Sharpening your innovative skills means inviting some playful work. Make no mistake, cultivating creativity takes hard work, but it can be incredibly fun and rewarding.

It began as a series of guerrilla strikes – the culprits sneaking out under cover of darkness, taking to the streets, tagging fire hydrants and sign poles.

With yarn.

Bright, knitted cozies have been appearing with increasing regularity on urban landscapes in cities around the world.

A "Keep Off Median" sign in Berkeley. A parking meter in Seattle. A phone booth in London. A bus in Mexico City. And a signpost in Sacramento.

All have been wrapped in knitting as part of a street art called "yarn bombing," which can best be described as graffiti with knitting....

"Museums by their very nature tend to be rather staid, bureaucratic institutions," said Lial Jones, executive director of the Crocker. "Frankly, it's kind of fun to have a yarn bomb piece in front of the museum."...

Some yarn bombers – including the knitter who tagged the pole outside the Crocker in mid-November – are remaining anonymous.

"Streetcolor" keeps a blog to document the yarn bombing exploits of her apprentice, known as "The Russian," and herself. Contacted at an e-mail address on her blog and by telephone, she said she struck first in Kensington, then tagged a signpost outside the Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley.

Yarn bombing became a way of reconnecting with familiar places, she said. She knits sets of long strips and keeps an eye out for targets. When she chooses one, she joins the strips around the target – a signpost or light pole, for example – and secures them with a crude whipstitch.

The American Folk Art Museum is rectifying this situation with the opening of the first installment in a year-long exhibit highlighting America's quilt heritage. During the year, the exhibit will celebrate three centuries of women whose textile creations clearly demonstrate artistic talent as well as ingenuity, and perseverance.

Bringing various forms of art to public spaces has always had its share of detractors and supporters. No expressive medium, individually or combined, is exempt from varying degrees of scrutiny. Enter the new wave: graffiti tags presented in stitched format.

It really did. She placed a piece of paper under the tree's branches and attached an ink-dipped brush to a bough. Then she gave the tree some quiet time. When she returned, the tree had conspired with the wind to whip out a naturally flowing design of flicks and lashes.

I am into a lot of different crafts, once I learned the basics I started to teach myself other crafts...Basket weaving was one of them...
Now we know that there are jokes about 'basket weaving' but it is one of the oldest crafting forms sine the dawn of man... Each community would have their special patterns and use the materials that are found locally...Pine needles, grasses, vines, woods, bark, etc. Using leaves, roots, flowers, etc to even dye those baskets...
See the quick Wiki-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketry

Since I have started to learn basket weaving I have learned about a couple of sites that I use regularly...one being The Basket Makers Catalog, they have an online source for materials, tools, and books plus free patterns...
I have decided to make an article about a Williamsburg style basket...since I have made one. It uses a handle that is pre-formed, flat on the bottom and wide in the middle, sort of like a circle that is been flattened on the bottom... This gives the basket a wider top with the sides sloping outward as you progress up from the bottom... It is perfect for those trips to the market. In fact I have used mine while visiting our local Farmers Markets. I think I want to make a bigger one though...or carry two baskets...I haven't decided yet...
For more about Williamsburg visit...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamsburg,_Virginia

Here is a fascinating glimpse into basket making during the colonial days...With a slide show of the steps involved in years past...this is not the simple craft we have today...this was work...

http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Spring06/basketmaking.cfm

http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Spring06/basketmaker_slideshow/

Williamsburg Basket
Pattern Guidelines by Beth Hester
Can also be found with links for 'ordering' supplies if you don't have them, at-

http://www.basketmakerscatalog.com/mfiles/4hwilliamsburgbasket.mv

The Basket Maker's Catalog is again privileged to teach a group of Allen County Kentucky 4-Hers. This summer's 4-H Basket Project is the Williamsburg Basket, made with a medium-sized Williamsburg 'D' Handle; it's accented with 3 rows of green (the official 4-H color). To find out more about 4-H, a community of 6 million young people across America learning leadership, citizenship and life skills, visit www.4-h.org.

Base: 5" x 5"
Height: 11.5" (with handle)
Diameter: 10"

Materials/Supplies:
Description Quantity Basket Part
5/8" Flat Reed 50ft Stakes & Weavers
1/4 " Moss Green Flat Dyed Reed 6 ft. Weavers
5/8" Green Flat Dyed Reed 3 ft. Weaver
3/8" Flat 3 ft. Weaver
Medium Williamsburg 1 Handle (5" x 11.5")
1/2" Flat Oval 6 ft. Rims
#3 Seagrass 3 ft. Rim Filler
1/4" Flat 8 ft. Lashing

Hints in working with Reed

1. When the pattern calls for soaking your flat reed, soaking 1 or 2 minutes in warm water is usually long enough to make reed flexible; seagrass needs only to be spritzed. Soak the Flat Oval Reed for 5 to 10 minutes in hot water. If reed becomes dry while you are weaving, dip it in water for a few seconds.

2. Soak natural reed and dyed reed in separate containers. Rinse dyed reed well & wipe before using.

3. Do not over soak your reed, it will become mushy.

4. Flat reed has a smooth side and a rough side. You can determine the rough side by sharply bending a wet piece of reed in half. The rough side will usually fray or splinter more than the smooth side.

5. Keep your weaving even as you make your basket. Leave no space between the rows on the sides.

6. As you weave, gently pull on the stakes, leaning them outward and allowing the basket to open into a round 10" diameter at the top.

7. Reed should be completely dry before being stored.

Weaving the Base-
Using a pencil, mark the inside center of the handle's base length.
Cut 9 stakes 24" long from 5/8" Flat Reed (heaviest weight). Soak all the stakes. Mark two stakes in the center on the rough side of the reed with a pencil. Place a twist-tie around the center of another stake and lay this stake rough side up on top of the handle at a 90° angle, aligning the handle mark and twist-tie. NOTE: The twist-tie identifies the center of the base. All stakes will be woven rough side up and placed about 3/8" apart.

Place one marked stake to each side of the twist-tied stake, hiding the center marks under the handle. Next, weave 1 stake on each side of the handle--parallel to the handle--weaving over the center stake and under the other 2 stakes. Adjust these stakes so they are centered with 3/8" space between.
See Photo 1. "Williamsburg Basket"

Weave another stake parallel to each side of the handle.

The two final stakes continue the alternating over one, under one pattern and are woven across the handle's base. Adjust base to measure 5" x 5" and secure corners of base with clothespins.
See Photo 2. "Williamsburg Basket"

Stakes will extend about 9.5" from the edge of the base on all sides. Re-wet the stakes at the perimeter of the base and upset the basket by creasing each stake upward.

Use the most flexible weaver you can find for the first 2 rows of weaving. Push the stakes outward while weaving the first 2 rows; you are working toward an open / rounded shape. Pull stakes outward as you weave to create the "Williamsburg" shape. Overlap the beginning and ending of each row across 4 stakes. Weave the sides in plain weave (rough side to the inside) as follows:

Rows 1 - 6 5/8" Flat
Row 7 1/4" Dyed Reed
Row 8 5/8" Dyed Reed
Row 9 1/4" Dyed Reed
Row 10 - 11 5/8" Flat
Row 12 3/8" Flat

Soak or spray stakes that extend above the top row. Pack rows. Crease, trim to length, then tuck each stake where the top 3/8" row of weaver is on the inside of the basket. Hide each tucked end behind a row of 5/8" Flat Reed on the inside of your basket.

Cut all remaining stakes flush with the top of the basket. See Fig. 1. Williamsburg Basket

Sand the 1/2" Flat Oval if desired, then soak. Determine the rim lengths, allowing about a 4" overlap. Mark and carve the overlap.

Attach rims and #3 Seagrass rim filler to the basket with cable ties.

Using 1/4" Flat Reed, single lash the rims to the basket (creating an interwoven backstitch at the handles if desired). See photo of completed basket.
Sand the handle. Sign and date your basket. Enjoy!

From me-in addition to those final steps I usually coat the baskets with a layer or two of 'varnish'...this protects the basket and gives it a harder sturdier finish...

Also here is the link to the Basket Makers Catalog

http://www.basketmakerscatalog.com/index.shtml

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I sure hope you take the time to make a basket yourself...its easy and its fun, and you get something useful when your finished...
Enjoy. D
PS. Yes, those 3 smaller pictures of the Williamsburg basket is one I made...

Well as most of us have noticed visiting our local Walmarts that their section for crocheting and sewing is getting smaller and smaller.

Alice Nez Horseherder, a Navajo sheep herder her entire life, lives in Hard Rock, Arizona in the the Black Mesa Region.

I live here in Sacramento near the Sutter's Fort and for many decades the State's Indian Musuem was located there with a special exhibit of fabulously made pine needle baskets that the natives made centuries ago. I always admired them.

Artist Mark Newport has learned how to keep all the superheroes warm in the winter, with his knitted super-onesies. But that's not all. They also make an important statement about masculinity. Gallery of yarns below!

Knitting artist and Cylon sympathizer Thea has created a fantastic Centurion stocking cap. More details and pics await you, but if BSG isn't your flavor, how about a Twilight knit to spark your interest?

Georgia Tech grad student Matt Gilbert has been making some awesome crochet from a pattern generator he made, finding inspiration in acoustics. He and I share a strong opinion that computing and iterative crafting (crochet, knitting, weaving, etc.) have much in common.

WHERE other graffiti artists use spraypaint, Denise Litchfield uses wool.

Litchfield is part of a growing global movement of guerilla knitters, who stitch their handmade creations onto trees, poles, street lights and other objects in the public domain.

On Saturday, December 06, 2008 I was heading out of town to meet my sister for a lunch and a visit with our mother.

A beautiful new book from Tilbury House Publishers in Maine showcases the words and artistic productions of more than 35 artists from the Wabanaki and Haudenosaunee confederacies.

"North by Northeast: Wabanaki, Akwesasne Mohawk, and Tuscarora Traditional Arts," created by folklorist Kathleen Mundell, brings together her own writings in collaboration with those of tribal members and several of the artists, whose comments reveal how their work and lives weave intricately talk about their work and lives are integrally interwoven with their cultural traditions and place. Nearly 200 stunning photographs illustrate virtually every page of the 128-page book.

Ten groups of craftswomen have contributed to a massive tapestry illustrating various aspects of women's lives. They sewed sections to show a particular theme such as childhood, education, marriage or old age, for the unique giant wall hanging.

The resulting cross-cultural patchwork, 'A Stitch In Time', will be exhibited for a month at The Gallery at Willesden Green before being found a permanent home, hopefully at a local hospital.

If you have decided to knit or crochet a bag from plastic bags, you'll need to know how to prepare the plastic bag first. This article demonstrates how to create the ribbon of plastic needed for creating the "plastic yarn" that you can use for knitting or crocheting your new bag.

Fluttering wispy wings, Wisconsin butterflies come in for a sip from the puddles standing atop the cobblestone path. Leaves, acorns and dandelions dress the trail. Nature almost comes alive when Anita Carpenter sews her artistic visions onto her quilts, such as the "Wisconsin Butterfly Quilt."

The morning a Press co-worker delivered three large boxes of fabric to my desk, I knew it was going to be a great day.
Phil Dunneback kindly helped me load the boxes into my car and also passed along a letter from his mother, Mary Dunneback, 82, of Comstock Park. She was entrusting her fabric to me, to do good in the craft world, and I knew I had to step up.

Gunderson was one of 95 applicants; she was accepted after submitting samples of her fiber art using hand-dyed and commercial blended fabrics made into embellished art quilts. The $4,000 grant covers travel, workshops and supplies. Gunderson will attend three retreats for artists throughout the year, provided by the Bush Foundation, and will work with professional artists one-on-one.

When most people think about Inuit art, they envision soapstone carvings of polar bears and kayakers. For those who think out of the box, beaded moccasins might spring to mind.

The reality of Inuit art -- especially today -- is far more complex, with each community hosting an entire range of specialists in various visual arts fields, and some communities becoming especially well known for mastery of a particular genre.

In the tiny Baffin Island hamlet of Pangnirtung, on the Arctic Circle, that specialty is weaving and textiles, an art form they have developed to a far greater degree than any other Inuit community.

I had the opportunity to visit Pangnirtung some years back, as it was the jumping off point for a week-long hiking trip through Auyuiituq National Park Reserve, also known as The Land That Never Melts, owing to the location of the massive Penny Ice Cap on the fringe of the park's domains. Prior to my trip, I had the opportunity to explore some of the town's cultural offerings, and was astonished by the degree to which weaving took pride of place in the community.

Unsurprisingly,weaving is not a centuries-old tradition with the Inuit. A semi-nomadic people until the latter half of the Twentieth Century, they were unable to support the required infrastructure such as looms and dying operations.

And who ever saw a sheep on the tundra?

In 1953, the Canadian government announced its Inuit Resettlement Project, which was initiated in an attempt to cope with dwindling game supplies. It had, as a secondary objective, the goal of more fully integrating the Inuit into mainstream societey. Government trading stores were set up, wooden frame houses built and Inuit constables appointed, and the Inuit were essentially dragged from their traditional nomadic hunting lifestyle into a sedentary, village-based social structure.

Of particular interest is the transfer of Eskimo from areas where food resources are depleted to regions further north where oame is believed to be more plentiful. This experiment is being carried out by the Department of Northern Affairs and supervised by the R.C.M.P. detachments at Resolute, Craig Harbour, and Alexandra Fiord.

- RCMP Report to Cabinet, March l 954

It didn't agree with them at all, and in an attempt to provide renewed cultural ties among the people, the government announced injections of funds and support to communities all over the arctic. In Pangnirtung, this support took the form of weaver Donald Stuart, who in 1969 was sent by the government to teach a group of women in the hamlet the art of weaving. While the form was new to them, it capitalized beautifully on skills they had inherited from thousands of years of handmade sewing and clothing tradition.

Since then, numerous weavers from Pangnirtung have become internationally known for their unique tapestries, which almost without exception focus on the life of the Inuit before the resesettlement project. They have been featured in exhibitions throughout Canada and around the world.

Key to the success of the tapestry weaving in Pangnirtung has been the Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and Crafts, built in the 1990s to serve as a communal gathering place for artists of all types in the region. Part of the Art Centre is the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio, which currently serves as a communal gathering place for four Senior Tapestry Weavers, one Senior Craft Weaver and four Apprentice Weavers.

And, while Donald Stuart is long gone, the weavers still have support from the southern arts world. Today, Deborah Hickman, a tapestry artist Nova Scotia serves the weavers as an artistic adviser to the Uqqurmiut weavers. In a 2006 article, Hickman told feature writer Dyan Cross:

"An edition can take years to complete... the subtle variations in tapestry colours are achieved by blending different colours of single-ply yarn, " she says. This technique, similar to mixing paints, makes it possible to "paint" with wool. Attention to detail is a hallmark of the Pangnirtung tapestries. The warp ends on the top and bottom, for example, are woven back to finish the edges and a linen sleeve is applied to the back of the tapestry. Information about the tapestry is written directly onto the sleeve in English and Inuktitut -- the names of both the drawing artist and the tapestry artist are given.

In their earliest days, the weavers of 'Pang' concentrated on capturing their old folkways, in a bold graphic style, a focus which resulted in a highly valuable record of the methods used by the Inuit for living on the land, all the more precious because today those who can remember those folkways are almost all gone.

Today, the young weavers most often produce works capturing the beauty of the pristine Arctic environment around them. One hopes that in a generation we will not look back and consider their works valuable because that environment, too, has become a historical relic.

The artist was named the Artist of the Year by her fellow members of the Visual Arts Society of Texas. Most of Denton's art buffs know Littman as a quilter. Or maybe it's better to describe Littman as a skillful painter who just needs the touchable challenge of fiber, thread, bead and batting. It doesn't hurt matters that Littman has a lot of poetry in her soul.

As promised, a pictorial walk through the studio I used to do my weaving. Sadly, I now need to disassemble my loom and box it up to await the next place where I will have room for it. Although I have thinking of selling it because I have my eye on a new one. So many looms, so little time...

It is a Rio Grande Walking loom. This kind of loom is used by some of the Native American tribes of the American Southwest, Mexico and Central America for approximately 400 years. It was custom built to be comfortable for me in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

You stand on the treadles while weaving and 'walk' on to the opposite ones to change your shed. This makes it easy to weave wide tapestries. Also, it is a nice counter to sitting in front of a computer.

Here is a little history of the Rio Grande weaving tradition:

http://www.chimayoweavers.com/Merchant2/rghistory.htm

I learned to weave tapestry and dye my own wool from James Koehler, a former Benedictine monk, whose works have shown in the Smithsonian and US embassies all over the world.

His site is a must see!
http://www.jameskoehler.com/

I welcome any questions about my favorite form of meditation - weaving.