searsport market bag: it's beachknitting time!

There once was a girl on a beach
She liked her knitting within reach
On the sand or a boat
She desired a tote
Mary Lou designed it, as sweet as a peach...*

Here in the US it is the official start of beach knitting season, the best season of all. That is not just my opinion. 
It is the truth. :-)
 Some knitters think of knitting as a winter/cold weather sport. Not me. I am happiest taking a good long swim, then plopping into my beach chair and knitting by the water. 

 I've always thought of  the  Searsport Market Bag in our book as a Kick Off the Summer knit:  first you make the stretchy bag, then you spend the rest of the summer carrying your Important Things (towel, knitting, swim goggles, beverage) to the beach in it. It's a pretty relaxing knit, which is good for this time of year.

It is quite roomy when the simple stitch pattern stretches, which is a desirable trait, although not everyone wants to rock the super slouchy look. If you prefer a more stable shape , here's a simple tutorial of ways to line a knit bag.  I particularly like the suggestion of attaching a lining with buttons.
This instructional has photos of every step to sew in a lining.

While brainstorming for our book's No Sheep at the Shore chapter, we wanted only patterns you'd knit out of non-wool, non-fuzzy yarn.  Our other requirement was the designs  should be pieces you'd use or wear while at the beach. That's how Mary Lou Egan came up with the pattern. She named it after the Maine coast town where us three authors were staying while we were developing the ideas for the book. And same place, a year later, gave it a final edit. We always called it The Beach Bag until it was dubbed the Searsport.

During the  photo shoot for the book, I shot our model Josephine carrying  it while wearing a sundress.  When I look at it, I want a Seasrport Market Bag to use as a summer everyday purse, for my non- beach life. Maybe in the lightest off white shade of Berroco Indigo, and line it with flowery summer fabric.

*When Mary Lou Egan, Kirsten Kapur and I decided to try to take turns blogging about the patterns, this year, in our collaborative book Drop Dead Easy Knits, we jokingly (or so they thought) considered doing so in limerick. I'm going to give it a try.

short beach days saturday: sept post 3

We do not actually rest on Labor Day weekend around here. It is Short Beach Days. And that means constant motion.

I'm one of the judges of the Sand Castle Contest. I kind of loved this crabby crab. His face expresses how I feel about summer ending. 
By the time I was judging this afternoon, we'd had breakfast in the park, watched Zoe race and broadjump , tested a tart recipe, and hauled 40 yards of fabric to a friend's porch for parade costume production. 

By 6 pm, as we left to watch the Lip Synch contest, I'd made a second tart, and we'd fabricated 10 slinky costumes.  The float is a little under-prepared but there's tomorrow for that. The tarts I tested were a Plum Blackberry Almond in Gingerbread Crust  and a Chocolate Peanut Butter.  The fruit tart looked way prettier but the gingersnap crust totally overpowered the filling, so it looks like I'll make another Chocolate Peanut Butter for the contest, tomorrow. Credit to  Smitten Kitchen recipe.  So you know it is delicious. 

 I love every minute of this constant motion and have spent the last 25 years choosing to whip myself in a frenzy with my friends every Labor Day weekend. I've got all winter to sit inside on a sofa, right?  

Enthusiasm levels running high. Tomorrow there's the egg toss contest. the tug of war, the awards ceremony for the races.... plus, once the judging is over, we get to taste all 25 of  the contest pies....

tahki yarns behind the scenes photo shoot

In late October, I photographed the Tahki Yarns Spring 2016 look book , the Sea Breeze collection.   We're always working off season - so it was time to look springy in late fall.
That's the cover shot, above. We were flying through 17 outfits that day, working as fast as we could. It's magical when you're all running around like crazy changing clothes, fixing hair, looking for good angles and backgrounds and the wind to blow the right way and then -click- it all falls into place.  Also--I am so attracted to these half-poncho half-sweater quasi-shawl knits. You too? 

The booklet is mostly knits with a couple crochet pieces, like that blanket/wrap on the left, designed by Doris Chan. It was warm for the season- lucky for me- but very breezy. We put the wind to work for us. Fringe with some movement slays me.

I'm also a sucker for a lifeguard station. You'd never know the model, Steph, was shivering a little, right?

You can see the rest of what we created from the Tahki link above or on Ravelry  Now, some BTS:
The day before the shoot, a few of us met in Long Beach NY. It may not be the most glamorous part of Long Island but it is super convenient, being just a little east of Queens and reachable by public transportation. There are miles of flat out gorgeous oceanfront beach, and off-season, plenty of parking. Plus, the vibe there is lose, we could just jump in.  Since we were shooting Spring as the leaves were gold and falling off the trees, we put a lot of energy into finding our setting- deciding on coastline, and then which beach would work for logistics like time and budget (oh those again).  The nice thing about a beach is, you don't know the season, except by the clothing. Plus, I admit it. I love a beach shoot.

My first task is scouting. That's Yliana, who works with me as a production assistant, standing in for the model in spots I think might work . Being my production assistant means before the shoot, she helps with general shleppage and organizing--and during the shoot, as a styling assistant. You have to have the right personality for a job that includes testing to see if it's possible to balance on the edge of the lifeguard stand while looking casual. 
I map out a route for the next day, using the best light at each location. We try to scout at the same time of day we'll be back to photograph, and use phone apps to predict the sun's path.  It makes a huge difference to know where the shadows are falling and if a building will block the sun at certain times of day.  Of course, sometimes it is sunny on the scout day and cloudy the next, for the shoot ....or the reverse. Location photography always throws me some curveballs. See those amazing sand ripples on the right? We were so psyched to scout them as a background.  Showed the scout shots to the client when he arrived, he was also psyched. But by the next morning, trucks had come on the beach and flattened out the ridges, pushing the sand into UN-photogenic piles closer to the boardwalk.

Back to our little Long Beach cottage airBnB we stayed in. It had the best bathroom with a big copper tub set in a tiled wall with a skylight. Deeply regret that I didn't get to use it! Instead we prepped-- Yliana worked on a rack for the wardrobe and helped the Creative Director steam out clothes and hang the pieces in order that we'd use them. I think I was laying on a sofa (um...prepping) and that yellow stuff that's artfully out of focus was a flower on a table, between us. yeah, that's right, artfully.

 The next morning, here's our gorgeous model Steph, leading the parade onto the beach--the makeup artist is on the left, and that's my photo assistant Ariana , and the fashion director, Conley, walking out holding a large silk on a  frame, to soften the sunlight. Harsh light directly on yarn is not great--but you can see there wasn't any cloud cover, and we needed to shoot all day, not just in the  delicate light early in the day.

Don't be fooled, they actually like me, despite the faces. On the far left, one of the former-ripples-now-sand -piles. The silk on the frame is just about going to lift the two of them off the ground in the wind. But you can see how it comes in handy, on the right. I'll be photographing from an angle that doesn't show the edges of the shadow --and also avoids that yellow truck. Where did that truck come from? Stuff like this always happens, a heavy equipment drives through the idyllic setting. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the problem solving aspect of location photography work. Studios are way more predictable , and I can enjoy that...but to me, it's not as fun as throwing in a little chaos.

The dance of a happy fashion director when we finished the last of 17 outfits that day--and the It Takes a Village group portrait shot of us all. I know I've said this before, but I have the best clients.

Behind the Scenes: the unplanned for

So, about that regular blogging.  I now have an editorial calendar for this blog. You'd think it wouldn't make a difference but it feels very...committed.  You should try it.   I'm rolling it out soon, including a  regular BTS (Behind the Scenes) feature, mostly fiber or fabric related photo shoots. Why not start today?

This morning  a sweater kit  I shot for Zen Yarn Garden  went live. It's fun when these pop up, always a surprise treat. Have you seen their yarn? Pretty fabulous. This is Serenity   a superwash merino/cashmere blend (thought you'd ask). It feels divine, and looks even diviner, if that is a word.
I'd be lying if I said this shoot was easy. We had trouble aligning schedules. Then, it rained. One of the few rainy days all summer. Nasty, gray, stormy- not pretty, misty, delightful rain.  I had permission to shoot at the Madison Beach Hotel and hated to waste it, so off we trotted. The sun came out, yay-- but  it started setting, like, immediately. And I wasn't loving the background options--the waterfront was dotted with romantic sunset watchers, wandering into my image. The nerve!
Then I noticed a bicycle  left along a dune fence, the rider probably wandered onto the porch bar for a drink. It matched the sweater! I love when when that happens. A little extra sumpin' sumpin'. 

It is Rosh Hashana , the Jewish New Year,  tonight. I'll take this moment wish you - whether you celebrate or not--a sweet year filled with happy accidents.

3 unexpected

#1 Fiber College was not at a college. Astrig, the artful soul who started it 5 years ago, uses the less popular definition of the word,: a. A body of persons having a common purpose or shared duties. It is at a spectacular 40 acre campground on Penobscot Bay, with gardens and art everywhere you turn. 

 

view of "my" teaching studio 

Ironically, Fiber Camp was held at MIT this year. Go figure. Balance.

 

#2 I  should have left time to take a class and to just hang out more. It was my first time, and I wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe a slightly ragtag joyful gathering, seeing as it was held way up in Maine and I was staying in a tent, I thought. Better plan to keep busy.   Nu-uh! It was super well organized, with Astrig & Steve's team setting up tables and chairs for me (hold it, I need to write that again for me), in advance. No rag, no tag. Many classses I would have liked ot be part of (Andean embellishments! Dyeing! Hooping!) There were volunteers helping,  and class lists, and most importantly, beautiful teaching spaces. The Artist in Residence, Mary Jane Mucklestone, even had an  canopied lounge area with sofas and a table and teapot so you could just go shmooze with her and bask in her talented but down to earth aura and have a friendly visit in her outdoor den. I needed more shmooze!

 

# 3 I know this one but I always forget: we craft for so many different reasons.  Sarah, a student in one of my classes, is a devotee of hyperbolic crochet and makes these organic pieces, mostly as conversation starters. She loves the connection of math and art that is going on, and she loves to have interesting conversations about it with strangers.  She found this Romanesco in the local market. We are convinced that the same math equations that allow the hyperbolic crochet to grow as it does also governs the veggie. (Can you tell I share her fascination if not dedication).

 

Working with different backgrounds in one of my classes. Love these gloves.

may most colorful

Still at it. I love how the overall color vibe shifts when each new round is added. *It is just enough to get me around it, one more time. * repeat from * No end in sight.

Borscht with the works: cold beet soup with a boiled potato, hard boiled egg, diced red onion, plain greek yogurt and a bit of parsley.*Prepare, admire, eat for lunch* Repeat from *  at least 2-3 times per week.

and, why, yes, that is a Mason Dixon Knitting warshrag, knit by Kay herself. Are you wondering what it's like to hang with Kay while working on your photo skills? Yeah, I thought you were. Join me in Southampton NY on July 9th and find out . Info here.

Gaia shawl in Taiyo. Almost done. Noro..Loving it.

Strawberry-apple-kale-ginger juice. While looking for my gardening tools in the basement , I came across a juicer I'd snagged at a tag sale and never used.  Norma's juice lists  earlier this year and how they appealed in a really odd way popped into my brain... now, we're all smitten. Yo, yarn companies: juiced kale could be a colorway.Neighborhood Cinco de Mayo potluck. We had the tables on her lawn till a downpour forced us up on the porch...But it passed, so we spread back out on the lawn.

And had this for our view.

What colors are rocking your boat?

she knits seashell at the seashore

Coquille (rav) on the needles on a cloudy beach day

I'm tickled by the colors echoing the sand, seaweed, driftwood, and coastal water. Do you know how happy this will make me this winter? Designer Mary Lou Egan nailed this fun project. Which explains why it's a hit since it came out in Knitty . Mine's more of a scarfy shawl, I snagged 4 skeins of Noro Chirimen while dashing through the Webs backroom a couple of weeks ago. I neglected to check yarn weight for the Coquille  pattern (um, fingering!) , so my interpretation is heavier in this worsted weight cotton, silk & wool blend. To love. If you click the Noro link, you'll see it's still on sale, btw. ( you're welcome).

So, speaking of Mary Lou (smooth segue, eh?), she and the Yarnery in St Paul have arranged for me to return to Minnesota for a Photography for Knitters workshop weekend. So psyched! It'll be Sept 25 & 26th, 2 days split between the store classroom, Grand Ave and a field trip to a historic farmstead to use as a setting for shooting FO's, fiber, sheep, the farmhouse, fall crops, and anything else we aim our lenses at. A 2 day workshop gives us time to really get a lot of work done, you will leave with new skills. And tons of images.  I promise.

Info is up here and also  at The Yarnery Visiting Teacher page.

I hate to have beach season end, but knowing we have the workshop in St. Paul to look forward to makes it a lot easier.

and the seasons they go round & round...

Taking the day off to enjoy a bigbigbig anniversary with Dave. It's not the endlessly sunny beach day we planned, but we're going to enjoy it anyway. 

(I swear, that's not supposed to be a metaphor about marriage.  Just a weather report).

Watch Hill, here we come.

ready for a deep cleansing breath

Or a good cry.

The lobster shack by the marina. Note: no eel on menu

Let's say you turn 19 on the same day you're packing your stuff because you are getting into the old Buick (a bonafide Grandma Car, but you think it's extremely cool as it is now yours, all yours), with your dad and driving to Florida, where you're moving into an apartment (for the first time) and returning to culinary college.

And...let's say your mom thinks you should stay on track and pack and finish doing laundry. And what are all those things on the floor in your room? Maybe make a list of missing essentials.....stuff like that?

Would you and the buddy helping you go out for gas, stop by the marina to say bye to a friend, take the big squirming bag full of live eels he offers you? Then return to the house, abandoning all else to kill and gut eel for cooking later? No???!!

I thought not. Me neither.

Breeeaaaaathe. Let's look at my finished Gaia shawl and forget the guys, the filleted eels, the clothes, skim boards, books, old kitchen stuff, in disorganized mini-towers and how much I'm going to miss the son going so far away again.

pattern: Gaia Shoulder Hug
yarn: 1 skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock, love this colorway # 279!
needles: size 6 us
notes: A little small as shawls go, not bad for a shoulder wrap if you're short. The pattern is written for a skein of Kureyon Sock , which is 100 yards longer than this lovely Silk Garden Sock skein. If you look on the Ravelry link, you'll see the larger ones in Kureyon. I used the picot cast off as recommended to make the little riffle on the edge.
You know what? I like this pattern so much I may just knit another one. Maybe on size 7 needles next time, it could be a little more open before blocking. It's such a good project for filling in times when you need to knit something mindless. But not boring.

I'd probably wear it this way, if I were keeping it. Which is very, very, tempting.

my illogical absence

The words you'd rather not hear as you're leaving for a July 4th visit to the Delaware beach followed by 2 days of work in Washington and you're already 3 hours behind schedule and your 15 yo traveling companion son is feeling nauseous:
" um, WHY is the laptop no longer working?".
First stop, an hour later, the Apple Store where my Very Important laptop stayed to have a new logic board installed. Not the end of the world . I mean how whiney can I be? I have my beloved iPhone, but I still felt sort of tech-naked. We continued on our way, interrupted only by stops for the inevitable outcome of queasy teenager + large greasy sub + hours on a highway. No worries! After 18 years of parenthood this kind of effluence barely phases me.

Anyhoo, that's history now. Work shot, travel completed, laptop retrieved in good blogging order, glad to be home with Dave and the older son too.
How about some knitting ? At the beach , I finished knitting my Sage Remedy Top but was bored seaming , so its not quite a sweater.
There was some knitting with my mom, always fun. This is not some kind of whacko scarf. It's an blanket/afghan recipe she's working out. Bored of squares- this is her 3rd blankie for a grandchild leaving for college in as many years- she's using all scraps & oddballs . She's knitting long cabled strips that are 50 stitches across, with three seed stitches each edge, so the seed stitches run the length of every strip. You can't see those in this photo, sorry. She changes colors when it runs out, or when she wants to. Her plan is to sew these strips together,seed stitch edging to seed stitch edging, and knit a border around it. We layed out the 4 she's finished, it looks pretty great with the random blocks of color enlivening the whole shebang, not matching up where the color blocks switch, a lot of charm.
In other knitting news we checked out the new LYS in Rehoboth Beach, LOVE IT!

Kitschy Stitches owner Allison has a blog, wonderful yarn, great fabric and dry goods, a big porch and a generally wonderful vibe. I didn't really need anything but wanting to support her, grabbed a ball of yarn for a full size Gaia Shoulder Hug , since I enjoyed knitting my half-sized neckerchief version.

As far as the spewing 15 yo, here he is fully recovered and holding up well considering having to spend July 4th weekend with his mom and grandparents instead of friends, and having just witnessed the spectacle of his mother dancing with his 77 year old grandfather to the local reggae band at the beach bar down the street. He was a bit happier working for me in DC and hanging with an older cousin there. Hope your 4th was cheery, too!

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.

seat for one. again.

That was in Brooklyn last week.

Today I'm in Miami , a photo shoot tomorrow , and a zip back up north. Work had been quiet, which means lots of me being at the home office. This month kicked in, with me somewhere different every week. Just me , a hotel room, and time to kill for a few hours around the actual photo shoots.

But I never mind when it's Miami Beach. That's what went through my mind when I read Carole's Ten earlier. I was trying to mentally make my list but I got fixated on Miami. Even on an overcast and stormy day like today, I love being here. I can entertain myself quite happily: I hit the beach, I hang out in the North Beach neighborhood, at the south american cafes or bakeries and make believe I'm in another country.I swim at the hotel pool. I am easy to please.

I'd planned to walk around and photograph some of the juiciness but the weather didn't cooperate.

I'd also planned to get lots of knitting done on my Airy Cardigan but my level of goofiness from flying (er, I mean, what I do to avoid my goofiness) made it hard for me to be sure I could keep the floaty mohair on the shiny Knitpicks needles.

Fortunately the yarn followed me into my room, so as soon as I get this blogging done, there may be a some knitting before I conk out for the night. Seriously isn't that funny? After I made that last photo, I went back into my room, and noticed yarn stretching from the knitting bag. I opened the door and there it was, just getting ready to knock.

ready for finding

Buttons, anyone? Come on over, I'm officially open www.SheShootsSheepShots.etsy.com

Take a look around. It's not all up yet, it's a start. I was going to show you a view of my beach down the street where I scavenge the sea glass but I like this of Kelseys Island , it's a 15 minute kayak paddle off shore. It's got a creepy edge after dark, especially if it's windy. (And, no, we do not have anything green on trees here yet, unless you count buds. This is from summer past. I am ready for a new season to get here.)

Ironically, nothing photographic for sale yet but I'm getting some notecards ready. The little gnomes are out back printing them. Or....partying, I can't tell which. Hey, keep it down, willya? I am so not letting them near my drill.