn’t have anything strictly speaking to do with knitting, I found the inspiration it gave me to be invaluable. I can’t wait until next year’s challenge!

For your ease of viewing, here’s the list of the posts for the Challenge.

Letterforms in Nature and the Built Environment

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

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

C: Urbanscapes And Letterforms In The Built Environment

D: The D in a Tree

E: The Largest E You’ll Ever See

F: Hit the Fence

G: Good Things Come In Threes

H: How Does Your Garden Grow?

I: There Is No “I” In Tree (possibly my favorite title of the series)

J: Jump Out At You

K: Konlabos. With a K.

L: Too Literal

M: Paint the Fence!

N: Noony!

O: O Say, Can You See?

P: Poussez, Tirez

Q: Quotidian

R: Lowercase

S: A Bit of a Stretch…

T: Look Up, Young Man!

U: Under-Over

V: V! V-I! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

W: Weird Sky

X: X Marks the Spot – Even If It’s Tardy!

Y: The Fork In the Tree and the Path Less Traveled By

Z: Zed

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!

Zed

And so, Dear Reader, the A to Z Challenge has come to an end. Thank you for coming along on this journey with me. I hope you’ve enjoyed wandering the streets of my daily round, looking for letterforms in nature and the built environment. I have to say, it’s changed how I see the world around me and even given me an idea for a book. But in the meantime, I’ve got not one but two images for you today, one in nature and one in the built environment; a fitting close to my challenge this month.

And remember, May 9th is the A to Z Reflections Post Day, and the Linky List is open from May 9 to May 13. Keep an eye on the main A to Z Blog Challenge page for more info and updates, and of course come back here on the 9th for my reflections on my various posts. Also, if you’ve visited me and I haven’t responded or visited back, please forgive me; I’ve had a nasty cold and do plan to catch up to everyone over the coming days, I promise!

My theme here at my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

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 Fork In the Tree and the Path Less Traveled By

I think, by this point in my walk, the couple about twenty feet behind me were convinced I was bonkers. I kept stopping, after all, to stare into the hedgerows or up at trees. I even back-tracked to get the correct angle to snap this lovely letter “Y” for you.

And in case the title sounds vaguely familiar but isn’t quite coming to mind, it’s from this snippet:

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

My theme here at my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

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!

X Marks the Spot – Even If It’s Tardy!

I almost have my groove back! It’s at about 65%. I felt good enough to go to the gym yesterday and walk two miles, even if I did come home and pass out. Then today I met with my kick-ass trainer, and he kicked my ass.

Sorta what I pay him for, but still. My iz poopded!

BUT… I wouldn’t leave you hanging, Dear Reader! I got my last three alphabet photos on the way to the gym! Above is what happens when X Marks the Spot – just ignore the litter. (I hate it when people litter, don’t you?)

My theme here at my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

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!

Weird Sky

I lucked out. With my cold, I haven’t gotten out to take photographs for the last handful of letters I need. I took this photo of the sky a few weeks ago when it was threatening to storm, and got a great shot of the sunset in the process. And look! There’s a W in the tree!

Score. Totally meant to do that.

My theme here at my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

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!

V! V-I! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

The title of today’s post comes from the one-and-only cheer I remember from high school. For some reason, any time I hear the letter “V,” that’s what I hear in my head.

I particularly like this shot of the tree because it’s an evergreen; in my mind, this is what trees “should” look and smell like. As long as I’ve lived here in Chicago, I’ve never gotten quite used to the idea that deciduous trees drop all their leaves in winter, nor that dead leaves smell very different than a carpet of fallen needles. There’s nothing quite like the tang of tannin.

Trivia tidbit for you: in the winter, you can make a tea from evergreen needles and it is very high in Vitamin C and other things that help your immune system fight off colds.

And since I have a cold right now, I figured that was kinda relevant. ‘N stuff.

My theme here at my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

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!

Under-Over

This looks like a cozy place to climb up and read a book, doesn’t it?

It also looks like today’s letter, “U.”

My theme here at my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment. I’ll be exploring my daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and built environment.

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!

Look Up, Young Man!

I like signs, and I’ve taken snaps of these little ones before. They’ve always spoken to me because of their size and content. Not sure why.

Losing a little momentum due to this cold of mine, so today’s post is late. Tomorrow is the letter U, which is for… well, you’ll have to wait and see!

My theme here at my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

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!

Knoontime Knitting

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

Tag Archives: #atozchallenge

B Is For… But…

B Is For… But…

A Is For… The A to Z Challenge, of Course!

Why Letterforms? – Reflection on the A to Z Blog Challenge, Letterforms in Nature and the Built Environment

Why Letterforms?

Letterforms in Nature and the Built Environment

Zed

The Fork In the Tree and the Path Less Traveled By

X Marks the Spot – Even If It’s Tardy!

Weird Sky

V! V-I! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Under-Over

Look Up, Young Man!