I recently had the opportunity to hear from ID Locke about her process of art and writing and how they go together.  I’m excited to share her interview with you!

KK: Tell me a little more about what crafts you do. What do you like to make?

IDL: Generally, I do a lot of knitting and hand sewing. Knitting is whatever strikes my fancy at the moment or something that I “need” to do. Currently, my “need” project is a baby blanket for my soon-to-arrive grandbaby #2. I have another project that I’ve only gotten as far as casting on the required stitches before I realized that I had a month to knit said baby blanket.

I have a collection of BJD’s (ball-jointed dolls) that are physical representations of the characters in several of my stories. I mostly sew clothes for them, but also knit sweaters and travel blankets to provide additional protection when I take them out somewhere. Doll sweaters are fairly quick to knit even if you need to use baby/fingerling yarn and 2.5mm needles.

I typically knit and sew while watching TV as I can’t just sit there and do nothing. Long car rides are a challenge as I’ve found I can’t knit while in a car because it makes me feel queasy.

One of my favourite things to do is pick up random balls of yarn at second-hand shops and see what I can make with them. I like the challenge of taking a ball of one colour/texture/weight and mixing it with something else to see what happens. Quite a few of the things I knit are one of a kind as I often have no idea where the yarn came from and can’t get more of it.

KK: When did you learn to do crafts?

IDL: My mom got me started on sewing. She’s a wonderful seamstress and had me using a sewing machine by the time I was 6. I saw a friend knitting when I was about 8 or 9 and thought it looked neat so I decided to try it.

KK: Have you ever given a craft to a character? How did you go about it? What research did it require?

IDL: I have. I have one that actually knits and another who is a face-up artist for BJD’s on the side. The knitting aspect… well, I already do quite a bit of that so it was easy. The details about face-up work I asked face-up artists some basic information and browsed through a doll forum for info. I have a character that is a glass blower as his job and I researched that as well as spent some time watching some local glass blowers at work.

KK: What effect does your writing have on your crafting and vice-versa? Does one fall off when the other is stronger, or do they synergize?

IDL: I have to make time for each thing since they can’t be done at the same time. Generally, I’ll knit/sew after supper for an hour or two then switch to writing. On the weekends, depending on what is most pressing for me to get done is what gets worked on the most. For a while I focused exclusively on writing and learned the hard way that wasn’t a smart thing to do. I try to be more balanced now. I also find that if I’m working a simple pattern, my mind will go off on little day trips and either take a WIP into new territory or give me something completely new to work on.

KK: What do you dream of making when you have the time or skills?

IDL: I’d love to make a tree of life sweater but the idea of following a chart pattern to that degree turns me off. If I had the money, I’d love to make a sweater out of quivik yarn but at nearly $100/1 oz ball (and it’s a lace weight yarn)… yeah, not gonna happen unless I win the lotto.

KK: Where do you get ideas for your crafts?

IDL: I usually see something I like and want to make that for myself or somebody I know who’d really like it. When it comes to doll things, I generally need to make the various clothes as they’re typically created species of mine and their cultural clothes doesn’t really exist outside of my head.

Gallery

2 wigs for Jolen and a pair of boots I made. The outfit he’s wearing I also made out of a pair of dress socks.

I sewed Dakvir’s outfit and modded his wig to add the silver-white hair

Kysmirhea’s wig was made out of dyed fox fur and I sewed his cat ears to it. The white top he’s wearing is made out of a mesh glove and I also sewed the quasi military jacket, too.

Biography

ID Locke is an obsessive/compulsive writer who often ignores things like the need to eat and the fact she’ll be even later for work if that document isn’t closed right this minute. Writing has been a life-long obsession for her, and people have commented that she appears to get twitchy if she doesn’t do it on a regular basis.

ID Locke has been married for more than twenty years, has a grown son and is now a grandma. She has an exceptionally dirty mind filled with kinky possibilities and enjoys writing hot man-on-man sex (with Plot no less) for her own amusement and the entertainment of others. She works, writes, and knits, squeezing reading and some anime/TV watching in there somewhere. She also enjoys creating clothes and jewellery for the ball-jointed-dolls she has turned into many of the characters from her novels. She’s blunt, sarcastic, and not afraid to speak her mind. Music is one of her loves, and she often listens to her rather eclectic collection while writing to help the creative juices flow.