Tag: acatherinenoon

  • L Is For… Lace!

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    Lace | Art | Fun

    Lace is to a knitter what oils are to a painter:  something toward which to aspire, elevated from craft to Craft, and darned fun to work with.  Tricky, too; did we mention that?  You can\’t just clean your oil paint brushes in water, and it takes 24 hours at least for a layer to dry so you have to have commitment to paint in oils.  Knitting lace is similar:  it looks complicated to do (but isn\’t always); it requires concentration; and it\’s a ton of fun.  But it\’s tricky – if you lose count of your rows or stitches, you can get lost in the middle somewhere without the breadcrumbs to come home.

    I would be mistaken to say that lace knitting and knit lace are the same; there\’s a hot debate in the knitting community, (yes, Dear Reader, knitters have our quibbling over details just like readers and writers do).  The difference, simply put, is lace knitting is putting holes in regular (plain) knitting, and knit lace is making lace with knitting needles.

    Wow, that\’s a really obvious distinction, huh?  Not.  🙂

    I have found that I like lace knitting.  I have found knit lace more challenging, because it\’s easier to mix oneself up; however, if you concentrate and start with a simple pattern with just a few row repeats, you\’ll be off to the races in no time.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What complicated tasks can you perform today, that seemed hard before you learned to do them?

  • L Is For… Lace!

    L Is For… Lace!

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    I\’m doing another dual post today, this time on lace.  I adore lace – doilies make me swoon.  When I was little, I would get those little doilies they give you under coffee cups and color them in.  I know, lace is traditionally white or a single color, (who doesn\’t shiver at the idea of romantic black lace and stockings?).  But me?  I adore color.

    I learned how to do what\’s actually called \”faggoting,\” no lie, and despite the unfortunate name it\’s a lovely technique.  It\’s got the advantage of being super easy to work, too, which is great if you, like me, are a gerbil-brained knitter who doesn\’t want to have to concentrate on long, drawn out lines of instruction and repeat this, yarn over that.  The lace above, for example, is Turkish stitch – it\’s got one – count it, one! – row repeat!  It has a grand total of three – yup, I said three! – stitches:

    Even number of stitches:
    k1, * yo, k2 tog; rep from *, end k1.  Repeat this row.

    C\’est fini.  Just as easy as plain stockinette stitch.  I also like it because when you\’re using an overdyed (or ombre) yarn, like the one in the picture, sometimes the colors all smushed together in plain knitting can look muddy.  Using a faggot stitch can help spread them out and allow the colors to \”pop.\”

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What complicated-looking task do you find surprisingly easy to perform?

  • K Is For… Knitting

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    Knitting is magical.  You take a continuous filament of fiber, two sticks, and make art.  How cool is that?

    Despite how it looks, knitting isn\’t all that old.  Crochet is a much more ancient art; the earliest known knitting artifacts are from Turkey about a thousand years ago.  If you\’re a fiber geek, here\’s a look at the first known knitting, along with an engrossing article about knitting history on the popular online knitting magazine, Knitty.

    One of the reasons knitting wasn\’t done more frequently is that the metallurgy technology to make consistently-sized needles didn\’t exist in Europe until the Renaissance.  What makes knitting repeatable and consistent is the diameter of the sticks used; in earlier times, knitting needles were actual needles made of metal.  Nowadays, of course, we can find needles made with all sorts of materials – acrylic, bamboo, ceramics, and wood, to name a few (and I unintentionally alphabetized the list, thank you A-Z Challenge!).

    Aside from the art and history of it, I knit because of the Zen of it.  I find the magic of knitting in the simple fact that putting one stitch after the other makes something beautiful, it\’s relaxing, and it warms my hands.  I can do it around other people and carry on a conversation, I knit while watching television shows, or I knit on the train.  It\’s something I can do anywhere, in all kinds of weather unless it\’s swelteringly hot – though even then, I\’ve managed to make tiny things like amulet bags.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What made you start your favorite hobby?

     

  • K Is For… Knitting! Again!

    K Is For… Knitting! Again!

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    I know I did knitting today on the main blog, too, but it bears repeating.  ~grin~  Besides, what if you don\’t, yet, knit?  How do you go from string to art?  It\’s like anything else.  Practice.

    Okay, so how do you know what to practice?

    Well, there are plenty of books and websites out there purporting to be able to teach you how to knit.  If you\’re reading this and nodding along, chances are that you\’ve glanced at them and they meant about as much to you as they did to me – which means, nothing.  Zilch, zip, nada.  I tried to learn to knit from books for almost ten years.  I just couldn\’t make sense of the stuff on the page as it related to the stuff in my hands.

    If this is you, then I have two solutions for you:

    First, find a teacher.  Local yarn shops and big-box stores like Michaels and JoAnns offer classes, as do park districts, senior centers, and adult learning centers.  There are Meetup groups, and knitters even put themselves out on sites like Craig\’s List.  Don\’t overlook your local university – fashion design programs feature knitting, because the designers need to know how to work with knit fabric.  I met my first teacher through my local yarn shop, and she is an adjunct professor at not one but two local universities.

    Second, look online.  YouTube has a wealth of videos on how to do anything from cast on (which is how you get the yarn onto the needle so you can start knitting with it) to complicated stitch patterns, decreases, increases, lace, cables, and all the other foreign-sounding words that are the stock-in-trade of the knitter\’s craft.

    If you haven\’t discovered it yet, Craftsy is a ton of fun to poke around.  They\’ve even got a bunch of free classes, so you can see how you like the learning platform.  Their basics series are good, solid grounding in whatever craft you select; they\’ve got a ton of intermediate (skill building) and advanced classes for you more experienced knitters out there.  You can select classes and add them to your wish-list, and keep your eyes peeled for their sales.  Might be just as addictive as doing the craft itself!

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What suggestions do you have for folks who want to begin a new craft?

  • J Is For… Jewelry

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    Jewelry.  It works as adornment, identification, religion, art… It fulfills many different purposes, depending on its creator\’s intent.  Me, I like playing with sparkly stuff.  This lovely bead is from a local bead shop and it took me hours to find just the right one.  I wanted something to match the scarf I\’d made, which is a lace pattern.  I\’m using the beads on the ends, like tassels.

    That\’s what intrigues me: making ordinary objects, like scarves and bags, beautiful.  I love the idea of knitted bracelets with beads incorporated into the design.  I\’ve even got an idea for a lace shawl in forest-green mohair with multi-colored iridescent beads.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What are your favorite kinds of jewelry?

     

  • J Is For… Jobs

    J Is For… Jobs

    \"2015-04-11With the way the economy is, jobs are challenging to find. The landscape of the job search has materially changed in the last five years, with new tools like LinkedIn and old tools like networking even more valuable.

    One tool that has kept pace with the times is What Color Is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson Bolles.  This was recommended to me when I graduated college.  Mr. Bolles updates the book every year, completely rewriting it and making sure that the new tools are clearly explained.  His explanation of how to create a useful network for yourself is highly useful.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What\’s your favorite job search resource?

  • I Is For… Inkle Weaving

    \"I\"Ever wonder where things like reins for bridles, belts, pet collars, and trim come from?  If they\’re not leather, they\’re most likely woven (though there are many other ways, for example, spool knitting, but I digress).  The type of loom used can vary, but here\’s what I find interesting.

    My weaving instructor, Natalie Boyett of the Chicago Weaving School, (and if you\’re here in the city, or visiting, and have ever thought about maybe learning to weave, go there.  She\’s hands-down one of the best instructors I\’ve ever had), showed me that weaving is one of the oldest textile arts.  Here\’s a brain-bender –  all looms are fundamentally the same:  they are designed to put tension on the warp (the length-wise threads) so that the craftsperson can put the weft (the cross-wise threads) in between them.  In this way, fabric is created.

    So what\’s an inkle loom?  It\’s a small, usually portable, loom that allows you to wind on a continuous warp, which means it can be really, really long.  The weaving surface isn\’t very wide, usually only a few inches, because the idea is to weave narrow fabric.  There\’s an example of one here.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What would you want to make if you could wave a magic wand and know how to use an inkle loom?

     

  • I Is For… Inquiry

    I Is For… Inquiry

    \"2015-04-10Curiosity.  What\’s that they say about it?  It killed the cat?  Not a very auspicious axiom for those of us who are afflicted by it.  The thirst for knowledge can be an anodyne to modern life, the bustle and invasion of distractions in the form of social media and entertainment.  But all that chaotic, frantic chatter is simply the next chapter of the Great Conversation that humanity has been having with itself since Lascaux.

    Charles Van Doren\’s book, A History of Knowledge:  Past, Present, and Future – the Pivotal Events, People, and Achievements of World History is a good overview of how we got where we are today.  They say that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, and being aware of roots can help us in all sorts of ways.  Understanding the impact of the printing press on society and how it forced open the gates of knowledge, for example, can help us see the possible implications of the internet on the world today.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What subjects intrigue you?

  • H Is For… Hardanger!

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    I haven\’t tried Hardanger embroidery myself, but it\’s lovely stuff.  A textile art from Norway, it\’s traditionally done on white fabric with pulled threads (that\’s what makes the little holes) and raised, textural stitches.  Expert artists can work on fabric with tiny threads and high thread counts (meaning, very dense, tiny work).

    In researching for this post, I found two resources.  One is from my favorite store that I\’ve not yet visited, but hope to this summer:  The Nordic Needle, in Fargo, North Dakota.  I subscribe to their free email newsletter and if you like textile arts, I suggest you check them out.  They have articles on all sorts of artists, their textile arts, and work to keep some of the less well-known arts from dying out.  Here\’s a link to their page on Hardanger resources.  The second is a new-to-me website that seems to be full of lots of good stuff – including a free class on beginner Hardanger.  The blog is called Needlework Tips & Techniques.  Check it out!

    A new trend is to include color as part of the designs.  There\’s a neat assortment of photos that came up when I searched Google for images, here.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    Do you prefer traditional white, or modern color?

  • H Is For… Home Design!

    H Is For… Home Design!

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    Used book sales are a lot of fun, because you can find all sorts of things that are now out of print.  I have several collections of different subjects, and one of them is what I\’ve decided to call, Home Design.  A while back I did a series about redesigning my home library, and how the shape of the subjects my husband and I collected told me something about us in the same way an autobiographical sketch might.

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    I have a mix between practical how-to books and design books.  I differentiate those by whether they tell me how to achieve a particular aesthetic (design) or how to make or fix something (how-to).  I also found that I have a fascination with how to manage a home; things as varied as a housekeeping manual (I have several) to how things in the home work (which is the actual title of one of the books).

    In my fiction, I have found recurring themes of Home and Belonging.  The two are related:  how to create that home where one can feel a sense of belonging, and how to find that home in terms of stories and allegories.  It\’s cropped up in fiction, poetry, and apparently, on my shelves.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What are some of the subjects that you have on your shelves, or like to read?

  • G Is For… Gratitude

    G Is For… Gratitude

    \"2015-04-08One of my favorite books is Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach.  One of her fundamental suggestions is to write a daily list of five things for which we\’re grateful.  She believes that it is a life-changing exercise and I have to say, I agree with her.

    She recommends making a Gratitude Journal, which I have done at times.  Other times, I\’m not able to keep up with it in a separate book so I have taken to doing it in my Morning Pages journal or in my planner.  What I have found is that the more I make space for it, whether or not it\’s in a separate journal or not, the more I\’m aware of the positive in my life.

    I have found that listing five things is just enough to keep me grounded, even on those days when it\’s difficult to be thankful for anything.  On those days, she recommends noticing the fact that the day is over – which, while it made me laugh, is very appropriate.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    For what are you grateful today?

  • G Is For… Gardening

    G Is For… Gardening

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    Gardening.

    I love to garden.  I adore the smell of loam, the feel of the plants in their new home, and to play with flowers.  I love getting the fruits of my labor: coming outside to pick peppers and tomatoes with chives and basil for dinner.

    Gardening is one of those humbling tasks, because it doesn\’t take a bunch of smarts.  It doesn\’t even really take books (though I think I have every gardening book known to womankind).  It takes consistency.

    Uh-oh.

    It\’s kind of like writing, in that sense.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What color is your thumb?  Green, like the farmers and gardeners of old?  Or you an armchair gardener, content to look at other peoples\’ gardens?  Or somewhere in between?