Tag Archives: Authors Who Craft

Makers Monday – Progress Report on the Chakra Wall

Knoontime Knitting

The Chakra Wall is coming into focus. I’ve been hanging the ojos (which means “eye” in Spanish) from a specific central spot and coming out of it to the right as though expanding from that origin point.

This is the wall I’m using. It’s late in the year here, when I took this shot; November is mostly rain and getting cold. It seemed like a good day to start the project so I came out and swept down the spiderwebs.

Seattle actually has something called, “Spider Season.” I’m not sure if this is a scientific thing or just something the locals say, but man. Those little girls like to weave themselves some web.

My husband, who is not an arachnophobe like me, Dear Reader, told me that most spiders we see are female. The males are smaller and don’t live nearly as long. I like referring to them as “she,” because it makes them less terrifying.

The reason that’s relevant is down on the bottom right of the image are some cardboard boxes used for landscaping (you put them down as weed barrier and put dirt on top of them); we have a truly epic-sized black spider living there. So brushing down the spiders with a broom is a life skill here – particularly if you want to create an art project outside in their demesnes.

I set the ojos down so I could see the ones I had completed so far. The ones on the bottom with the reds are for the Root Chakra. I have one orange one for Sacral, one with yellows (more goldenrod, really) for Solar Plexus, and a green one for Heart.

I originally wanted them to go up, but realized that physics is a thing. The porch only goes to the right just past the glass doors, and I’m not great with heights. So for now, I’m going out as far as I can reach from the ground, and later as I finish more ojos I’ll involve the husband to help me with the ladder and a hammer.

Next up are the next three chakras: Throat (light blue); Third Eye (indigos), and Crown (violets, white, and silver).

Keep Making, my friends!

Makers Monday – Ojos de Dios and the Chakras – What Is a Chakra?

Knoontime Knitting

I thought I’d take a moment and discuss Chakras, so this project makes a little more sense.

Chakras are an ancient concept from India that were developed 1500 to 500 BCE (Before Current Era). They are conceived as wheels, and are seen to be located in the human body. In general, there are seven chakras in the body:

  • The Root Chakra  – grounding, connection to the earth
  • The Sacral Chakra – primal relationships, sexuality, creativity
  • The Solar Plexus Chakra – will, intent, personal power
  • The Heart Chakra – relationships, love, friendship
  • The Throat Chakra – speaking our truth
  • The Third Eye Chakra – clear sight, vision, intuition
  • The Crown Chakra – connection to the divine, collective consciousness

The seven chakras have all sorts of things that are representative – sounds, colors, concepts, etc. For our purposes, the colors are the most relevant:

  • The Root Chakra – reds
  • The Sacral Chakra – oranges
  • The Solar Plexus Chakra – yellows
  • The Heart Chakra – greens
  • The Throat Chakra – light blues
  • The Third Eye Chakra – indigos
  • The Crown Chakra – violets, whites, silvers

I’ll show you next week how some of these are coming together in practice, and how they look on the wall with each other.

Slow Craft

Knoontime Knitting

Image of pin loom woven squares.

Fast. 5G. Upload speeds. Download speeds. Streaming. Faster cell service. 24/7 news cycle. Always-on. Technostress is stress induced by computer use. “Its symptoms include aggravation, hostility toward humans, impatience, and fatigue. According to experts, humans working continuously with computers come to expect other humans and human institutions to behave like computers, providing instant responses, attentiveness, and an absence of emotion.” (1)

I don’t know about you, but I find that all exhausting. I use technology and have done since I was a teenager. But I find myself called to slow down in my craft pursuits. Take weaving, for instance. I enjoy pin loom weaving, which is what the picture above features. Popular in the 1920’s through the 1940’s, pin looms can be used to make clothing, housewares, toys, and other useful items. The standard size is a four inch square, though makers have created pin looms in a variety of sizes to satisfy inquisitive weavers.

What is it about slow craft that’s calling to us? There are now craft revolutions all over the U.S. and around the world, such as Seattle’s Urban Craft Uprising. Makerspaces are independent and now even part of public libraries. People are merging craft with technology, bringing new ways to old.

And for many of us, slow craft is the antidote to fast culture. We sit and chat, or watch streaming shows or listen to audiobooks. We meditate using fiber or wood. We dream on the canvas or with words on the page. We journal and take pictures with our smartphones. There are even classes on how to be a better photographer using your cell phone. All of which is designed to help us to slow down, stop running, and be in the moment.

The act of creation is a radical act. It’s saying to the world, this didn’t exist before but I’ve made it so. It is rule-breaking, not rule-following. It’s not necessarily rebellious, it’s simply outside the known. Sometimes it comments on the known and sometimes it finds the known irrelevant.

During pandemic, I’ve found myself returning to my pin loom. It calms me in ways that even my knitting can’t – it turns out I can’t count during times of high stress. I don’t have to count to weave a pin loom square. My pin loom group is on Facebook (fast technology meets slow craft) and hosted a Mystery Weavealong that went for seven weeks. It was such a relief to get off work, wander over to my nest on the lounger, and weave squares. Not because I had to, or because I had something in mind – the mystery part of the weavealong meant that I literally didn’t know what I was weaving until the very end – but because the act of making squares settled my mind and let me feel productive but not pushed to finish any particular project. Just make a square. Which color? The instructions told me. And through that practice, my mind calmed.

 

Resources

(1) Laudon, Kenneth C and Jane P Laudon: Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, c2007, Chapter 4, pg 156.

Tuesday Tips – How To Avoid Smudges When Coloring

Knoontime Knitting

20151226_0684

As much as I like the color of water color pens, they are still wet when you’re using them.  They don’t dry quickly and this can lead to smudges – from ink that gets on your hands while you’re coloring, or from ink that gets on whatever surface you’re coloring on.

Here’s what I’ve learned works for me:  I use a clean sheet of paper when I’m coloring.  If I leave the pattern in the coloring book, then I use two sheets, one on each side of the design.  If I remove the pattern piece from the book, then I use one sheet under my coloring, then I rest my hand on the other one so that I don’t accidentally transfer color with the heel of my hand.

The only thing you want to be careful of, is if you have a particularly wet pen, you don’t want it to transfer from your blotter sheet to the design.

What about you, Dear Reader?  What tips for coloring do you like to use?

Make Something Monday – Coloring

Knoontime Knitting
20151226_0683

Image drawn by John Green, from Dover Publications Little Seashore Stained Glass Coloring Book; colored by A. Catherine Noon.

 

Okay, ever since I started knitting, I’ve discovered that I’m hip.  Not because I’m, like, hip, or something; but because, apparently, what I’m into is the new black.  My theory is, it’s all us X-Geners putting our collective spending power together and making stuff popular because we want to buy it.  Take coloring books, for instance.  I’ve adored coloring books for years.  My two favorites are the Dover line of Stained Glass Coloring Books and mandala coloring books.  The latter were hard to find up until this holiday season when, apparently, booksellers started listening to me and my X-Gener pals and poof – lots of options.

Just in time for me to be on a budget, of course.  🙂

But I figured I’d share some of what I’ve been up to, particularly because it dovetails nicely with the whole yoga-meditate-getinthemoment-beinthebody vibe that I’ve got going lately.

20151226_0681

This one is held up against my monitor so you can see it by the glow of the light.  That’s why I like these, because they are translucent.  One project I’d like to do at some point is make a Japanese-style paper lantern using these colored designs.

20151227_0689

 

Here’s the back of the book so you can read a little more about it.  (If you click on the image, it will jump you to the Amazon page if you’re interested in shopping.)

20151226_0686

 

I figured a discussion of pens is warranted, especially since there’s such an interest in adult coloring books now.  I’m a pen snob.  This will not surprise any of you who have been reading me a while, but I say it because I’m extraordinarily picky about what pens I like to use.  Pentel pens are, by far, my favorite for luminosity and lasting power of the pens themselves.  I know there are more expensive and higher quality pens (I made the mistake of telling a graphic artist friend of my love affair with Pentel and got an ear-full).  But here’s why I like these:  I’ve owned this specific set for OVER 20 years.  No, that’s not a typo.  The red’s a little dry now, and so is one of the greys, but by and large it’s still working for what I need it to do – color coloring books so I can relax.  I don’t use them for serious Art with a capital A.  (Well, that’s not true – I have used them for that; my point is, I’m not saying these are the best pens out there, just that they’re my favorite).

20151226_0685

Here’s the inside of the set; I like this wallet type.  I saw online that there’s a version in a rectangular case, but this one allows me to put them in the order I want them in and they stay organized.  They do sell smaller sets, if you don’t want to fork over the money for all 36; I used a smaller set for years too.  They really seem to last.  I’ve put a hyperlink to Amazon in the image so if you click on it, it’ll jump you to the shopping page.

Tell me, Dear Reader, what are your favorite coloring books and tools?  Pens?  Pencils?  I’d love to know.

(I think I’ve fixed the comment problems, but holler if not; email is a.catherine.noon AT gmail.)

 

F Is For… Fancywork

Knoontime Knitting

2015-04-07 Weldons_deluxe

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?

E Is For… Embroidery

Knoontime Knitting
20140111_0016

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?

Saturday Showcase: Elizabeth Brooks Answers the Question

Knoontime Knitting

Elizabeth Brooks is amazing.  She’s talented.  She’s a writer and an editor and a darn fine human being.  And when I asked her, do you craft, she laughed.

Laughed.

Here then, is Elizabeth Brooks and “Sampler Platter.”  Enjoy!

Sampler Platter

So Noony put out a call, asking for blog posts about all kinds of things, including crafts.

Do I craft?

Oh, do I! I’m not actually that good at any of them, though, mind you, because I take a rather “sampler platter” approach to all kinds of crafts: I get interested in something, and I get deeply invested in it for a while… usually just long enough to learn the basics and assure myself that yep, I can do that… and then I lose interest and move on to something else.

I’ve done latchhook and needlepoint and embroidery. I’ve made my own clothes (both everyday — which were mostly miserable failures — and some fantasy/sci-fi garb for cons). I spent most of grad school making a counted cross-stitch piece involving a dragon on a castle in a lake that was huge and gorgeous and by the time I was done, I never wanted to see another cross-stitch pattern again in my life. (To this day, I haven’t seen a pattern that’s made me want to pick it back up again.) I’ve been an on-again, off-again amateur photographer since my parents gave me my first camera at the age of ten, and of course, with all those photographs, I got into scrapbooking for a good while, too.

There are tons of other crafts that I’ve toyed with, but never quite gotten fully into: cake decorating, jewelry-making, and assorted flavors of ethnic cooking, to name only a few.

But yarncraft, oh my goodness, yes. I learned to crochet when I was 13, more or less shamed into it by my great-aunt, who made gorgeous pieces despite being blind. I learned to do little bits, then dropped it for a decade, only to pick it back up after that cross-stitch overload I mentioned. I’m terrible at maintaining a gauge, though, so I mostly made things like afghans, where that’s not quite as important. I made about four afghans (they make fantastic gifts when you’re fresh out of school and poor), then transitioned to crocheting thread instead of yarn. I made a whole slew of lace-covered Christmas ornaments [photo at left] and some breadbasket cloths before dropping it again. After that, I decided I needed to teach myself how to knit, so I did — I made a scarf and a couple of Christmas stockings, but I found it lots slower than crochet, and then I had my first kid and my free time went away, and I put all the yarn away.

But my kids are older now, and just a few months ago, the (unintentionally) combined efforts of several friends and acquaintances got me hooked (hah! I love puns!) on making amigurumi (crocheted toys, essentially).

I love that they’re generally small and easy to make — my favorite pattern is a palm-sized octopus that I can whip out in about an hour and a half, but I’ve made dozens and dozens of different things in the last three or four months. I started with food, then made flowers. Then it was Easter time, so I made a bunch of eggs and bunnies.

I’m an enormous geek who’s just gotten into a Doctor Who obsession, so I made a bunny with a fez and bow tie. Then I made a couple of Daleks in wacky colors, and a weeping angel.

Then I found a little chibi-Cthulhu pattern (did I mention I was a geek?). And after I made one for myself, a friend of mine made some crack to me about Cthulhu porn (“Cockthulhu: The Throbbing Tentacles of Pulsing Purple Passion“) and just to punish him for putting that image in my brain, I made him a chibi-Cthulhu with penises instead of tentacles. (No photo for that. You’re welcome.)

Just about the time I was finishing that up, my friend Lynn showed me this picture of some adorable Elder Gods.

It rather lit a spark in my brain, and now I’m trying to make all of them, though since I’m working without patterns (except for the Cthulhu, of course, since he was already done), it’s a bit slower-going. I’ve got Hastur done, and Nyarlathotep, and Yog-Sothoth. I’m doing Shub-Niggurath now, though it’s slow going because working in black yarn is hell on my eyes. I’m saving Dagon for last, because he’ll be the easiest, actually. But here’s a picture of my Little Horrors family so far:

…Yeah, I’m not quite right in the head. I know. But just for enduring my wrongness, I’m offering up a contest! Leave a comment, and in 1 week?, one random commenter will be drawn to receive an octopus in a color of their choice! (NB: you need to be willing to send us a private message with a working mailing address that can receive a smallish package.)

And if you ask really nicely, I just might include a top hat for him.

* * *

Masquerading by day as an uptight corporate cog, Elizabeth spends her nights concocting gleefully smutty stories. She writes erotic romances for a wide span of worlds, genres, and orientations, and is also a senior editor for Torquere Press. When she’s not writing or editing, she loves a wide range of generally nerdy hobbies, including reading, photography, tabletop games, geeky yarncraft, and silly smartphone games. You can find her online at her blog or on Facebook.

Elizabeth’s latest release is Foxfur, available from Torquere Press on November 13.

Blurb:

Pleasure-slave Cheng takes no particular note of the red-haired woman when she purchases his services. But the morning after her departure, Cheng is taken into custody by the Emperor’s own guards and brought before one of the rare and terrifying Chained Mages. Already frightened and confused, things go from bad to worse for Cheng when the mage reveals the demonic nature of the red-haired woman. Now not only Cheng’s life, but the lives of everyone around him, depend on their finding the fox-demon as soon as possible.

As a Chained Mage, Jin is at best feared, and at worst, despised. But he can’t allow his personal feelings to interfere with his mission, not even when his admiration for the slave deepens. In fact, Jin’s love may result in a disaster. The fox-demon has placed a spell in Cheng, a spell designed to turn his sexual energy to a murderous ends, endangering himself and everyone around him. And worst of all, they’re not the only hunters on the fox-demon’s trail!

Saturday Showcase – Upcoming Releases!

Knoontime Knitting

I’m so excited.  I’ve been emailing around the interwebs and am tickled pink, purple, and yellow to report that I have TWO surprises for you coming in October!

October 19th, author Tina Holland will be coming to KK to talk about her craft of scrapbooking.  Tina is a trip – she lives on a self-proclaimed “hobby farm” in Minnesota, writes sexy romances with the tagline, “Have You Been Naughty Today?” and hopes one day to open a bed and breakfast with her husband, a pilot and something of a mad scientist himself.  My kind of people!

When I asked Tina what crafts she likes, she said none.  None?  NONE?  Well, scrapbooking.  It’s really her aunt’s passion, she told me, but from the sounds of it I think Tina qualifies as a crafter.  Have you seen some of these scrapbooks?  But I want to know more about why she focuses on writing and what niche it fills for her in terms of creative expression, and how that ties in with scrapbooking.  I can’t wait.

On October 26th, author and textile artist Maddy Barone will be coming to play!  I so want to marry Maddy and hide her away as my kept woman to write books and make stuff.  Multi-talented, she can design period clothing, knit, write awesome books, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she can do magic too.  We haven’t yet managed to meet in person, though we’ve talked on the phone, but one day I will make her part of the Noonypod.

Noonypod.  I just made that up.  I love it!  🙂

Now, don’t be like that.  You won’t be assimilated, silly!

At least not until October…  o.O…