mama don't take....

This sheep shot originally created on Kodachrome film, a cranky but gorgeous slide film.

This week, Kodak retired Kodachrome. There's not a good yarn analogy to Kodachrome, I guess knitting with Kidsilk Haze sorta, kinda, comes close. You just don't want to make mistakes because everyone will see 'em, and you really can't undo them once the strand is knit. But knitting is a different art form, I'm going straight to the photo jargon. Consider yourselves warned: skip down to the contest if you don't want to get all photo-geeky with me.

Kodachrome had to be sent to a Kodak lab for processing . At best, it was 3 days before you saw how, or if at all, your photo shoot turned out. There was no tolerance for exposure being even a partial F-stop over or under. No adjustments available to push or pull and save your frames as there were for other slide films. You either did it right or you didn't. AS if that weren't enough , it only came in very low ISO's, meaning, you needed a lot of light available or you needed to know how to create your own.

But the colors? Beautiful. And no grain, or noise, at all.
You know the song, right?

It was the standard for magazine & commercial photography when I started working, I had very good, picky clients so I wanted to do it right. Not that I miss shooting film, nuh-uh. The instant gratification of digital, the chimping at the back of my camera, the amazing amount of control I have to change the image, the speed. But still, sad to see the end of an era.

So what else is a knitblogger to do but have a contest ?

the prize: a set of press printed fine art photo note cards including the sheep in coats image, above

how: go over to my etsy shop, take a peek at the four images. Leave a comment on this post saying which one you like best..or suggest the kind of image you'd like to see as a note card. More animals? yarn still lifes? fiber? more knit objects? something else?

when: leave a comment on this post by midnight June 30th eastern time US, I'll announce the randomly selected winner on July 1

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Poetic justice, I'll end with an iPhone image, local color on Friday evening.
(I guess it also makes you think all the world's a sunny day.)

escape

Where have I been?

Hiding out in Deadwood. Thirteen hours worth so far, with another 20 something to go. Completely addictive. Whoa do they cuss. I am outranked by far. Even my fifteen year old, who swears like a longshoreman, thinks the extremely evil and aptly surnamed Al Swearingen overdoes the F-bomb.

Yup,that and the Sage Remedy Top (ravlink). The neckline will have stitches picked up and a little rolled finish. I kind of like the old fashioned feather-and-fan with the deconstructed edge it has now.

And, reading crafters blogs. I'm liking the ReadyMade, Bizarre Bazaar and Renegade Craft Fair kind of crafters. Same with the sewers. Got any of those kind of crafting blogs you love? Send me the links!

And watching the flowers grow like crazy thanks to torrential rains. Sunshine welcome. Any day now.

about that consumer thing

In the comments last post, Cookie observed that I may not be a shopper but I am a buyer. She's so right. If there's something I decide to get, not necessarily saying need, I have no qualms about it.

And to that end, I'm linking this here button, so maybe I can get a cool bike by winning it!
(go ahead and click, you'll end up wanting one too, think of what that bucket could hold!)

consumer affairs

You'll never hear "retail therapy" or "relax & go shopping" from me. There're exceptions, but generally, aaagh, just poke out my eyes with lace Addis, OK? Yet I am here to testify on two happy purchases.

Exhibit a: internet purchase. Yarn for the Sage Remedy Top. I decided I needed a cotton blend, and it must be pale greyish purple. Do you think I was influenced by what was blooming?

umm, yeah, could be. And the yarn budget? Very very low. I like my LYS, all of 'em, but they had not what I wanted. Rescue me, Knitting Garden! I did you all a favor, linked right to a closeout page, that's where I found my perfect yarn for this project.

Marked down to fit in the rice-n-beans budget. The Sage Remedy is 19 stockinette rows underway. I'm leaving off the ribbing on the bottom and letting it roll, which'll nicely mimic the neck.

exhbit b: trying to rent the movie Woodstock a couple of years ago we found it was never released on DVD and every video store and library around had it stolen.So much for peace love & sharing, right?. We were debating plunking down our closely guarded bucks for the just released 40th anniversary dvd version when I happened to stop at the best video rental place around, conveniently named Best Video (and is it ever). I was at the counter ready to rent the cult film Billy Jack. I bet if you were old enough to see it then, like me in junior high, you can burst into the theme song now, oh, OK, I'll make it extra easy for you:
So I'm standing there when I notice a 2 tape VHS set of Woodstock on their counter. I asked if I can rent it , they reply " hey, you buy it for $2.". GROOVY. Peace , love and stockinette.

still one more day

Not sure why but it's been two straight days of STUFF. Errands, chores, fixing, delivering, picking up, planting, pulling.But not knitting. I'd really like to knit.

The embroidery floss shelf at the local store I hit twice for spray paint, and trash bags. And radish seed, because of Norma. I love that there's still a family owned variety store I can shop at, the local evil WallyM*art hasn't knocked them out. I love their half aisle of needlecraft supplies, brought to you here by the iphone cam. (yup, still in love).

One reason I'd really like to do some knitting is I ordered yarn for the Sage Remedy top & it arrived. I want to finish that cardi before I cast on for the next sweater. But that's another post.

Asparagus with garlic ready for the grill. Phone cam again. I'm sure I'll stop with this soon.

Friday night , late, was my high tide shift tagging horseshoe crabs over at the beach for Project Limulus. It was pouring rain, 56 degrees and the water isn't even 60 degrees yet. My outfit included wool socks (NOT those, don't worry), water shoes, tights, sweats, a wool sweater and a rain parka. Attractive, no? You end up in the water up to your knees, and then reaching down to grab the crabs soaks your arms. And my flashlight, of course, to peer into the dark water and find my pre historic friends to pull them up and tag them. Most are firmly in the middle of mating, and I mean this literally, which is why they are in shallow enough water to be grabbable. It's all very bizarre. I pulled up a threesome, SCORE!

So, for Sunday--another horseshoe crab tagging shift, more chores, more this, more that. Maybe two mohair sleeve caps. One can dream.

what isn't there a blog for?

Are these not positively pleasing purple socks? I'd love to take credit for them, but it goes to Cookie, that goddess of pink (and other) sockness. And, whew, I should say goddess of laceness, take a peek at what she's been throwing off the needles.

I started preparing a post proclaiming purple pair perfection. I thought it'd be all clever and alliterative, but after a search for more P words, I discovered , it's been done. And not just in one post, that is a link to blog devoted to a year's worth of P word posts.

I procrastinated in showing you this pair, which arrived on the, ahem, heels of the other ones she sent me last winter. It's chilly here in the mornings, so I'm still rocking the woolies for a few hours a day (I'm an early riser).

For some silly reason she thought the others weren't up to snuff so she sent these. heh! Good deal for me! Having all her warm colorful socks augmenting the paltry posse I've knit totally made my winter bearable.I have to admit I am especially fond of this pair. I try to save them for special days. The color, the fit, the feel, the craftpersonship.....

You'd need to ask her, but they look like broken rib stitch, toe up, and the yarn, I think she said, is Malbrigo sock.

That Cookie does a beautiful toe.

p.s. Socks in Portugese? Peugas !

when good technology attacks

All the photos in this post are iphone cam. I'm not planning on making it a habit. At least I don't think I will...

The good technology is my new iphone. What it attacked? My knitting time.

During the train ride to NYC Saturday, my precious 1 hour and 54 minutes of uninterrupted knit-with-podcast that I view as an unalienable right , an unassailable ritual, a gift of time, the raison d'etre of MetroNorth rideship, something I protect as mine all mine all mine....you get my drift? yeah, like that. I spent it entering contacts, accidentally calling people once they were in there, then having to chat and explain why .
(and if you're that guy who sat next to me, I really do apologize and it was nice of you to say you think iphones are cool too and then telling me fourteen more amazing things I could make it do right then and there).

My first ever phone cam shot. Bryant Park, where I sat and knat while having a good long chat with dearest old friends . I didn't do it justice, I was too busy trying to figure out the best way to waggle the phone's lens in space. My old phone had no cam. When you're used to other kinds of cameras, you know, that weigh several pounds, it just feels funny. I'm adapting.
It was so splendid Saturday, every few minutes we'd overhear this from folks on their phones, "You won't BELIEVE where I am! In NY CITY! In a park! But it feels like I'm in PARIS!"

My Airy Cardigan sleeves are growing, two up. As soon as I have my new best friend phone all set, I'll be back on them (apps! you've seen the ads, right? No exaggerating, there really is an app for that. Whatever that is).It's still chilly enough part of every day that I could be wearing this cardi. Like right now. I wish I were!
Also: I wish I'd taken a photo of my sandwich from the 'wichcraft stand: marinated white anchovy, soft cooked eggs, greens and a slightly spicy vinegary sauce. Mmmmmmm.