Sarah's Spotlight - Storyknit

I very happily received the newest issue of Interweave Knits on Thursday. In it, I came across a short article on Tom Hohmann, owner of Storyknit. I found his story very interesting and decided I would share it here. Because all of Tom's work is custom-made, I only have a couple photographs to show off some headbands that Tom has designed. However, anyone who wants to see more can check out page 14 of Interweave Knits. You will certainly not be disappointed!

What I find most interesting about Tom's work is that he truly tells a story with each piece he creates. He learned to crochet for a school project in the third grade and started knitting many years later at the age of 24. He found knitting kept him busy during long tours with his band. He says that he found music and knitting to go very well together and will carry themes across both art forms.

Tom then took a great leap from knitting to designing his own, very unique and complex, patterns. He sat down to design his first sweater with graph paper and colored pencils. He admits that while the sweater looked great from the outside, it left a little to be desired on the inside with numerous color changes!

What Tom creates is truly personalized to the customer. He is influenced by Native American art, culture, and history. However, Tom will design whatever the customer asks of him. He calls his clothing "wearable artwork." While I consider myself to be a knitter, Tom is truly an artist. He says it averages about 4 weeks to design sweaters for customers. He also creates headbands and hoods, which take a shorter amount of time to design and create.

Below is a photograph of the design process in action. I can assure you that none of my knitting patterns look this intricate!

Sarah's Spotlight - Gourds By Design

There are gourds, and then there are gourds. The vases and bowls found at Gourds By Design definitely fall into the "and then there are gourds" category. I happen to like gourds quite bit and am mostly used to the soft ornamental gourds my mom put out every Halloween with our pumpkins. Then I came across Gourds By Design and found a whole new world of gourds!

The owner of this shop admits that she discovered gourds by accident. She has been a crafter and enjoys making clothes, weaving fabrics, knitting, and quilting. Then she came across a book on gourd art, and we can all see what direction she went in!

I'm definitely impressed reading about the process of gourd art. When I first came across her shop, I thought the owner is a very good painter who happens to paint on gourds. The owner gives a very good description in her profile which helps the shopper really appreciate the art. Here are the steps involved in making each gourd you see in this shop:

1) Cut the gourd to the shape you want and then sand the edges to smooth them out;

2) Remove the tough fibers from inside the gourd. This artists paints the insides of her gourds black to give it a finished look;

3) Draw a design on the outside of the gourd;

4) The pencil lines are wood burned onto the gourd;

5) Paint the gourd with three coats of archival quality ink dyes;

6) Varnish the gourd with three coats of a varnish designed to be used on gourds - this gives the gourd the glossy finish that you see. 

You can see for yourself that the end result is stunning! These gourds are meant for decorative use only. They should not be used for food or water. I love to see the variety of designs that this artist uses. A large number of her designs seem to be inspired by nature, but there are also vases and bowls with geometrical patterns on them. She even currently has one necklace with a gourd pendant! How creative!

If you buy two gourds, the second one ships for free! Be sure to take advantage of this great deal!