Sunday Box Talk

A Catherine Noon

I like to start my week on Sunday, since that’s what makes the most sense to me for how my schedule works.  Sunday is a day of rest for our family, but we don’t necessarily mean rest as in nothing to do.  Typically large laundry day (sheets and such), we don’t tend to get out of our pajamas most of, or all of, the day.  It’s a day for large projects like knitting or photo editing (my husband’s a professional photographer), web development, and family feast meal.  Sometimes we’ll do a movie.

It’s also the day I start my Artist’s Way week, when I read the essays for the week and get started on the tasks.  It’s a more contemplative time since I don’t schedule anything for this day and my friends know that.  I provides a nice break between the week that was and the week that is coming.

What kinds of routines do you establish for yourself for the week?  When we’re in school, this is done for us; but when we graduate, there are no more quarters and semesters, finals, and back-to-school.  Even if we have kids of our own for whom we do these tasks, they don’t really apply to us and it’s very easy for one day to bleed into the next.

Richard Nelson Bolles, in his book The Three Boxes of Life and How to Get Out of Them talks about Learning, Working, and Leisure or Play.  The way most of us organize our lives is we play as children, we learn in school and university, and then we spend the rest of our lives working.  But one way to accomplish balance is to re-think what’s possible in our daily round.  This week, think about these three concepts and how you develop them in your own life.  Even if you haven’t yet set aside time for all three, just thinking about how you might begin to do so can open doors for you in terms of your personal planning.

Do you have a routine during your week?  I’d love to know; tell me in the comments.

Saturday Showcase – MJ Fredrick Talks About Her Passion – The Other One!

A Catherine Noon

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

MJF: I love to do all kinds of things, but am probably best at sewing. I love love love matching fabric and patterns, and compared to writing, sewing is instant gratification!

KK: When did you learn to do crafts?

MJF: When I was 14, my mom told me she didn’t have time to sew for both of us, so she started me out making simple drawstring shorts and halter tops. When I was in high school, I worked in the fabric department at the local five and dime. All my money went back to them for fabric! Some nights I’d go home from work and make an outfit to wear the next day!

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

MJF: Not that I can recall. I do have a heroine in a future novel who’s a gardener and will be opening a nursery. I’ve been pinning ideas for her nursery on Pinterest, lol.

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?

MJF: Oh, the writing definitely falls off when I craft. Last summer I managed to balance it pretty well–I’d write in the morning and sew for an hour when All My Children was on 😉 Then at the end of summer I got a new machine and started making things like purses, e-book reader covers and laptop bags, you know, when you see some cool fabric but you’re not sure what to do with it? So I barely wrote in the fall. So far this summer, I’ve spent more time on crafts than writing, mainly because I have a lot of nervous energy and can’t sit still!

Look at the interesting fabric effects in the center of this design!  Wow! -KK

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

MJF: Something retro, like from the 40s or 50s. There was a time, before I got serious about writing, that I could make anything if I just sat down to it. These days I just don’t trust myself to try. Also, I avoid labor-intensive crafts, especially when I know I should be writing.

KK: Where do you get ideas for your crafts?

MJF: Pinterest! Evil, evil Pinterest! Although I’ve been inspired by Project Runway, or even just seeing things at the store. Nothing will inspire me to sew like seeing a $400 skirt.

Biography:

MJ Fredrick knows about chasing dreams. Twelve years after she completed her first novel, she signed her first publishing contract. Now she divides her days between teaching fourth grade students how to write, and diving into her own writing—traveling everywhere in her mind, from Belize to Honduras to Africa to the past.

Website | Blog | Facebook | @MJFredrick | PINTEREST

Addendum

MJ went shopping today and found a ninety-nine cent sale at JoAnn Fabrics.  Here’s what she bought:
MJ says, “Here are two I’ll probably never make.”
MJ says, “Going to make this fabric in this pattern.” 
MJ says, “Going to make this fabric in one of these patterns.”

MJ says, “I think I may already have this pattern but I bought it anyway!”
She also plans to make a flip flop wreathe, and here’s a link.
And also, this.
Sounds like a productive shopping trip, MJ!

…

LOL.  I just got another email from MJ, and she wants to make this skirt on Pinterest.

I think we’re going to have to bring MJ back in a month or two and see what she’s made, yes?  Yes!  MJ, come baaaack!

~happy sewing~

The Liebster Award

A Catherine Noon

My online friend from Beeline Clothings blog nominated me for the Liebster Award today!  She lives in Ghana and hopes one day to travel to China.  She writes about fashion and all sorts of things and I was really pleased to be chosen by her for the award.

As part of the award, you nominate others and answer questions – both in general and from your nominator.  It’s a fun way to get better acquainted with other bloggers and I thought I’d share that here.

The Liebster Blog Award is an award offered to upcoming bloggers. The german word Liebster is a word for favorite, dearest, beloved, sweetest, cutest, nicest, kind, and pleasant.
I think this is a lovely way to support and encourage each other as fellow bloggers.
Well, my nominator tells me that this award comes with some rules, which are:
Each nominated blogger must
1. post 11 things about yourself
2. answer the questions that the nominator has set for you and create 11 questions for the people you’ve tagged to answer
3. choose 5 people and link them in your post
4. Go to their blogs and tell them in a comment
REMEMBER, No tag backs!
11 Things About the Noony
  1. I love coffee.  I love learning about it, tasting it, trying different varietals and, like wine, identifying where the beans are from.
  2. I am NOT a morning person.  My best and most productive time is the middle of the night, after 10:00 P.M. (20:00).  It’s very easy for my body-clock to get thrown off if I stay up too late and, since I work a day job, I can’t afford that.  My dream is to one day live a lifestyle that allows me to stay up at night and sleep during the mornings.
  3. I love to knit.  Knitting is applied magic.  By creating repetitive knots in yarn, I can create a fabric that will stay together.  I even started a blog dedicated to my knitting and other crafts called Knoontime Knitting, because I love to explore 2-D/3-D art.
  4. I love to write.  I feel connected to the universe when I write.
  5. I love to journal, as well as use a computer.  I get different results depending on whether I write by hand or by keyboard.
  6. I realized I love to write essays.  One of my favorite classical authors is Michel Montaigne, and I didn’t realize that I like to do what he does, though I’m nowhere near his level of skill.
  7. I love cats and dogs.  Some people say they’re a dog person, or a cat person; honestly, I like them both equally.  I live with 3 cats and a dog and they’re all very special to me.
  8. I love to travel, but I believe in traveling where one lives.  So many times, people will say to me, “Oh, I’ve lived in Chicago for years but have never gone up in the Sears Tower.”  That’s silly!  We have so many riches around us, if we just open our eyes to it.
  9. I love mustard and, mostly, hate ketchup.  (I occasionally get a taste for it, which always surprises me because I’ve not liked it since I was a child.)  I like spicier mustards better than bland yellow mustard; German styles are my favorite though I’m partial to Japanese ones as well.
  10. I don’t “get” Twitter, but I manage many Twitter feeds.  I have my main one, @acatherinenoon, but I also started one for @knoontimeknit, and we have 2 for Evanston Writers Workshop, @evanstonwriters and @ewwconference.
  11. My phone is smarter than I am.  I just got an HTC Rezound and it baffles me.

Answers to my nominator’s questions

  1. Why did you start blogging?
    Good question.  I started this blog, “Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon,” because I wanted a place to put my personal short stories and to play.  I’ve always loved doing newsletters and such and this allowed me a potentially unlimited audience.  It also let me create a website without knowing how to program HTML.  Now, I have many blogs and I enjoy them.
  2. How has blogging affected your life?
    It’s brought me new friends and fans, but it’s also helped me trust that I have a voice and something to say.  I realized that I’m an essayist in addition to being a novelist, and that essays are like letters to a good friend in which we talk about things about which we are passionate.  As long as we trust that, we can create a blog that rocks.
  3. Would you call yourself a ‘blog-addict’?
    Not really, but since I either manage or am part of over 15 blogs, then I suppose yes, I might be called one.
  4. Which two words describe your personal style perfectly?
    Elegant and artistic.
  5. What is your favorite time of the day and why?
    The middle of the night.  It’s quiet and I can get things done.
  6. What is your inspiration in life?
    The novels I read as a child transported me to other worlds.  I have wanted to do that since I was nine years old.  I love writing and reading.
  7. How do you plan to spend the next three years?
    I plan to write many more books, both in the Chicagoland Shifters universe and the Persis Cycle.  I also plan to release, with my coauthor Rachel Wilder, Bloodlines and our Psychic Detective series.  I want to buy a house with some land and raise alpacas.
  8. What is your favorite time of the day? Why?
    Oops, I think this is the same as question 5.  I’ll answer, instead, my favorite meal.  I love breakfast!  Eggs, bacon, potatoes, and bagels are some of my favorites, as are hobo plates, grits, biscuits and gravy, Belgian waffles, and quiche.
  9. Which blogger inspires you the most in the blogging world?
    Delilah Devlin.  She has a website jam-packed with interesting articles, fun content, books and other things that fans can enjoy.  She’s a bestselling author and I look up to her as a role model.
  10. What is your favorite TV series?
    That’s easy – NCIS!

  11. What is your favorite electronic gadget?
    I’m awfully partial to my computer, actually, and my internet router since it lets me see the amazing, wide world of blogging!

My Nominations

  1. Passionate Fiction
  2. The Puzzling Mind of Jason Runnels
  3. Writer & Cat
  4. Jean Marie Ward
  5. Two Voices

Humpday Update – Pictures and Thoughts – the Bryce Canyon Shawl

A Catherine Noon
The Bryce Canyon Shawl
You know, it’s hot enough here in Chicago to fry an egg on the sidewalk (maybe not literally, but it sure feels like it), so working on a shawl that is reminiscent of my time in the desert is, perhaps, fitting.

As I work on it, I am surprised by my progress.  It feels massive, like it will never be done; as I add new yarn only a couple inches from the last addition I worry I won’t have enough yarn and will never get to work on my other projects.  My Puritanical Critic chimes in with, you’d better not work on anything until this is done, and I despair.

Yet I see progress.  There are four more inches over the last medallion, which surprises me.  When did I have time to add four inches?  I only just finished that medallion this last weekend!  But this is the magic of knitting.  Stitch by stitch, inch by inch, progress accumulates.

Kind of like life.

My husband is the professional photographer, which you can sort of tell since all you see of me is the top of my forehead.  And MAN can you tell it’s hot by how shiny my head is!  What a pate.

Oh, right.  The knitting, Noony, is why they’re reading this.  ~blush~

See how many inches I’ve added above the ending of the center medallion?  Wowsers.

Okay, this time I got my eyes, at least.  I’m still wearing my old glasses, since my new ones had to go back to the doctor to be fixed and they’re not ready yet.  This is one of the two medallions that will be on the top.

And this is a close-up of that medallion.  I love Barbara Walker’s sampler ideas!  These are so fun to make.  I’m on row 84 here.  Only about 50 more to go before the end, then I’ll add a few inches of the lace stitch.  (It’s called “faggoting,” but I keep not typing that because it makes me blush and I don’t want folks to think I’m being rude.)

Walking In This World – Friends

A Catherine Noon

Today, as I prepare for our barbecue, I am reminded of the people in my life.  My friends bring me so much, not the least of which is the process of drawing myself out of myself and into this world, this physical, concrete place in which I live.  I am grateful to my friends for so many things, but this perhaps is one of the most important.

Thank you.

Organizing Tips for Crafters – Hashtags

A Catherine Noon

If you are new to the social media phenomenon, you might not have heard of “hashtags.”  A hashtag is the “pound” symbol:  #, accompanied by a word or words that groups together concepts.  Its purpose is to collect similar information from all over into one easily-searchable stream.  It’s most popular on Twitter and Tweeps have used literally thousands of hashtags on every imaginable subject.

Here’s how they work:  you probably know that you have a limited number of characters to post your thoughts on Twitter, 140 to be exact.  (This comes from the limit imposed on text messaging by the servers that run the “SMS” messages.)  One way to become part of the larger conversation is to include a hashtag with your post, and then others who have similar interests can find you.

I use #quotes most often, since I love to find and post quotes related to my interests.  Here are a few more relevant to crafting:

#knit and #knitting are the most obvious.  When you have thoughts, updates, or projects to knit, add that to your post.

#crochet

#craft The most broad of the topics you can use.

#sew

#gifts I love this one, because it’s such a broad category – it could be things you make and things you buy.

#handmade

#ravelry  If you’re part of the huge worldwide community of Ravelry, this is a great way to link your Tweets to your Ravelry thoughts and pictures.

Do you have a favorite hashtag or five?  Tell me, in the comments!

Journey Into 3-D

A Catherine Noon

This weekend I had an object lesson in the difference between 2-D planning and 3-D execution.  Namely, yarn estimation.

When my baby Bryce Canyon Shawl was nice and small, it was easy to imagine I’d only need a few skeins of yarn.  I’d done other triangle shawls and wanted this one to be “bigger” (technical term) so I knew if I got more yarn, I’d be fine.  So I got a few skeins.

Then I threw in the wrinkle of the two extra lace medallions.

But this also means that there are continuous increases, all the way up the shawl.

Those of you who already knit know what’s coming.  I ran out of yarn this weekend.  We went and picked up six more skeins, after running my new estimate by my husband who isn’t as geometrically challenged as me.  We shall see.

Here’s a couple progress photos for you.

The center medallion is now done, as of this weekend.  I put it on my dress form to take this picture, which turned out surprisingly well.  However, the fabric I already had on the dress form clashes horribly, which is why I’m not showing you the view from the front.

The side medallions are getting really big.  I love the way they get set off by the lace on either side; I think it’s coming out really well.  I love it when a plan comes together!