Posted in drawing

Lino-Cut Fun

On Sunday I posted the sketches that I did in anticipation of a print-making class I was planning to attend. Today I’m showing the fun stuff I made at that class.

The instructor, Justine Cherwick, was quiet, modest and thoroughly prepared. She started us off with a circle-in-a-rectangle design for practice. Each quadrant was carved in a different design.

Stamp and Print

That was quite easy and very satisfying. Next, Justine transposed our initials in reverse on a blank block and we carved stamps of them.

So far, so good. For our third exercise, we each selected from a group of Halloween designs to carve a 3 x 4 block. I loved this cat with a skull and sickle.

The stray faint lines and dots you see around the edges of the main design are called “noise.” Some artists like this effect, others not-so-much. It’s easy to carve them off after you’ve done your test print.

And now for the big finale. I chose to carve the beach scene. Here is my sketch.

You will have to imagine that the dark marks will become white and the white background will print black. Here is my finished block.

And my print.

For a first try, it’s not too bad. Good enough to encourage me to try making more lino-cut work.

And finally, here are the Halloween postcards I printed and sent to the grandkids.

Dressed up with some echo lines.
A touch of orange and a barbed wire border
Posted in crochet

Goofy Grinning Ghost

Tomorrow is the first session of my Crochet in the Round workshop for children. I have eleven students registered, which is a lot to teach. Fortunately I recruited two of last year’s students to be teacher aides. Yesterday I met with my team so we could practice our stitches. I feel pretty ready.

I’ve been having lots of fun crocheting assorted objects in the round that might be appealing to children. Mr. Ghost is awfully cute, and seasonally correct! It is begun like all circular crochet projects, with a group of stitches worked into one chain stitch or magic ring. Subsequent rounds are increased, and then decreased as the shaping requires. While I found this pattern not difficult, I am uncertain whether an eight-year old can manage it. The arms were the trickiest part, because they were so small to hold. The eyes are made of white felt, marked with a sharpie and sewn on with black embroidery floss. The mouth is also black floss.

If you want to try a ghost, the pattern is available free at Lion Brand yarn.

Genie the Ghost Pattern (Crochet)