Cura Te Ipsum Comic Art in Pop-up

I've recently taken interest in following web comics. Not ever having been a fan, this a totally new experience. I got hooked on Neal Bailey's Cura Te Ipsum, the story of Charlie Everett and his multiple counterparts in an undetermined number of realities. I'm taken by the defined lines in comic art and see the possibilities of translating the work into 3 dimensions. This picture is a combination of two posters you'll find on the website. The portal in Cura Te Ipsum, or rather the gateway to the other Charlies and other universes, provides an opportunity to express the pictures in multiple layers. Of course the drama of a gun pointed at the reader hints at the "coming at you" feeling anyway. I'm looking at comic art in a whole new light.

Update: Neal Bailey has made a video of my pop-ups so that you can see them in action!

Note: This is unauthorized fan art.

Pop-up Valentine Workshop

How to mend a broken heart? Cut it up and glue it to some cardstock! Join me on Saturday, February 6th from 2 to 4 for my Pop-up Valentine workshop at the Modern Spool studio. Nothing says "Don't you think I'm cool?" like a pop-up work of art. I hope you can join me!

New Pair of Glasses

Here's a little paper cut I did just before the new year. I was inspired by a contrasty photograph of a butterfly I found in my uncle's artist morgue. I scanned it into Illustrator, increased the contrast, and printed it out for cutting. I mounted it on some translucent paper from discarded paper samples. I love reusing and recycling when I can. Sometimes beautiful paper comes through our mailboxes and heads straight out to the recycling bin.

I like my butterfly, but I can see some rough places in my cutting. I think of this first try as an experiment. In the process of trying to do this detailed work, I discovered that I need new glasses. I'm looking forward to clear vision and more challenges in 2010!

when I am among the trees

Birthday card for a friend inspired by a Mary Oliver poem.

When I Am Among the Trees

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine."

~ Mary Oliver ~

The devil made me do it. again.

A simple request: I want to be the "soccer player from hell" for Halloween. I love a costume that comes ready made. Great. You can wear your soccer uniform, but how can we make it hellish. I've got it! A crocheted devil hat. What could be scarier?I had a surplus of red Red Heart yarn, so I was ready to go. I could make a highly washable hat out of an unnatural color of red.

I based my hat on the Viking Hat in my earlier post. The base of the hat is for the most part the Boy Beanie from the Stitch N' Bitch book. (Note: I just discovered that there is an extensive collection of errata for both Stitch N' Bitch books at Knit Happens.) I used the same concept that I used before for the horns, but improved on the idea. The horns for the Viking hat were a kind of cornucopia shape with an open end for stuffing. The stuffing kind of leaked out a bit while I was stitching up the hat so I thought I might make life a bit easier on myself by making a completely closed stuffed horn.

I started out by making a Magic Ring. This circular start can be completely cinched up so that you don't get the hole that you see in a crocheted flower or Granny Square. I cast on about 5 stitches in single crochet, slipped the first stitch and then increased in every stitch all the way around. The following row I crocheted in the front loop only, to make the piece go in a vertical direction. To make the horn shape, I decreased at the first and last stitches in the round every other row. You might have to adjust to make a longer or shorter horn. For example, you could crochet 2 rows between decreases. When the horn started getting really small, I put in the stuffing. In a couple more rounds I slipped the yarn through the remaining few stitches and fastened off. I attached the horns to the beanie and my hat from hell was complete!

Sunflower Surprise

I think this is the most grannyish project I've ever done, but I'm not afraid to push the envelope. I find a certain freedom in crocheting in both the avant-garde and the traditional style. I've learned a lot from months of sunflowers which I will apply to my other projects.

It all started when my mom decided that we should have a family crochet group. We would get together once a month and work on afghans, help each other, and have some girl time. Mom dragged out the Herrschner's catalog (where you buy the pattern and all the yarn in one go). The only one I could get my head around, was the Sunflower Afghan. Everything else seemed to have dizzying stripes or chevrons. Still new to crochet, I figured I could learn whatever I need with the proper motivation. Besides, the kit seemed pretty affordable. If I really screwed it up, the price wouldn't be too high. (We will not speak of the alpaca sweater that I never finished. $200 worth of yarn.)

When the kit arrived, I was disappointed. The catalog pictured a beautiful sunlight afghan of warm greens and golds, but the yarn I got was more of a mint color. What was supposed to be tan and green, turned out to be tan and white. Gold was dark orange and Dark Orange was more of a neon orange. The yarn was synthetic, so I knew what I was getting into, but I didn't expect all the knots and breaks in the skeins. Herschner's sent the wrong afghan to my mom, so she went through the headache of having to return it and wait for the right one. You get what you pay for. To be fair, she did have a very positive experience with her second project, the Navajo Afghan and my sisters' kits turned out to be great beginner's projects.

In spite of my complaints I did enjoy making this afghan. I learned about crocheting circular flowers and squaring them off, picot stitches, triple clusters, and reading a crochet pattern. While the colors weren't what I was expecting, I was surprised to see how well it turned out. I guess I got in touch with my inner granny. I'm okay with that!

Crocheted Viking Hats

Never walk away from home ahead of your axe and sword.
You can't feel a battle in your bones or foresee a fight.
--Viking Proverb

It was a seemingly innocent email on a Friday afternoon, dropped like a challenge to an obsessive craft-a-holic such as myself. "My son and I are headed out to Eastern Oregon. I need a bearded Viking Hat by Tuesday..." The tone was playful, but the message was serious: "Make one of these if you dare!" I dared. Yes. I dared.

I went in search of a pattern online. My time was short, so I knew it had to be a crochet project since knitting would have been too slow. In my search I discovered Instructables, a website devoted to craftiness of all kinds: repurposed computer parts jewelry, papercrafts, toys, robots. There's even a section for manly crafts. I used the Crocheted Mustache Hat Costume posted by momwithahook.

I bought two kinds of yarn: Lemongrass Lion Brand 100% Wool and Lion Brand Homespun in Edwardian Gray. Using a size J hook I tackled the green hat first. I realized pretty quickly that the pattern suited itself much better to the thicker Homespun yarn. The opening for the face was too large, so I had to pick up and crochet a few rows around it. The top developed a visor effect, which I liked. The steel gray hat had a completely different effect. While it crocheted up quickly, I had to get used to the squiggly, non-stretchy yarn. After I lightened up my tension, I had an easier time seeing the stitches. In contrast to the the wool hat, this one was soft. The beard looked more realistic. I considered crocheting an optional piece of food for an accessory.

I finished the two hats by Monday. Father and son would head east in style. Mission accomplished. I breathed a sigh of relief. But then things got complicated. His 9 year old daughter asked me for a hat with a hot pink beard. Her hat would have to be much smaller than the Homespun hat for dad so I used a light gray, red-heartish kind of acrylic yarn for the hat and pink Homespun for the beard and mustache. I wanted the mustache to be less intrusive, so I worked it to have a more upturned structure. The result was a snug fitting hat with a beautiful furry beard.

Having been beaten down by requests from this family, I gave in and offered to make one for the mom. To my surprise, she didn't want to look like a hirsute Viking. This turned out to be my biggest challenge: A lady Viking hat complete with horns and yellow braids. I started with the boy beanie hat in The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller. I used the same light gray for the hat. The pattern uses double crochet throughout, but I'm tempted to try it in all single crochet next time for a more solid look.

My next task was the horns. I started with a tube. After a few rounds I began to decrease on one side only to create the upturned horn look. I kept the horns small, so that they wouldn't be floppy when I stuffed and mounted them on the hat. For yellow braids, I used Lion Brand Cupcake . It had a pleasantly kinky/shiny effect. I liked it so much, I'm making one for myself!

My work is done. Go forth and enjoy your hats, but don't wear them into a bank or government building.....

The devil made me do it...

I did not set out to make a gonzo-like creature, but the inner muppet in me emerged when I tried to crochet the devil in the book Creepy Cute Crochet by Christina Haden. Her book is full of ninjas, office zombies, evil monkeys and even a Xena warrior princess look alike. They are all based on a two part head/body pattern, with myriad variations. I did achieve the basic body structure, but when it came down to embellishments, I had to go my own way. She uses a lot of felt cut outs for decorations and accessories. I'm more of a purist at the moment, wanting to fashion any facial characteristics or accoutrements with yarn. I tried not to stray from the path.....

Amigurumi Super Cute

The other day I went to Twisted on Broadway to take a class in Amigurumi, the art of crocheting super cute characters. (Also the name of the book we used). The instructions in our book were in Japanese, but the patterns were so visually oriented that it was easy to figure out what to do. Great for those who absorb information in that way.

It's all done with single crochet, decreases and increases. Once you learn the basic design, it's easy to branch out and come up with your own ideas. There is no limit to the acute cuteness you can achieve!

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