Category: The Studio

fiber arts, making, process, tactile work

  • Saturday Check-In – News from the Endless Knoontime

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    It startled me to find my last post was in 2016. It\’s so easy to let ourselves be distracted by the shiny things and the squirrels. I\’ve been thinking a lot about that recently, this conflict between output and inflow: output is our own creative production, and inflow is the overwhelm of media consumption. I\’m certainly not the first person to talk about this; Adam Alter did a TED Talk on screen addiction in 2017 that you can check out, here.

    Any veteran journaler will tell you, it\’s the questions that are the key. Asking ourselves good questions can be the difference between skating along the surface of our thoughts and diving deeply into them. WHY do we step away from craft? Why do we stop writing/making/playing? What moves us off our center? It\’s easy to blame something outside of us, but as author and creativity specialist Julia Cameron points out in The Artist\’s Way, we use crazymakers to block ourselves or to stay blocked. At some point, we have to put the responsibility (note I did not say blame) where it belongs, and take it back for ourselves.

    Hence, this post.

    My friend Sunita, over at ReaderWriterVille, does a thing she invented called \”Weeknotes.\” In them, she converses about her week. I love the tone of them: compassionate toward the self, optimistic toward the future, and supportive of positive, outward productivity. It\’s in that spirit I offer today\’s post.

    It\’s not like I haven\’t knit or made anything for three years. A lot has happened in that time: the American presidential election disaster; my husband nearly bled to death (he\’s okay now); all three of our publishers went out of business; we moved cross country 2,000 miles (about 3,200 kilometers); I started a new job that turned out to be a horrible fit and then got a new job (which I love); and I had a cancer-scare (I\’m all right, but found some other stuff and am in the process of getting well). Making, of necessity, became smaller – was it \”of necessity\” because of something external, such as me deciding it to be that way? No. It just organically happened, because I couldn\’t really focus on anything larger. I did nearly finish the Hue Shift Afghan in the Jewel colorway (available from KnitPicks as a kit, highly recommended and I\’m making the main rainbow tinted one next); but need to finish one final edge in black. I made Rachel a vest, but need to finish sewing it together (it literally is half-sewn along one side seem; WTF?). I learned pin loom weaving (which is actually loads of fun and there\’s a fun online community, here; and I just found a rigid heddle weaving school today online, here). I started designing not one but two lace shawls (those of you who know me are probably nodding and saying, \”Of course you did, Noony;\” I get it, I really do), and then stopped, completely, until all I was doing was pin loom weaving.

    Slowly, I\’m edging back toward making. I\’ve learned some things. For me, a stable home and a stable day job are necessary for creative output. I find they settle and ground me in ways I don\’t always understand. I wish I was happy-go-lucky, totally Zen and able to produce in any season, but I have found through long experience I\’m not really one of those people. I do knit, and have done so through serious adversity, but having a stable home (which includes my family) and job (so I am not scared about where rent is coming from) is critical.

    So what have I been making? Well, I don\’t have a ton of pics in one place, which is part of this attenuated interregnum. But I do have a semi-circular shawl I\’m designing on the needles and the name makes me laugh. I was thinking one day recently about vegetables, and manifestation, and how I want to eat more veggies and like them. I want to want to eat more veggies, is probably a more accurate statement. Then I thought about manifestation, and practicing the reality that I want to bring about. I had the yarn in my hands. The yarn is green. Then the squirrels took over and…

    The I Love Broccoli Shawl Is Born

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    It\’s going to need some serious blocking, but this is a semi-circular shawl based on Elizabeth Zimmerman\’s \”pi shawl\” formula. The yarn is from Australia and is a lovely cotton blend that looks like it\’s got mohair in it, but doesn\’t.

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    I\’m using a size 3 circular after quite a bit of trial and error as regards needle size. This is a yarn that color pools but even so, is quite lovely in stockinette; however, I think this type of faggotting really shows it to advantage. The predominant stitch is from Barbara Walker\’s Volume I stitch dictionary, and is \”Vertical Lace Trellis.\” It\’s only a four row repeat, two of which are purl across, so it\’s much easier to work than it looks.

    Other than that, I don\’t have a whole lot of insights to share or profundities to drop on you. I just really miss blogging, writing, publishing, knitting, and making all the things. My squirrels got into the grain bin and have pooped on the good sheets in the linen closet. For the most part, I think I\’ve gotten them wrangled, but I\’ll refrain from any sagacious pronouncements of \”I\’m back and this is what I\’m doing;\” I\’ve done that a couple times during this latest interregnum and have regretted it because it presages a dry spell.

    So for now, I\’ll close with this: thank you for visiting, and reading, and leaving a comment or two. I\’m glad to be here, and I\’m glad you\’re here. Now. Let\’s go make stuff, shall we?

  • Tue Cent Twosday – New Age Foo Foo

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    I admit it. I read all sorts of stuff. Good stuff. Bad stuff. Stuff that defies description, but after you read it and someone asks you what you read, you’re all, “Um, stuff.”

    When I was about fifteen, I got very curious in the nature of the soul and the existence of God. I blame this, appropriately enough, on my parents. (Isn’t everything their fault?) More specifically, it’s my dad. See, he studied to be a priest when he was in college. Nine years of becoming a Paulist Father (they’re the order involved with the media – television, radio, that kind of thing). He dropped out two months before he was to be ordained, citing significant philosophical uncertainty in the divinity of Christ.

    All well and good, except that in first grade, my parents enrolled me in Catholic school.

    Sorta confusing, you say? Tell me!

    So what’s all this got to do with New Age Foo Foo? Well, when I was fifteen, my dad started studying Zen Buddhism. Now, when a man with a Masters in Philosophy, a B.A. in Theology, and a classical education decides to study something, they don’t fool around. Only trouble is, my dad doesn’t speak or read Japanese. Accordingly, copies of D.T. Suzuki and Lao Tzu started showing up all over his house. I asked him, “Dad, why do you have five – no, six – copies of Suzuki on the dining room table?” “Well, I’m studying Zen Buddhism. And I don’t read Japanese.”

    …

    “Um, Dad? These are all in English…?”

    “Yes, dear.”

    “Why, Dad? Why do you have six copies of Suzuki in English, to study Zen Buddhism, because you don’t read Japanese?”

    “Those are all by different translators.”

    It was then that I began to understand Zen. A little.

    I’m very proud of the fact that I did not once take a nerf bat to his head.

    Thought about it, though.

    “Okay. You have six copies of D.T. Suzuki, all by different translators, in English because you don’t read Japanese, because you’re studying Zen Buddhism. WHY?”

    “Because it’s the only way I can get as close as possible to the original language. See, it’s like this. Each translator sees the language a little differently, so they translate it a little differently. By reading them and comparing them, I can get as close as possible to the original language without actually speaking Japanese.”

    Ask a stupid question…

    So we started discussing Zen Buddhism. At dinner. Over ice cream. While doing chores.

    And you know what? That stuff is kind of interesting! I started to ask about theology in general, and we were off. We talked about Saint Thomas Aquinas, who interpreted the works of Aristotle for the Church, we talked about religious hysteria when I subscribed for a while to a magazine called The Plain Truth, we talked about God and concepts of deity…

    Fast forward to college. I got interested in different religions and went to church or temple with anyone who would take me. In college, I met some Wiccans and got invited to come to a ritual with them. I was, naturally, interested. One of the books they gave me was by a woman named Anodea Judith, a Western-trained Jungian psychologist who became interested in Eastern healing modalities. She wrote a book called The Sevenfold Journey, which is a primer about the chakras for Westerners. I loved it! Set up like a workbook, it has exercises for people to try, all associated with the individual chakras. (If you don’t know what a chakra is, hold on, I’ll tell you.) It had journal exercises, of course, but what I like about it is it has physical ones too, and music, spirituality, all sorts of things. You don’t have to change your religion to go through it, either – it explains the concepts and gives you stuff to do and think about.

    A chakra is an ancient Hindu concept, which roughly translates to “spinning wheel.” And no, I did NOT read six different texts by different translators to find this out; I’ll trust Anodea Judith’s definition. The idea is that we have these wheels in our body, associated with major intersections of nerves. This makes a lot of sense to me, actually, since nerves transmit electrochemical impulses. The idea that there is an ‘energy’ associated with that transmission seems plausible, since electricity is energy. There are several chakra systems, depending who you talk to. Judith teaches about seven major ones.

    What does this have to do with writing?

    Good question. Judith has a number of tools in her books, not just The Sevenfold Journey, that allow a person to ruminate on themselves and their place in the universe. I figure, I’ll snag one or two each issue and share my thoughts about them. If you want to try them in the privacy of your own morning pages, more power to you.

    I won’t, though, translate for you.

     

    This was originally posted on my now discontinued blog, Noonsense, 07/27/2010.

  • Make Something Monday – and I Cleaned Out a Bin!

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    Yesterday, I got a wild hair to rummage in my craft storage bins for some yarn that I bought waaaay back when I first started to knit.  I put it away, thinking I\’d make a sleeveless sweater or something for the holidays.

    Only, I\’d bought four skeins, which isn\’t enough for a sweater.

    And so it\’s languished in the bin for ~cof~ years ~cof~.  I also got some very difficult, fussy eyelash yarn of an eye-catching red.  I tried mixing it with this gorgeous stuff and it looked awful.  Rather than looking like a fur border, it looked like, well, a mess.

    I\’m not sure what magical alchemy happened yesterday.  Mercury is retrograde; maybe it\’s that.  No clue.  But in I walked to my office, let my fingers do the walking through my binventory (I made up a word!!), and voila – new project glee.

    Only one problem.  What the eff do I make, if not the sweater I\’d been procrastinating?

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    The yarn is a lovely, skooshie Plymouth 24k in a red and gold, complete with gold flecks.  I could do a rectangular shawl with thin tassels, (once I learn how to spell tassels ~fail~).  I could do a necklace or beads.

    Hmm.  That\’s actually not a bad idea.  I have four balls of it; I could use three for a triangle shawl and the one remaining ball for some jewelry.

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    I started with a garter stitch border and then started yarn over increases three stitches in on each side.  When I had enough of an edge to make the point strong, I started two yarn overs in the center.  I\’m going to do Little Arrowhead Lace from Barbara Walker\’s Volume I, and then in the center, I think I\’ll do budding branch once I have enough on either side of the center spine.

    Oh.  As I\’m writing this, there are really two centers, one on either side of the spine.  Hmm.  I can do buds, but have them mirror each other.  Facing center, or facing out?  I\’ll noodle on that, but I\’m thinking facing center.

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    I got pretty far yesterday.

    And I did not allow Kolya to eat the yarn.  Or chew on the needles.  Or steal the project bag so he could gnaw on the plastic.

    Right.  I decided to be a textile artist in a house full of cats.  Brilliant.

    What are you making this Monday?

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

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    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 12th to the 17th, 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!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • The A To Z of the Zoo – A Retrospective

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    As is the custom after the A to Z Blogging Challenge, participants prepare reflections posts that discuss what they learned from the challenge, what worked, and what didn\’t.

    Plus, I have zebras.

    First, the Lonely Zebra That Wasn\’t

    The last week or so of April, I cause the nasty cold virus that\’s going around and it horse-kicked me into the barn.  I don\’t often get sick, but when I do…  Yeah, yeah.  Thank you, Dos Equis man.  But seriously, this cold stinks.  So I was frantically trying to keep up with my daily challenge posts, which I usually forward-posted on the weekend so I\’d have time to visit my fellow challengers each day.  But as it got down to the wire, and I got sicker and sicker, it got harder and harder to do.

    And then the last day came.

    I was a day behind!  Oh noes!  But never fear, I\’ve got at least three challenge prep trips to the zoo under my belt, plus all my other zoo trips if needed, to make my final challenge post of Z Is For Zebra.

    Only… there were NO zebras!  Not in my March zoo trip.  Not in either December zoo trips.  Not in my last couple zoo trips.  Not in my phone.  By the time a half hour had gone by, and I was dragging and needed to go to bed, I had to face facts.

    My last post of the challenge would be sans animal.

    Never fear.  I am nothing if not resourceful in the face of danger!  And, there are plenty of peacock pics.  I lurve me some peacocks!  So not to be deterred on that, the last day of the challenge, my zebra post featured a peacock, a meme, and my fattest cat.

    See?  And who said challenges were for the faint of heart?

    But today, Dear Reader, the day of my Reflections post, I have Zebra!  Will post!  Read on, MacDuff…

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    So we went to the zoo on Mother\’s Day, which also happened to be my birthday.  I told my family, we must find zebras!  No worries, there are plenty of zebras.  They are always wandering around their enclosure, nibbling at hay, and being cute.

    We arrived, and all we saw were butts.  Three butts.  Zebra butts.  But butts they were, and butts they remained – despite calling, and cooing, and clicking, and \”Hey, you!\”

    We gave up, our sad intrepid little band, and made it to the okapi enclosure when it happened.

    The most loud, awful, non-donkey donkey racket we\’ve ever heard in our lives.  It sounded like a cross between an angry emu and a mule arguing politics.  (You think I\’m kidding?)  So we trekked back to try and find what made the noise and found this lovely fellow.

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    For those of you adults in the audience, even though you can\’t quite see it in the shadows, it became immediately apparent why he\’d been making such a god awful racket and why there was a large fence between him and the other, probably female, zebras.

    It is, after all, Spring.

    o.O…

    As for reflections, I have these:

    I like challenges, I\’ve decided.  This has been a year for them.  I participated in a gym challenge in December, where I attended the gym 25 days in a row.  I participated in the A to Z Challenge on three blogs by myself, as well as two team blogs.  I did something differently this year, though; I decided to actually pick a theme that required research and collecting photographs.  I have links to my other \”Reflections\” posts below, but here\’s a recap of what I did on this blog:

    This year, I decided to do the \”A to Z of the Zoo,\” which I like simply because of the alliteration.  I limited myself to Brookfield Zoo, for no other reason than to give the challenge some, well, challenge.  I have lots of photographs of animals in zoos because we love to visit zoos.  In the past year, we\’ve been to the zoo in Tacoma, St. Louis, and here in Chicago; plus there\’s the Lincoln Park Zoo here which, while we haven\’t been recently, has different animals from Brookfield.  I figured it would make it more challenging to actually find animals at Brookfield.

    We had to resort to Latin binomials for some of the animals, (a \”Latin binomial\” is the two word name scientists give to a specific animal that tells its identification and membership in specific animal sub-groups.  This practice is known as taxonomy; not to be confused with taxidermy, the practice of stuffing dead animals.  But I digress).  We had a heck of a time finding several of the letters; for example, \”J\” gave us particular fits.  If we\’d allowed ourselves another zoo, such as Lincoln Park, it would have been an easy matter to choose a jaguar.  But we limited ourselves specifically to Brookfield and so, on a chilly day in March, my husband and I went to the zoo with little yellow cards on which I\’d printed the animals I already had, and we brainstormed the rest.

    This turned out to be a ton of fun.  I\’m not sure what I\’ll do next year, but I think I might try something like it again because I had a ball wandering around and photographing things.  I got a lot of photographs that I didn\’t use in the challenge but liked a lot; I\’ll probably have those in later blog posts throughout the year.

    I highly recommend the challenge to anyone who likes to blog, and even for those of us bloggers who are intermittent or unsure how to begin.  I got a lot of ideas when I visited other bloggers on the list, and look forward to my Road Trip between now and next April where I plan to visit other challengers and see what they\’re doing with their blogs.

    Happy blogging!

    And, for your reading pleasure, here\’s a list of the posts for the A to Z Challenge, The A To Z of the Zoo:

    Amur Leopard – For A!

    Bears Napping, Bears Pacing, Bears, Bears, Bears! B Is For Bears!

    Wray-Wray’s Namesake – When You Find Your Name on a Camel

    Dogs – Of the African Wild Variety

    Stephen Colbert Ain’t Got Nuthin’ On Him! Or, E Is For Eagle

    Too Foxy!

    Number One Goose, And Giraffe Have Long Tongues

    It Came From The Ocean – The Dogs of the Sea – Harbor Seals

    Gettin’ Beaky With It – The Ibis In The Pond

    The Bird That Wasn’t: Jambu Fruit Dove – And A Party #Giveaway

    Lookit Them Feet!

    The King Of The Jungle

    Mexican Grey Wolves Are Sneaky

    North American River Otters… Were Busy?

    The Secret Forest-Dweller

    So Many P’s, So Little Time

    The Q Files

    Six Inch Thick Skin

    Been Waiting ALL Month For This!

    The Trouble With Tigers

    What Izzit!? – Today It’s Uromastyx!

    Varanids, Varanids Everywhere!

    Water Dragon!

    Xtreme Birds

    Yes, It’s Snow Leopards!

    Zebras Aren’t For Riding

    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:

    My theme on 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 build environment.

    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 12th to the 17th, 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:

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Zed

    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!

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    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 12th to the 17th, 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!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Zebras Aren’t For Riding

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    Garçon!  Where is mah ordehr!?

    The peacocks roam free at the Brookfield Zoo, and it\’s a lot of fun to run across them as they wander up and down the footpaths.  And then we came upon this brazen fellow.

    Is it any surprise at all that I wanted to go up and pet him?

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    I know, Dear Reader; I know.  But sadly, on this, the last day of the challenge, I could not find ANY pictures of zebras!  Not in any of the three prep trips, not in my prior zoo trips, nowhere on my computer.  There\’s a possibility some may be hidden on my phone, but I\’ve already spent the last half hour looking and technically, the challenge ended yesterday.

    \"2016-04-30

    I think Boria has the right idea, it\’s time for a nap.  I hate getting spring colds, don\’t you?  I have no energy and I fall behind in my wordcount – like for this challenge.  But I\’m truly pleased you\’ve traveled the month with me, Dear Reader, and visited me as I explore The A to Z of the Zoo.

    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!

    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:

    My theme on 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 build environment.

    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 12th to the 17th, 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!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • The Fork In the Tree and the Path Less Traveled By

    \"2016-04-29

    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 12th to the 17th, 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!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

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

    \"2016-04-29

    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 12th to the 17th, 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!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Weird Sky

    \"2016-04-27

    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 12th to the 17th, 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!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • V! V-I! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

    \"2016-04-26

    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 12th to the 17th, 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!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!

  • Under-Over

    \"2016-04-25

    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 12th to the 17th, 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!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!