3 things: Camurac Cardi/Drop Dead Easy Knits

When we first dreamt up Drop Dead Easy Knits, our rather fab book of stylish but not too difficult projects, we had to provide a sample or two in order to nail down our contract with the publisher. The cushy, squooooshy Camurac Cardigan by Kirsten Kapur was the first garment designed for the book. It truly deserves the spotlight.

 It's knit on size 10US needles, so it knits up quickly.  Cast  on now and without too much fuss you'll have a  dreamy pick-me-up of a wardrobe addition while it is still March.  I don't know about you but I could use a wardrobe pick-me-up about now.


In the above photos, you're seeing it knit in Quince Osprey which is delicious (plus, whoa, check out the colors in that link).  You can sub any aran/heavy worsted.  Kirsten made one in Jill Draper Makes Stuff Empire  and Mary Lou knit one in Neighborhood Fiber Company . Somehow this little pic of the three of us is the only image I can find of Kirsten in hers....you can peek the lapel texture. Below is a sweater-size bump of Empire. A Camurac waiting to emerge.

I guess that's already Three Things about the Camurac Cardi . This Three Things on Thursday format* really  helps me squeeze out a blogpost. This week I'm going for a bonus round ! Three MORE things:

1) Initially, this wonderful throw-it-on anytime cardi and the Westerloe dog sweater were to appear in the same chapter,  so they were designed with coordinating stitch detailing. Sweet!

whooooshhh! Is that the sound of you rushing out to get yarn for a Camurac PLUS a Westerloe so you can match your furry friends? I hope so.

2) Camurac is a skiing resort area in the French Pyrenees.  This pattern appears in our chapter "Cold Hands, Warm hearts"-- warm pieces,  lovely to have in your lap as you knit in cool weather.  Mary Lou did some heavy lifting for pattern naming, finding chilly locations around the globe. They had to be pronounceable and not already overly represented as pattern names.  Seriously, go search Aspen or Chamonix or whatever popped into your mind first as a cold weather locale, on Ravelry, and see the number of designs that got there before you.

3) This pattern is knit flat and pieced together. That's right, on good old straight needles. No overdeveloped biceps needed to work that stockinette in one weighty piece. The seams provide structure. No Saggy Sweater Syndrome, a problem striking so many of us who adore big slouchy cardis.

If you've knit a Camurac cardi--or any pattern from Drop Dead Easy Knits-- could you do us a solid and post it on Ravelry? We adore seeing what knitters do with the book!

* Carole Knits and AsKatKnits  are the brains behind the Three Things on Thursday, the beauty of it is, you can choose any topic you wish for your three things. Controlled anarchy!  If you feel like joining in any Thursday inspiration strikes, post the link from Carole's blog, near the bottom.

recent work & upcoming TNNA workshops

Not sure I ever shared this adequately: last summer I photographed the book for Berroco Portfolio 3, pretty much a dream shoot for me. I just realized you can page through the complete lookbook online.

https://issuu.com/berrocodesign/docs/berroco_portfolio_vol_3 

(sorry! I can't seem to get this to embed. Please check it out though)
Of course, the version with the patterns is for purchase, these are all cotton and so so good. The Portfolio series are books by talented creative director Amy Christoffers' selecting indie designers to create pieces for a special collection. (We just shot Portfolio 4 last month. It  is wool, and spectacular, too.)

Finding the right location for a full book photo shoot is important. You'd think it'd be a breeze, but I spend hours (and hours)  poring over choices, what settings, backgrounds, facilities, costs, textures, accommodations are present before we choose. You could shoot the same collection on a city street and have a whole different feel, possibly wrong.  Or just blah.a

While we were deciding, I was lucky to be visiting with a sister and her friend in Vermont, who said she wanted me to meet her friends, in the final stages of renovating a notoriously dilapidated and crazily painted Victorian farmhouse in town. She didn't know I needed a location, she just thought I'd be interested.  I fell in love the minute I saw it, and was thrilled that they welcomed us to do our shoot there, and become some of the first guests ever at the stunning Amare Guest House in Chester VT.

The photo shoot took place on a ridiculously steamy hot day- utterly uncharacteristic for a Vermont summer- but it is hard to recall that, when I look at the photos now. The model, Ilima, is amazing.The rest of us were...glistening. And possibly more than a little whiffy.  But smiling!

TNNA is in Columbus Ohio in early June! 
I'm thrilled to be co-teaching three workshops with writer & crafter Beverly Army Williams, aka PoMoGoLightly again this year. Our workshops all fall under the rubric of marketing, communications & social media for yarn shop owners, indie designers and yarn companies, and really, any small business that has only two hands but wears many hats.  The schedule and course descriptions are all here.
Ours are planned  to be fun, useful and participatory, so you can use new skills & ideas for your business immediately.
•Smarten Up Your Facebook Page -Thursday
•Social Media on the Fly - Thursday
•Hands-on Workshop for Mobile Photography and Writing-Friday
and solo, I am offering
•iPhone/Smartphone-ography for Your Business- early Saturday, before the marketplace opens

 from a recent shoot for June Cashmere

If you sign up, feel free to message me in advance with anything in particular you'd like us to include. We love to tailor our workshops to the students.

spontaneity & the snazzy cowl photo shoot

Knitwear designer Laura Nelkin asked me to shoot  for her while we were both in NYC for Vogue Knitting Live a couple of weeks ago. But of course! Look what happened :
Are you singing Its Raining Men yet? Go to that link.  Dare you to sit still- and not smile.
It's the Snazzy Cowl.  Pretty fabulous, right?

We'd decided on Times Square for the photo shoot, using out of focus bright lights big city as the background, and Laura's adorable daughter Bella modeling.

There are only so many ways to pose with a light weight cowl: let it hang around your neck, hold it up covering your smile to show off the full stitch work, lay it out flat, look down and gaze into  it wistfully holding an empty coffee mug...(JUST KIDDING, WE DON'T DO THAT POSE HERE)...or hold it up towards the camera. Done, done and done.Then we saw a group of young guys do handstands in unison on the steps.

As the handstand dudes were walking away, I scurried over to ask what the deal was. College gymnasts from Arizona, just competed at West Point, tourists for the morning.  Q: Would they mind doing handstands around a knitwear model?  A: Enthusiastic yes!

They choreographed doing flips on the steps all around Bella before we knew what was happening. Laura's heart may have stopped for a few minutes seeing feet flying near Bella's head...but they nailed it.

Next up...can I get the Rockettes to do a kickline in handknit socks? Why not?

december post 1- more bulky

Not to be adding on to your generalized anxiety but there aren't that many knitting days before you need to present gifts.  Let us put aside the dream of fine gauge socks* or mitts unless they are something like Trip Mitts which I, ahem, heartily recommend as a last minute gift.

Let us cast on something bulky and stylish. Like the Wilderness scarf. Super fast.
When I shot this for Tahki I totally fell for it.  You know I am a sucker for fringe, but it is more than that--it has a modern western/bohemian vibe to love.  The yarn is a  wool tape, like soft thin strips of wool felt.   It makes me wonder if I could knit this by cutting very thin strips of  wool yard goods or recycled coats....(warning, warning, do not go there, will not be a simple fast project.....buy the yarn....)

 Karin Strom,  creative director and stylist for the shoot (on the right--and that is the wonderful Stacy Charles himself in the center. Yes! He's a real person --- I love working with him), paired it with a vintage coat and multiples of the scarf.

One scarf makes a fabulous gift--and the yarn, Tahki Spencer,  comes in some bright colors in case your giftees aren't into earth tones.

A little BTS; the Fashion Director for the collection, Conley Averett, wondered if we could spread the scarf out and shoot it as a shallow shawl. There's always a bunch of scootching and sshhjushjing of the knits on the model, to try different looks at a shoot. Sometimes one of us interprets the piece totally differently (as in--ohhhh I though those were shorts--not an oversized slouch hat with ears...ohhhh) and eventually we settle on the look that works best.

So Wilderness is knit on size 15 needles The yarn isn't super hefty, yet it holds up perfectly to the open design. And the fringe lays flat so nicely. You could substitute other yarns, it'd look great but differnt vibe  in something with a teeny bit of a halo, or in a nice rustic yarn, or a yarn with long color changes, too.  

* as for me? I'm speeding through that bulky fuschia Azel (scroll to end) when Zoe isn't looking, and just cast on for another gift hat...on size us3 needles. Living dangerously on that one. 

How's your gift knitting going? Have you checked  into the MDK Lounge for moral support? When are Kay and Ann going to crack out the eggnog and high quality chocolates for us, is my question?????

november post 11: hats - bts Jill Draper Makes Stuff/Walkill River

Behind the Scenes: Rural Renewal photo shoot for Jill Draper Makes Stuff

Let's talk about Walkill River, designed by Thea Coleman. When Jill asked me to shoot the Rural Renewal collection, she sent a mood board. I loved the styling/vibe --eclectic, casual, textural, with imperfect surfaces. And chickens! What did I think using an historic property in the Hudson Valley as the location? Yes, please.  And a wonderful model, the artist Caitlin Parker.

 I asked if there were animals at the location--specifically chickens. No. But the groundskeeper had a couple of pets. A cat, a cockatiel.... a dove. When our model put on this sweater and hat knit in Windham yarn, we brought Snowy the dove out. I thought maaaaybe he'd allow himself to be held for a few quick shot.  Nope! Snowy was not into being held. He is all about shoulder perching.

But he actually prefers heads. And to be the center of attention, not a styling detail. Note to Thea:  doves are the new pompom.  After deigning to look left and right for a few frames atop the Walkill River hat,  Snowy looked around for an even better and higher perch.

Which was Jill, the unsuspecting BossLady herself. 

I know. Put a bird on it. Someone has to say it.

It really is a fantastic design. The wiggly ribbing gives it such good structure. I'm all about the hats this week. They are my comfort knitting. Immediate gratification plus they keep your head warm. And make a great gift. And cover your hair if you are trying to switch colors/styles/grooming. Just saying! If all goes as planned--which it rarely does- I'll be back with more hat talk on the weekend. 
What hats are on your horizon? I'm making my queue and checking it twice.

november post 8: camurac cardi & hygge

• DROP DEAD EASY KNITS  this weekend at PINS and NEEDLES in Princeton NJ*

Friday Nov 11 5-8pm wine, snack, booksigning and hanging out--just drop in!

Saturday Nov 12th  Photo Scavenger Hunt workshop w/Gale Zucker 10-1

                                Lucy & Either Cowl knitting workshop with Kirsten Kapur 1:30-4:30

there are a couple of spots left in each class- contact the shop and join us!

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If ever there was a season that calls for hygge, it is now. Creating a coziness and warmth and light and appreciation for the good things in life-- I am clinging to these. I'm planning get togethers with friends, and small treats. I ordered really kickass warm new boots, so I won't skip walks in the cold.  I'm stacking the cozy knit project cast-ons  like planes waiting to take off at O'Hare. One of them is this Camurac Cardigan.

Like everything in Drop Dead Easy Knits, it is stylish but not fussy. Aran weight, good and slouchy with pockets (love me pockets on a cardi). Detailing on the hem and lapels that are fun to knit. I have a store bought cardi that I wear all the time that is similar--except my Camurac is going to be so. much. nicer. And it will be a cozy and fairly quick knit. Win-win.

See what I mean about the pockets? Another great design from Kirsten Kapur. It should have a hygge stamp of approval on it.