Tag Archives: #atozchallenge

E Is For… Embroidery

Knoontime Knitting
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Piece from a kit; original company unknown. Embroidered by A. Catherine Noon. Photo copyright A. Catherine Noon, All Rights Reserved.

Embroidery.  It was the first textile art I ever learned.  Crewel embroidery is an art with a long history.  The Bayeux Tapestry, in fact, is not a Tapestry, nor woven:  it was, in fact, embroidered.  The Victoria and Albert Museum in England has a fantastic page on the history of English embroidery, here.  Embroidery has a wide history, not just in Europe, with some of the oldest references dating back to China 500 B.C.E.

I find it relaxing.  I have started to work on my own designs, usually modifying an existing one as from a kit, like the one from the left (which is one of my oldest pieces, and I did not modify it; I think I made it around 1987).  Embroidery artists are able to translate their graphic ideas into needle, thread, and fabric, and do so either from their own original designs or by adapting from paintings and other art.  I find that pretty darned amazing, to be honest.

I confess, though, that I adore kits.  I find ones that I like, and then it’s like coloring in designs in a coloring book.  My mind relaxes while my hands are kept busy, and I get to play with color and texture.  While embroidery seems intimidating to the beginner, needlepoint and cross-stitch are both needle arts that similarly have kits and can be done with little to no experience.  If you’ve a mind to try embroidery, though, give it a shot – I made this piece before I learned anything from another textile artist, and was able to follow the instructions.  Most of the stitches are fairly simple ones; the only more complex bit the French knots (which, in the spirit of full disclosure, I found horridly difficult – so after this kit, I made sure to pick ones that didn’t require them).

But for the adventurous artist, and for those of you who are able to translate flat, written instructions and graphics to the three-dimensional world of canvas and thread, the world is your oyster.  There’s a burgeoning interest in needlework and some amazing books that have come out recently that are sure to delight both the novice and experience needleworker.  My favorite of the new artists is Jane Nicholas, but beware: viewing her site may consume many hours of your time because her art is captivating.  You have been warned.  🙂

What about you, Dear Reader?
What classical art catches your fancy?

D Is For… Decoupage!

Knoontime Knitting
From Alterknits by Leigh Radford, photography by John Rizzo

From Alterknits by Leigh Radford, photography by John Rizzo

One of my favorite knitting books is by Leigh Radford, called Alterknits:  Imaginative Projects and Creativity Exercises.  She has a ton of really great ideas.  One of the last of them is the best use of yarn ball bands ever.  She covered a dress form with them.  I think the effect is surprising in its simple beauty.

Until I read her suggestions, I didn’t know what decoupage meant.  There’s a whole artform out there surrounding it and you can get special glues and papers for it.  Basically, it’s covering objects with glued paper, then applying something that gives it a high gloss.  There’s a great tutorial at WikiHow and a bunch of other links that I didn’t take the time to delve into, but if you google “decoupage” you’ll find them.

What I find particularly exciting about this particular type of art is that you can use ephemera and found objects from around the house.  This can create unique artwork that is also a snapshot in time – catalogs, magazines, newsletters, those circulars that come from big box stores each week – anything can become grist for the mill.  In today’s day and age, finding art that we can make that’s in line with the idea of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is a positive thing.

What about you, Dear Reader?
What kinds of things might you memorialize like this?

C Is For… Crochet!

Knoontime Knitting

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Crochet.  All it takes is a hook.  The textile world seems divided into Knitters and Crocheters; I’ve rarely met a Switch.  I decided to try learning and this scarf is my swatch that, well, grew.  The teacher provided us with a ball of bulky yarn and a hook, and I had a ball learning single crochet, half-double crochet, and double crochet (which really should be triple, since there are 3 chains, but treble is something else, and…)

Yeah, I’m a Knitter.

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I mean, for one thing, I have a heck of a time keeping my stitches in order.  I somehow end up with more, or less, depending on where I am in the project.  I know it’s a matter of practice, but my knitting seduces me.  I’ll say this: I’m really glad that I know some crochet now, because there’s this sweater I knit that has 4 crocheted medallions up the center, and I really want to finish it.

What about you, Dear Reader?
What craft have you begun that you want to practice more?

 

B Is For… Bargello!

Knoontime Knitting

Today’s letter, B, can mean many things. My favorite in terms of crafts is Bargello, the Italian needle art that resembles flames and waves. The image to the left is a common style, with the colors undulating back and forth across the canvas but all relating to each other in their pattern.

It’s a simple pattern to work, because it’s essentially vertical or horizontal. There’s no fancy stitchwork involved, just carefully placing the stitches neatly one beside the next, offset in order to create the characteristic wave or flame effect.

A quick search of Google images reveals many, many modern interpretations of this relaxing art; I recommend wandering around or, if you’re ready to take the plunge, grab a kit and try it for yourself. For the brave at heart, you don’t even really need a kit. Just select some colors and play with the wave effect across a swath of mesh fabric.

What about you, Dear Reader?
What’s your favorite craft that starts with the letter “B”?

A Is For… Alphabet

Knoontime Knitting

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Alphabets are magical.  Before reading and writing became ubiquitous during the Renaissance, it was the province of specially-educated people, usually men, who spent their lives learning to be scribes.  The illuminated manuscripts they left behind are masterpieces of art, calligraphy, adornment, and design.

I learned calligraphy as a child and spent many years away from it.  I’ve recently rediscovered it and have been having a ball playing with it.  By “play,” I mean not taking it seriously.  I haven’t used my dip pens, nor pulled out any of my instruction books, nor worked with my calligrapher’s drawing table more than a couple times.  Instead, I’ve been doing the calligrapher’s equivalent of sketching – drawing designs on the page with quotes, or poems, or other things.

Quite by accident, I stumbled on something that I’ve been calling mandala; though, strictly speaking, it’s not really a mandala (the word in Sanskrit that means wheel).  My designs are usually square or diamond-shaped, and are composed of words rather than shapes.  But they are meditative, ask questions, or seek to answer something.  Take this image, for instance:  I was seeking what meant “home” to me, and trying to answer the question of “what makes a dwelling a home”.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What craft did you play with as a child or youngster that you either have already rediscovered now, or might want to play with again?