3 things on My So-Called-Mind
The surreal beauty down the street this month boggles my mind. How is nature drumming up crazy storms with brilliant light and rainbows at the same time as the misery of a pandemic deadly virus ?
Thing # 1 my so called mind itself: I don't know about you but this whole quarantine situation has me so scattered, I can't get to everything I intend to in a given day hour minute .... I’m halfway through one effort and COMPLETELY lose focus before I finish it. I was going to give you some examples but....can’t remember which I was thinking of....
Let's talk knitting.
Thing 2 After 6 weeks of weird comfort in bobbles and mohair,
I'm ready to return to my true love, garment knitting. First up will be
Lavallette by Mary Lou Egan.
She's so friggin' clever, that Mary Lou. This looks like lace on top but it's that 80's throwback, condo knitting. I'm going to make mine in a yarn that's a Mary Lou fave, Holstgarn Coast. It's 50/50 wool cotton, very economical and so many colors.
I chose Fig, thinking I was stepping away from my usual palette. Then it arrived and I took a look at my sweatered arm, shown above, in Malabrigo Rios Pearl Ten-- and at the Fig right out of the envelope from The Yarnery. Ha! Not so different! Tomorrow I swatch it, my reward for making it till May.
Thing 3) Using a new app My lovely client Berroco
asked me to do a guest blog of photo tips for shooting your knits on an
Iphone/Smartphone. I am always seeking distractions from my
distraction! It was a great chance to play with the Jumprope app, so I made this little piece.
It's 5 minutes long. I learned a lot making it. Let’s just say it took a lot of takes to come up with passable narration. I am a long way from comfortable in front of the camera. The sequencing and editing is fun. It may not be the last instructional I make this year. Let me know what you think of the paper cup trick!
* if that's hard to watch small, you can click on a little icon in it that looks like a window as it plays and it'll open larger in another window---or you can go see it on IGTV, linked from my instagram account*
Tried to find your video on Jumprope without success. Do I have to have the app to see it?
ReplyDeleteNo! I'm sorry thats a bad link. I am going to embed it instead! Check back later tonight.
ReplyDeleteI'm having the same issues with focus -- I think it's a common thing, sadly. And like you I'm finding it amazing that we can be dealing with this pandemic and at the same time nature is producing such beauty outside. But for the sake of my mental health, I'm trying to focus on that beauty!
ReplyDeleteOh, man . . . the focus thing. I think I'm kinda-sorta getting better, but not much. I have never been this scattered in my life. Jumping from one thing to another, never getting anything done, and then wondering where the day went. I'm going to watch your video now . . . and I thank you for pointing out yet another great sweater (I swear you have my number) . . . and that rainbow photo is so much awesome I can barely stand it. XO
ReplyDeleteI love the cup trick! And, thank you for highlighting so many awesome knits! Sigh... (although, pandemic knitting is pretty darned awesome!)
ReplyDeleteI loved your tips!! I especially love the paper cup trick, and also the timer app.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I cracked up about the "new" color of yarn you chose. I'm off to watch your video. Spectacular rainbow you've got there.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Photographer out of focus? Oh seriously I am getting my 10000 steps by walking up and downstairs trying to remember what I went for I n the first place!!
ReplyDeleteThat paper cup trick is awesome...hope you don't mind me sharing with my garden club photography group...mainly iphone centered!
ReplyDeleteLove this space...and you summed up my scattered quarantine existence perfectly. Compusively going from one thing to another--cleaning like a maniac, weeding like a madwoman, and impulsively developing a new website and blog space. And, I even find time to knit a bit! So glad to see you venturing into that instructional world...your fiber photography is the BEST!!