Tag Archives: #atozchallenge

O Is For… Ojos de Dios!

Knoontime Knitting

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Ojos de Dios is translated from the Spanish as, “Eyes of God.”  First worked by the coastal South American indigenous peoples the Huichol, they are a  combination between a prayer, hope, and protection.  They became popular in the States during the 1970’s during the resurgence of the Arts and Crafts revival.  As a Wiccan, I see them as a lovely way to intentionalize my craft and to make something tangible out of a wish.

This one was made from a continuous yarn and woven with differing weaves (which is why you can see the dowel in the center at different points on the diamond).  I bought the dowel at the hardware store, sanded it, and then painted a combination stain and varnish on it to darken it and preserve the wood.  Tip:  if you decide to do that, let the finished wood sit for at least a week so the fumes dissipate and any stickiness is gone.  It was pretty pungent to work on the next day.

What about you, Dear Reader?
For what would you make an ojo?  New job? Writing project? Love?

 

N Is For… Needlepoint!

Knoontime Knitting

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This is one of the earliest pieces I’ve worked in needlepoint.  It’s comparatively early in my stitching career, since I did it when I was sixteen to seventeen; it took me about eighteen months in total.  It was, at the time, my most ambitious piece.  Sadly, it was damaged by the recipient when it was removed from the frame and returned to me; however, the fine folks at North Shore Needleworks were able to help me start the repairs (which is why their tape is around the edges, stopping the canvas from unraveling).  It’s incredibly difficult to age-match colors, let me tell you; but North Shore helped me do so in a way that will look good in the final design.

This piece is characterized by long floats, where the yarn is brought several inches across the canvas.  This is to simulate the difference in texture between the water, the objects in the picture, and the sky.  Most of the stitching is just satin stitch, which made it a pretty easy piece and certainly something a beginner can work.  It was originally from a kit, though I no longer recall the company’s name that produced it.  I like it because it reminds me of Coyote Point near San Mateo (it’s actually in San Mateo County, though not the city itself).

What about you, Dear Reader?
What crafts did you do as a child that make you nostalgic?  Or, if you weren’t into crafting, what places did you visit?

M Is For… Macrame!

Knoontime Knitting
Project knotted by A. Catherine Noon; Image copyright 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Project knotted by A. Catherine Noon; Image copyright 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Remember macrame? No? I do. It was the go-to fiber art of the early 80’s. Man, folks made everything from plant hangers, like the one I made above, to wall art, rugs, belts, covers for jugs, jewelry, vests, and anything else they could think of.  You used to find the macrame cording at the craft store, but I haven’t seen any in a long time.  (If you have a source, please tell me in the comments as I’d love to make something again.)

I made two plant hangers and a few other things; the plant hangers are the only things I still own.  This one is the larger of the two and is made with a light green and white cord in a simple square knot.  I mastered square knots and half-square knots, (which I keep trying to spell as “nots,”), but didn’t advance beyond that because the drawings, at the time, didn’t make sense.  But knowing what I know now about my 2D to 3D translation difficulties, I’d like to give it another shot.

And if you, Dear Reader, are interested in trying your hand at the art, there’s even an online Macrame School on YouTube.  I swear, what did we do before the internet?  As much as I love my offline activities, I’m sure grateful for the capacity to make bridges, connections, and share knowledge that the internet has brought us.  Miraculous.

https://www.youtube.com/user/macrameschool

What about you, Dear Reader?
What daily activities do you have in your life that have been altered by the internet?

L Is For… Lace!

Knoontime Knitting

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I’m doing another dual post today, this time on lace.  I adore lace – doilies make me swoon.  When I was little, I would get those little doilies they give you under coffee cups and color them in.  I know, lace is traditionally white or a single color, (who doesn’t shiver at the idea of romantic black lace and stockings?).  But me?  I adore color.

I learned how to do what’s actually called “faggoting,” no lie, and despite the unfortunate name it’s a lovely technique.  It’s got the advantage of being super easy to work, too, which is great if you, like me, are a gerbil-brained knitter who doesn’t want to have to concentrate on long, drawn out lines of instruction and repeat this, yarn over that.  The lace above, for example, is Turkish stitch – it’s got one – count it, one! – row repeat!  It has a grand total of three – yup, I said three! – stitches:

Even number of stitches:
k1, * yo, k2 tog; rep from *, end k1.  Repeat this row.

C’est fini.  Just as easy as plain stockinette stitch.  I also like it because when you’re using an overdyed (or ombre) yarn, like the one in the picture, sometimes the colors all smushed together in plain knitting can look muddy.  Using a faggot stitch can help spread them out and allow the colors to “pop.”

What about you, Dear Reader?
What complicated-looking task do you find surprisingly easy to perform?

K Is For… Knitting! Again!

Knoontime Knitting

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I know I did knitting today on the main blog, too, but it bears repeating.  ~grin~  Besides, what if you don’t, yet, knit?  How do you go from string to art?  It’s like anything else.  Practice.

Okay, so how do you know what to practice?

Well, there are plenty of books and websites out there purporting to be able to teach you how to knit.  If you’re reading this and nodding along, chances are that you’ve glanced at them and they meant about as much to you as they did to me – which means, nothing.  Zilch, zip, nada.  I tried to learn to knit from books for almost ten years.  I just couldn’t make sense of the stuff on the page as it related to the stuff in my hands.

If this is you, then I have two solutions for you:

First, find a teacher.  Local yarn shops and big-box stores like Michaels and JoAnns offer classes, as do park districts, senior centers, and adult learning centers.  There are Meetup groups, and knitters even put themselves out on sites like Craig’s List.  Don’t overlook your local university – fashion design programs feature knitting, because the designers need to know how to work with knit fabric.  I met my first teacher through my local yarn shop, and she is an adjunct professor at not one but two local universities.

Second, look online.  YouTube has a wealth of videos on how to do anything from cast on (which is how you get the yarn onto the needle so you can start knitting with it) to complicated stitch patterns, decreases, increases, lace, cables, and all the other foreign-sounding words that are the stock-in-trade of the knitter’s craft.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, Craftsy is a ton of fun to poke around.  They’ve even got a bunch of free classes, so you can see how you like the learning platform.  Their basics series are good, solid grounding in whatever craft you select; they’ve got a ton of intermediate (skill building) and advanced classes for you more experienced knitters out there.  You can select classes and add them to your wish-list, and keep your eyes peeled for their sales.  Might be just as addictive as doing the craft itself!

What about you, Dear Reader?
What suggestions do you have for folks who want to begin a new craft?

J Is For… Jewelry

Knoontime Knitting

2010-03-15 Silk Scarf Detail with Bead

Jewelry.  It works as adornment, identification, religion, art… It fulfills many different purposes, depending on its creator’s intent.  Me, I like playing with sparkly stuff.  This lovely bead is from a local bead shop and it took me hours to find just the right one.  I wanted something to match the scarf I’d made, which is a lace pattern.  I’m using the beads on the ends, like tassels.

That’s what intrigues me: making ordinary objects, like scarves and bags, beautiful.  I love the idea of knitted bracelets with beads incorporated into the design.  I’ve even got an idea for a lace shawl in forest-green mohair with multi-colored iridescent beads.

What about you, Dear Reader?
What are your favorite kinds of jewelry?

 

I Is For… Inkle Weaving

Knoontime Knitting

IEver wonder where things like reins for bridles, belts, pet collars, and trim come from?  If they’re not leather, they’re most likely woven (though there are many other ways, for example, spool knitting, but I digress).  The type of loom used can vary, but here’s what I find interesting.

My weaving instructor, Natalie Boyett of the Chicago Weaving School, (and if you’re here in the city, or visiting, and have ever thought about maybe learning to weave, go there.  She’s hands-down one of the best instructors I’ve ever had), showed me that weaving is one of the oldest textile arts.  Here’s a brain-bender –  all looms are fundamentally the same:  they are designed to put tension on the warp (the length-wise threads) so that the craftsperson can put the weft (the cross-wise threads) in between them.  In this way, fabric is created.

So what’s an inkle loom?  It’s a small, usually portable, loom that allows you to wind on a continuous warp, which means it can be really, really long.  The weaving surface isn’t very wide, usually only a few inches, because the idea is to weave narrow fabric.  There’s an example of one here.

What about you, Dear Reader?
What would you want to make if you could wave a magic wand and know how to use an inkle loom?

 

H Is For… Hardanger!

Knoontime Knitting
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Creative Commons Photo Used from The Butterfly Jungle Blog; click on photo to visit

I haven’t tried Hardanger embroidery myself, but it’s lovely stuff.  A textile art from Norway, it’s traditionally done on white fabric with pulled threads (that’s what makes the little holes) and raised, textural stitches.  Expert artists can work on fabric with tiny threads and high thread counts (meaning, very dense, tiny work).

In researching for this post, I found two resources.  One is from my favorite store that I’ve not yet visited, but hope to this summer:  The Nordic Needle, in Fargo, North Dakota.  I subscribe to their free email newsletter and if you like textile arts, I suggest you check them out.  They have articles on all sorts of artists, their textile arts, and work to keep some of the less well-known arts from dying out.  Here’s a link to their page on Hardanger resources.  The second is a new-to-me website that seems to be full of lots of good stuff – including a free class on beginner Hardanger.  The blog is called Needlework Tips & Techniques.  Check it out!

A new trend is to include color as part of the designs.  There’s a neat assortment of photos that came up when I searched Google for images, here.

What about you, Dear Reader?
Do you prefer traditional white, or modern color?

G Is For… Gardening

Knoontime Knitting

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Gardening.

I love to garden.  I adore the smell of loam, the feel of the plants in their new home, and to play with flowers.  I love getting the fruits of my labor: coming outside to pick peppers and tomatoes with chives and basil for dinner.

Gardening is one of those humbling tasks, because it doesn’t take a bunch of smarts.  It doesn’t even really take books (though I think I have every gardening book known to womankind).  It takes consistency.

Uh-oh.

It’s kind of like writing, in that sense.

What about you, Dear Reader?
What color is your thumb?  Green, like the farmers and gardeners of old?  Or you an armchair gardener, content to look at other peoples’ gardens?  Or somewhere in between?

F Is For… Fancywork

Knoontime Knitting

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Fancywork.  It means fancy needlework or crochet, even tatting, that is decorative.  It was popular during the Victorian era and brought us all sorts of neat things like tatted lace edgings and crochet doilies and such.  For anyone interested in textile arts, fancywork comes up in the lineage of our art even if what we do now is ultra-modern.

Interweave Press, the popular publisher of many different kinds of textile arts books, magazines, DVDs, and sites (Knitting Daily is inspiring even if you’re an occasional knitter), re-released the historic needlework collection, Weldon’s Practical Needlework.  What I found fascinating about the collection is its emphasis on figuring it out oneself.  There’s a lot of knowledge that’s assumed, that for modern craftspersons isn’t necessarily part of the repertoire.

And then came Jane Sowerby, with Victorian Lace Today.  She looks at several historical sources, including Weldon’s, and reinterprets them for modern artists.  While the book focuses on knitting, it gives a fascinating look into historical craft and gives modern interpretations that are sure to have you reaching for your needles.

What about you, Dear Reader?
What historical craft speaks to you, even if its skill isn’t within reach right at the present moment?