Tricotomania and more

Praire Poppins had just an inspiring post up yesterday with lists of ideas for handmade gifts for the holidays. I love reading her blog and often wish I could be that relaxed about making things on a regular basis. I’m still in a mode where I feel like that is a “hobby” for my “spare time”. This is nuts, I know. But I’m working on it slowly.

Charlie also had a good post up about the nature of creativity the other day.  He’s addressing a different audience but I think his stages of the creative process make a lot of sense. And they really help those of us who struggle with the “I’m not creative” issue to see what it really looks like and how to nurture it. And yes, I struggle with that, too. I have long thought that I wasn’t creative. Quilting and knitting have really brought me a long way with the creativity but it still feels quite dangerous when I step outside certain frameworks. Designing quilts felt safe because I didn’t have to draw anything but straight sided geometric figures. I’m good at math. I can do that. And I think that gave me the confidence to play with colours and things.

Anyway, the following have been incubating for various lengths of time. Some I just need to go and put into action. Others I need some help with because I don’t actually know what to do next.

Make canvas tote bags. This needs action. Many years ago I did a textile arts class (which is where I met Emily, I think) and I have some heavy canvas that I screen printed for dining room chair seat covers in the basement. Those chairs are long gone and the colours aren’t going to go with my kitchen but I bet they would make good shopping bags.

Make cards with some of my photographs. Yeah, that sounds funny doesn’t it. Me and photographs. But I do have some I took quite a while ago that are interesting close-ups of nature — ice formations, tree bark, etc. I’ve messed around with them a bit in iPhoto and I really like them and they look good printed out. I’ve done a couple of one-off cards but the problem is the size of paper.  This one needs help. Is is possible to get square cards made with digital photos for a reasonable price? And how? Or can you buy supplies and print them (probably not ideal)? I don’t even know what to ask at a printers to get a decent price. Some look best cropped square but there are others that would be best as rectangles. I’ve even wondered about the viability of printing enough to sell.

When I go down to the basement to find that canvas I suspect I will also find any number of other bits of batik, screen printing and whatnot from that class (we did it for several terms; it was fun). I should really think of something to do with that stuff, too. That will really need some incubation though. I think I’ve always worried they wouldn’t wash well but I have used a couple of the batik pieces either as patches for Freya’s pants (when she was smaller) or as coasters and they seem to hold up just fine. So maybe some creative appliqué is in order.

I also know that there is an only-just-started baby quilt in a basket somewhere (the baby it was originally intended for is now 2.5 years old). Also a Mariners Compass quilt square (probably cushion sized, but I’m not sure) that I started before I  moved to Canada (so that would be 2002).

And I must knit baby hats. Friends are having babies in December. And toddler hats. That 2.5 year old likes my hats.

KC has a great idea — photographs of plants at regular intervals throughout the season (go read her whole post there are pretty pictures). She’s doing it for her own gardening purposes (though I bet the kids are learning, too) but it would fit really well with botany studies like those Rebecca is doing. I’m thinking about studying botany with Tigger as soon as we can see some plants. I have the Elpel books on the shelf.

That might be some time. The following photos were taken on Sunday from the kitchen window. (click for bigger) That’s a bird feeder. It’s on a post, believe it or not.

I took another one later (not knowing Mat had taken that one) after the “hat” had fallen off.

You can sort of see the remains of our WWI trench (ha ha). Mat had been maintaining a path to the shed so he could get his bike out. It is now chained to the railing on the front porch.

And yes, my patio furniture never got taken in. That is the top of my parasol sticking up on the left there. The table is now completely buried. As are the chairs and the bench. Shame really because the cats can jump into the house via the window I took that picture from if they can spring off the back of the bench.

It was a beautiful day on Sunday. Cool (though unseasonably warm, actually), bright, sunny. We decided it was a perfect day for a walk. Of course by the time we actually went out, it had clouded over but it was still beautiful. We brought along one of Tigger’s friends and sketching supplies and went over to the arboretum. We walked for a while and then found a spot down by the water.

I’m not much of a drawer and, inspired by Stephanie, decided to play around with the camera while the others were sketching. I set it to the macro setting and started looking at some of the detail of what was around me. I took almost 50 photos. When we got back, I uploaded them and played around a bit in iPhoto. Here is one example of what I’ve been doing.

First, one of the photos I took:

Then two versions of this photo:

As Stephanie says about the program she’s been using, iPhoto doesn’t have a lot of options but it enables me to play around a bit with the saturation and sharpness. I’m pretty pleased with what I came up with. Seeing this particular rock with the bit of rope and the leaf stuck to it, was a bit of luck, too. I’m pretty pleased with the composition of that particular photo. Other photos included various ones of patterns on the ice, milkweed pods (some still with seeds clinging to them), tree bark, and a really cool fungus that I’m thinking of using as a basis for some knitting.

In case you need reminding, all text and photos on this blog ©JoVE.