Everything But the Kitchen Sink: An Early Autumn Q & A

 I really liked the way you showed how just doubling a design or turning half of it upside down makes pretty new designs. (Our July 12th issue) I never thought about doing that.  Are you going to do more designs like that?'

I'm happy that you liked the designs. I'm going to give you a few more today.  I'm planning to do an issue about different ways to "turn the corners" on designs so that you can make borders around a pattern or "frame" a piece of fabric.  One way does not suit every design, so I will show several.  But that will be some time in the future.  It takes time to make all the samples, and this is a busy time of the year with the holidays all the way through New Year's.  You might use our Search function (in the sidebar) to find past posts on needlework designs in the meantime.

"Frames"

I did make an interesting discovery while I was making a simple sample to show you about framing a space.  It surprised me.   I could not remember being told about it in any of my many needle arts books. What I was doing was showing how to do a simple two-color "frame" around an open space. I started my sample by making upright stitches over an even number of the little "bars" that make the openings of the squares in the canvas.  I got a nice little rectangle, but it was rather small. Next to it I did the same routine with one more bar, which made a perfect square.  Does that mean I will get a rectangle when I stitch over an even number of bars and a square only when I stitch over an odd number of bars?  I tried another, larger sample.  Sure enough, it worked just like before.   I could not remember ever seeing that fact in any of my many needlework books.  I even checked several with no luck.  It seems I had discovered a nice little "rule of thumb"!  I'm thinking of calling it "Annake's Rule"!

Here are the other samples I promised you.  Have fun!

Why doesn't everybody count the Equinox as the first day of Fall?

In the countries and states which are farthest north or are largely mountainous, Fall is already over by September 22nd and Winter has begun.   Other places decide when Fall starts depending upon when the leaves change color or when a particular crop is harvested.  Still others start Fall on the first full moon after the Equinox, which wasn't until October this year. When I was a child. my father and I gathered in pumpkins, some kinds of squash, and some kinds of seed corn by that full moon and it was magical.

Why are the flowers that you put at the end of the story of the equinox so raggedy looking?

A composite flower

Because they are composites.  They are one of the latest kinds of flowers to appear on Earth, along with orchids — which have some neat tricks of their own.  A composite is really two different kinds of flowers on the same stem.  The outer ones that you call raggedy are there to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. They usually have light or bright color, while the centers are often dark.  They may have a fragrance and small amounts of nectar.  They don't produce seeds themselves;  that is done by the center flowers. The pollinator usually walks across the center of the flower to get to the other side. As it does so it picks up pollen which it tracks across the center of the next flower of the same kind, allowing it to be pollinated.  Then the center flower can make seeds for the next generation.  In this way it can spread over larger and larger areas of land.  The flower parts are really easy to see on a sunflower. 

I hope you don't mind my asking you a crazy question, but I keep feeling that I remember something about frogs in the Bible, but I’m not sure what it was. Do you know?

That isn't a crazy question at all.  Actually, there are several mentions, with differing translations depending on which version you have.  There are also mentions of them in the works of many other religions, from Jewish and Islamic to Olmec and Toltec writings in ancient South America.  Frogs feature in the literature of Egypt, China, and Japan, as well.  Since this made a lasting impression on you, I suspect it comes from the Book of EXODUS.  Start at EXODUS, 4, and read and I think you will find your frogs. What is said about them differs, however, depending on the particular version you have.  Good luck in your quest.

We sure got a lot of fun out of those frogs!  But now my kids want to know all about toads.  They made me a list to give you. 

• What is the biggest toad?
• What is the smallest toad?
• Where do they live?
• How are toads different from frogs?
• What do they eat?
• How long do they live?
• How do they defend themselves?
• Were there toads when there were dinosaurs?

I sure hope you have the answers!

That is a really good list of questions.  You have some smart youngsters.  I will answer the questions one at a time and hope that my answers are up to date, because new information comes in all the time.

Cane Toad

1.  The largest toads are the Cane Toads of tropical South America.  They can be more than 9 inches long and weigh more than 2 pounds.   They have invaded both Florida, where they are being hunted and killed because they are destroying native animals at a great rate, and the Southwest through Texas.  Introduced into Australia, they have invaded African and Asian countries, killing off native species.   The largest one ever known was kept as a pet and weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces and was 1 foot,  3 inches long.
   

Oak Toad

2.  The smallest known toad species is the Oak Toad.  It is found in backyards in the northeastern United States and Canada.  It is only 1.3 inches long. (That is about 33 mm, or 1 and 5/16 inches.) Scientists may eventually find even tinier ones.

3.  Toads live on all the continents except Antarctica.  With so much of it losing its icy covering because of a warming climate, we may find fossils there that tell they lived on that continent, too, millions of years ago.
 
4.   Toads have dry, often bumpy, skins, while frogs have moist ones.  Unlike frogs, toads do not have to live in or near water and some can be found in dry desert environments.  The only time most toads must be near water is when it is time to find a mate.  The males make a great deal of noise in hopes of attracting a female.  The female lays her eggs in the water.  The toads hatch as tadpoles, but they grow legs instead of tails and soon lose their gills. At that point they can leave the water until mating time comes the next year.  But some species do not produce tadpoles.  The eggs hatch and little "toadlets" emerge and go off to find something to eat.

 

Tadpoles

5.   The small ones eat insects, worms, snails, and small mammals like mice. Larger ones eat many of the same things, but also small snakes, larger small mammals, and eggs and baby birds of species that nest on or near the ground.

Golden Toad

6.  The greenish-blue and greenish-gray ones stay where there are plants growing close to the ground.   They stay close to or underneath them.   Others are brightly colored to advertise how poisonous they are.  And, as I said, they puff themselves up to look much larger than they actually are.

 

Yellow-bellied Toad

7.   Most species live 5 to 10 years, but there was one kept in captivity, fed and protected, that is said to have lived nearly 40 years.

8.   Yes,  they were around at the same times as dinosaurs.   A recent fossil was found from about 70 million years ago that was so large they have given it a scientific name that means "Devil Toad".

It was several times the size of today's species and would have weighed 10 pounds or more.  An artist's rendition of it shows a huge mouth.  Above the eyes were two horn-like bony structures.  It had sharp teeth. It was certainly large enough to have eaten dinosaur eggs and newly hatched baby dinosaurs.  It's skin was probably rough and bumpy across the back, with a pattern of brown lines.  Its skin was lighter and smoother on the underside.  What impressed me most was that its eyes were at the front of its head instead of on the sides, so that it was looking right at its prey, much like the newly found living giant frog we gave you the link to in the former article. For a look at one artist’s re-creation of the “Devil toad”, go to

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebufo#/media/File:Beelzebufo_BW.jpg

Finally, a last minute question about the post that immediately precedes this one, which I’ll turn over to J.D., since he is responsible for all our illustration (as well as the research that led to the last section of that article):

You said Julie Manet Rouart was an artist, like her mother. Why didn’t you show any of her work?

Since we don’t monetize this blog (that is, we do not make any money from it’s publication), we have to depend on our own work or public domain sources for illustrations.

Sample Public domain notice (from Wikimedia)

As you may recall from the post in question, Julie lived until the year 1966 — which means her works are still copyrighted in most countries, and so NOT in the public domain.

—J.D.

I hope this has answered some of your questions. Enjoy!

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Adventures with Stitches: Early Summer Q & A, 2021

I have read all the articles in your Archive, back to the beginning, about Blackwork.  Are you going to do any more on that subject?

Goodness!  You must really like that technique!  I hope you also read the information on Redwork and Whitework, which use similar techniques.  Today I am going to discuss a technique I call China Bluework, which I hope will please you. As is often true when discussing any kind of artwork, it is necessary to give some background information.

 

Jade pendant &earrings, ivory earrings, white silk

From the 16th through the 18th Centuries wealthy people in Europe were importing a great number of things from China, including porcelain, jade, carved ivory and silk.  The porcelain pieces included dishes, pitchers, jewelry boxes, plaques and tiles, many of which were decorated with scenes and delicate designs in one to three shades of blue on white porcelain.

It wasn't long before European countries  decided to "cash in" with similar ware. The most successful were the Dutch.  The best pieces, which came to be called Delft Blue, were made in factories in or near Delft, Holland, beginning about 1620.  Although the potters called their ware "porcelain", it was a cheap copy of real Chinese porcelain, which was made from porcelain clay.  These pieces were made from an inferior clay and were coated with a glaze after they were fired. Nevertheless, handsome pieces were made.  At one time, there were more than 300 factories. Only one, Royal Dutch, exists today.  The little pitcher you see here, which has been in my family for generations, was probably made in the Makkum, Friesland factory, since my grandmother was born in Friesland. The factory, on an island off the coast of the Dutch mainland, was established in 1594. It was still operating after World War II and may have gone on for some time after that.

I think these three patterns are ones that we have not shown before.  I have done each one in a single color to make the design easier to follow, but there is no reason that you cannot use as many colors as you like. If you are using the design to cover a large area, "stack" the repeats of the design without spaces between them. You may have to add some small joining stitches to anchor the rows.  If there are places where you cannot work all of the design, work as much of each row as you can. You may want to separate the areas of your finished work with a single row of stitching in something like outline or chain stitch to give it a more elegant effect.

Hereafter I will call this technique Bluework.  You will need at least 3 distinct shades of blue yarn or floss. It should be worked on a white or pale cream background if you want authenticity.  Another way to use the three shades of blue would be in a sampler of designs,  using all three shades of blue, that would be suitable for framing.  Each one could also be used alone as an all-over pattern for something like a pillow top. I will take up the topic of samplers again in a future article.

Here is a simple Oriental design to be worked in straight stitches as well as Bluework patterns.  I would suggest that you use more than just the light, medium, and dark blue flosses or yarns and collect more shades of blue, perhaps adding blue-greens and blue-violets.  The arches are in satin stitch done vertically and the back braces of the bridge are worked horizontally. The little finials at the tops of the bridge gates are made with three French knots. The water is done with alternating medium and light blues to suggest motion and reflection, using something like chain stitch for texture.

I have broken with tradition to also present the bridge in the red that is usually used on such bridges. The large areas should be outlined with stitches. You can wait to do this until the patterns are done.  I prefer to outline first. I then do as much of the pattern stitch as I can, slide the point of my needle under the outline and secure the stitch on the back of the work. There is quite a bit of empty sky at the top of the pattern. You may want to put in a cloud or two, the sun, kites flying, etc.  I indicated a couple of birds coming down for a drink as an example.

You can download a (hand-drawn) pattern for this design here. Have fun!

In your recent post about the summer solstice, you said that all the countries in one quiz are in the Northern Hemisphere; but what about Egypt?

No. The statement that all were in the Northern Hemisphere referred to the sentence immediately preceding it, which suggested a person might need a map to find unfamiliar countries like Latvia or Croatia.  I assume that almost anyone could find Egypt on a map or globe. (Incidentally, Egypt is in the Northern Hemisphere; the majority of it is even above the Tropic of Cancer. Check it for yourself!)

From time to time you decorate your articles with border designs. Are you going to do some more of those?

Your question fit so neatly with the one about blackwork that I decided to devote most of this Q and A to design work.  I have indeed been working on a series of border designs, beginning with simple ones shown singly and then designs doubled by working them also in reverse.  Patterns like those can often be adapted to other techniques, such as counted cross-stitch or Swedish weaving. (You can use the Search feature in our sidebar to find articles on such subjects if you have missed them.)  As usual, I recommend doing one or two samples or small projects in ANY new technique before starting a larger project.  Too many of those get abandoned before they are completed.  Also, don't be afraid to combine two or more techniques in your own original designs.  Express your personality.

Here are some simple one-color designs.  They can be used vertically or horizontally.  With a little careful shifting around, the leaf motif could even make a "frame" for a picture or canvas. The stitches can be done in counted cross-stitch or solid satin stitch in floss on even-weave fabric or checked gingham, or in upright stitches (gobelin) on needlepoint canvas.  Try the stitches on scraps of different weaves or patterned backgrounds until you find a combination that you like.

Sometimes a simple design can be improved by mirror-imaging it like this sample. I also added an additional row of the red border in the middle of the reversed design to make it show up better.  The technique is something you can try on any border design which has a straight-edged base.  If you don't like the white parts of the design, use an additional color, but keep that color light because you already have a dark and a medium color in the design.  To make a narrow border from a wide one, find the center of the design and cut the design apart horizontally.

Here are some more simple border designs that have been doubled.

 

Color schemes can be revised endlessly. Take time to experiment on scraps of fabric before you start a large project.  Or make an old-fashioned "sampler" of designs. You may find such a piece worthy of framing and hanging. On a personal note, I sincerely hope that at least some of you who are dedicated "stitchers" will take the time and effort to pass on your skills to young people and give them a start on their own Adventures With Stitches.

Enjoy your work!

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White Super Paint, Black Cats, and Colors We Don't Really See

"Big Blue Marble", NASA photo from Apollo 17

 As we transition back into a semblance of normality from the pandemic lockdown, we found ourselves with a few mismatched pieces that didn't quite fit in previous posts, some updates from recent news articles, and a few new questions from readers that we wanted to deal with before we launch several new topic threads in this blog. So, we've presented some of them here in the format of one of our seasonal Q & A posts.

 — J.D.

 

You mentioned a white paint that was somehow "super" in the Psychology of Color article. Can you tell us more about that?

Yes. Engineers at Purdue University have come up with an ultra-white paint. The process took nearly six years. The paint reflects approximately 98 % of sunlight, which has a major cooling effect. The idea is not new. People who live in very hot countries have used light-colored building materials or very white paints to cool their homes for centuries.  The engineers used a compound of barium and sulfur. This isn't new either.  The same compound is used in making photographic paper and in some cosmetics.

Painting roofs with this paint could cool houses and cars more efficiently than any type of air conditioning — and at far less cost. If used on a large scale on roofs and the tops of vehicles, perhaps even on ships,  total energy use could be reduced markedly.  Reduced energy use would reduce climate change over large portions of the planet.

Do you know that I had to look up more words in the dictionary to understand your article on The Psychology of Color than I have had to do for whole chapters of my high school textbooks?  I've got pages and pages of notes!!!! I don't know if I will ever use some of them but I will know them if I see them again!!!! Whew! Should I thank you or what?

No need to thank me. You did all the work. I am impressed and extremely proud of you. I hope you are equally as proud of yourself.  I had a group of girls in one of my classes who decided to learn a new word every day. They would get together at lunch to exchange lists.  By the end of the year they had fat notebooks, too, but they never attempted to do as much in as short a time as you have done — and it was a collective effort. May I suggest one more addition to your notebook? Write a sentence for each word that is not the same as the sentence you may have found in your dictionary, but that is just as accurate. Then you will truly have command of that word. Congratulations!

You showed a picture of a black cat but didn't talk about it. How did it happen that people thought it was bad luck if a black cat crossed your path? Do you know?

That is a long and complicated story, but I will try to give you a condensed version.  Cats, especially black ones, were revered as long ago as 3000 B.C. (BCE). They were often mummified after they died and placed in tombs. They kept the mice and rats out of food storage and were good companions. To kill one was a death sentence. The Japanese also held cats in high esteem.  

Then came the Middle Ages in Europe (500 to 1500 AD). a time when literacy wasn't widespread and superstitions flourished.  The Spanish appear to be the first to associate black cats with witches.  The Irish, Welsh, and Scots didn't seem to take the idea seriously, but the English and Germanic tribes did.  It is an English story that seems to have done the damage. It goes like this: a man and his son were walking along a path one evening when a black cat appeared on the same path. They threw rocks at it to drive it away and struck it hard on one leg. It ran into the house of a lone woman whom some people thought practiced witchcraft. The next day the man and his son saw the woman, who was limping. These two "geniuses" then told everybody that the limp was from a rock they threw at her the night before when she was in the body of a black cat. The story spread like wildfire and became the cause of the idea that it was bad luck to have a black cat cross your path.   During the long pandemic of Bubonic Plague, people killed thousands of black cats. Now that caused REALLY bad luck because the plague was carried by mice and rats, which those cats could have killed and kept the plague from spreading! The Europeans brought their superstitions to America, causing such disasters as the Salem Witch Trials, in which 200 people were accused of witchcraft — and 19 of them were hanged.

There is a story going around that it is difficult to get people to adopt black cats from shelters, but the statistics don't support it.  Of all the many cats my family has lived with, more were black than any other color.  A word of caution, though.  Black cats are still injured and killed at Halloween, so it is a good idea to keep yours safely indoors at that time.  Enjoy your black cats!

 

Some time ago, in the very first issue of this series on Color, we briefly discussed structural color and gave an example or two.  We discussed the fact that some of the colors we think we see are not really there. They are illusions produced by complex layers of structures. Since one of the colors we discussed in Part I of The Psychology of Color was Blue, this might be a good time to warn you that most of the things that we think we see as blue are products of structural color.  The sunny blue sky we see is one of them.  So is the deep blue of the ocean.  And the feathers of the bluebird are not really blue.  Which brings up several questions that I will try to answer briefly. (If you are really interested, there are many discussions of these topics on line.)

Why does the sky look blue to us in the daytime when outer space looks black?

The earth has a thick cover of atmosphere that has been forming for millions of years.  The light from the sun hits molecules of various gases in that atmosphere and they fly off in all directions. The blue color of the sky is the result of this scattering. Because the Earth rotates,  the light changes as the planet turns away from the Sun each day, leaving the sky black at night. If you were on the moon, which doesn't have an atmosphere, the sky would look black both day and night.  Pictures taken by early astronauts show that very clearly.
 
Why does the ocean look blue when water doesn't really have much color?

According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Aimospheric Administration), it gets its color because of the way it absorbs sunlight.  It strongly absorbs long wavelength rays of the color spectrum as well as short wavelength ones, even into the ultraviolet range.  The remaining light that we see reflected from the ocean is mainly made of blue wavelengths.  Objects floating just under the surface, such as algae and mats of seaweed,  often give the ocean a green hue.  If you dive below the surface and continue down the water column, the water becomes darker and darker until all color disappears into the darkness.

Why does a feather look blue if it doesn't have any blue pigment in it?

Hyacinth macaw (public domain)

If you hold a feather of any bright color that does not have any pigment in it up to a light, it loses its color and becomes more or less white (sometimes a slightly dirty-looking white).  It becomes obvious that the color you originally saw on the feather was structural color. Move the feather back and look at it in normal light, and its color reappears.  The structure of the feather itself determines what color it appears without pigment.  Feathers that appear blue are covered with tiny air pockets that reflect short blue wavelengths.  These pockets are actually filled with liquid when the feathers form, but the liquid is quickly replaced by air.  If the pockets are arranged in a very regular way, the feathers will be a consistent color of blue like the wings of a macaw.  If the arrangements are not quite regular, the feathers may show several different blues. (Think of a blue jay's feathers.)

There are very few animals that are truly blue.  However, if you watch for our Frogs for Fun issue this summer, we will introduce you to a true blue one.

Do something colorful!

 

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Looking Forward and Backward: Spring Q and A, 2021

Spring Aliums

It is time to catch up on questions and comments left over from as far back as last winter and give some indication about topics we plan to take up in the near future.

Our family just loved the blog post about owls!  Are you planning more like it about special animals?

Let's see, we have done butterflies, fish (mostly freshwater), and owls so far. I think frogs are probably the next animals we will feature.  I can't give you a timeline yet, but I would think we will probably do it in early summer.  That seems like an appropriate time for frogs (and perhaps a toad or two).  We are so happy your family liked the owls. Here is an extra one for you.

Originals needlepoint by Annake

Are you going to do anymore quizzes and games?  We played most of the games at home and some with my sister and her kids over the phone.  We would sure like to see some more of them.

Summer flowers

We are happy to hear that you liked them. I won't promise any because we have a lot promised already and the Covid-19 situation has made scheduling anything more difficult.  I would like to do something for the Summer Solstice and some of the "midsummer madness" that has gone along with it over the centuries, and I will do that if I get the opportunity.  If not, it will probably be autumn before I can do anything along those lines.

 

Did you get any negative comments on saying that there is only one race, the Human Race?

Not really.  But, since you have brought it up, I would like to say a little more from my point of view.

Lots of colors in this multi-ethnic crowd...

Let me tell you a couple of personal stories to illustrate my "take" on life. My paternal grandmother was a Frisian immigrant fleeing disease and poverty. She crossed the Atlantic in steerage and went more than halfway across the U.S. to marry a man with whom she had corresponded, but whom she had never met. She was a midwife and an herbalist. I lived with her for a while when I was little, in a small town on the Missouri/Arkansas border. She delivered more than 150 babies in her lifetime. When she turned 75, some forty or more of the people she had delivered lined up in rows by her front fence to sing "Happy Birthday".  I was enchanted.  "Grandma, they're so pretty! They are all different colors!"  She told me that was the way it should be because that was how the Good Lord made us and He loves us all. Later she taught me not to judge people by their appearance or what they did for a living, but by how they treated other people — a lesson I never forgot.

Not too long ago, a lady with skin a little darker than mine said I couldn't understand something in her life "because you're white." I told her I have never considered myself "white". I have Native American blood and Gypsy blood, and somewhere down the line there are slanted eyes. My other grandmother had them. I don't, but one of my children does. None of those ancestors were ever accused of being "white".  I always checked "Other" on paperwork, or wrote "Human" on the line for race. The way I feel is that I'm Multicolored and I'm proud of it!

What's next in the "All About Color" series?

Right now I am researching and writing a post about The Psychology of Color. That is something that has always fascinated me. It will be the next one in the color series.  It is a big topic with many facets that are pertinent right now, so it may take some time to finish it.

 

Are you going to do something for Earth Day this year?  How about Arbor Day?

Spring foliage in the forest

Since they are so close together, we are planning to combine the themes in one post this year. We live in a high mountain area which has seen extreme drought for several years. There is no more "fire season" now: fires can and do erupt the year around.  Last year we saw devastating fires that will affect the area for decades.

We have had friends call us from towns in the valley to alert us to smoke or flames erupting on the heights above us. Autumn before last we came down from a day enjoying and photographing the aspens to emerge on the highway where more than half a dozen cars were parked every-which-way on the pavement while people took pictures of a blaze starting up the side of the mesa.  Not a single person had called the nearest fire department!!! We called for help and pretty much bullied the crowd into moving their vehicles out of the way of the engines we could already hear racing up from the nearest town.  We got our own vehicle onto a side road. Fortunately only one slope of a small ravine burned.  We plan to talk about fire prevention and safety as well as the broader aspects of the importance of preserving our global forests and the impact they have on the health of the planet.

Lots to think about and plan for!

Spring Flowers

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