3 things since the last time I posted

Well, that gives me plenty of leeway, right?!*

1) Quality and Quantity Time at Home - Work returned to a pretty much full-time pace for most of 2021, although I'm traveling much less.  Which gives me plenty of time to hang around the beach and....well...hang around at the beach. Often with friends in the neighborhood. It's not a bad thing!  Among many unexpected habits I picked up in 2020 was making sunset photos at the end of my street and posting them on the neighborhood Facebook page. I started doing it out of boredom during quarantine in 2020, kind of a buswoman's holiday.  My neighbors were (and still are) so appreciative that I keep doing it. This was a couple of days ago. January sunsets are the best.

2) Possibly my fave project of 2021 was ...crocheted?! It's my Ziggy Interrupted Scarf .  I impulsively joined a CAL for it last spring.  I thought it might be fun to go through all my small amounts of fingering weight yarn left from other projects. Or given to me as samples or in goodie bags. I was right.  I had a blast putting the color combos together, using really small yardages that I inexplicably saved...I think I used 30 colors on it, and the only thing I bought was a Freia Minikin green/aqua. It was an epic and fun project. I worked  in sections so I could bring it wherever I went, attaching them all at the end before adding the all around edging. And now I can crochet fingering weight yarn, something I'd never done before.  Highly recommend!

                         

3) Spent lots of time with my all time favorite human, Zoe. She turns 10 in a couple of weeks. How crazy is that? Also shown here, changed our formerly dark and very multi-colored cluttered living room into a light filled, less cluttered space. Best of all,  the old dangerous fireplace/unlined chimney situation is now a gas remote control hearth that helps heat the house. So bougie and I love it!

 

We had a neighborhood plunge on January 2nd. It was fabulous! 

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*It's nice to be back. I don't know how that happened. The last couple of years have been...weird for us all!

Several on Saturday*: things bts from a collection photoshoot

Sometimes I scout and prep for a photoshoot and then the magic I really really hope for  happens: a triangle of sunlight at the right moment while photographing this angular sweater design. It's Lantana from Shellie Anderson's SP20 Collection from Shibui Knits. Just released!

Full lookbook,  which I'm so happy with and full of fabulous designs,  here .

Shellie commissioned me to shoot her collection about a year ago. Collections need to be photographed with backgrounds that tie all the imagery together, and connect with the designs yet aren't too monotonous. Or too distracting!  Shellie suggested a modern, graphic, architectural, slightly nautical setting.  So, on a chilly day last April, I did some poking around  the new boathouse on New Haven harbor. I'd noticed some nice light on it during quick drivebys.

No nice light the day we scouted!  Lots of potential. My junior associate here is kicking and crunching broken clams that seagulls drop on the cement pier so they can eat the innards.

I returned closer to the August shoot date, with my assistant, to see what the light was like late in the day, and if  there'd be lots of activity.  It was overcast so we still had no clue how shadows would fall but we could hope! Those are the stairs from the top photo, shown here with a different lens.

The shoot day was hazy sticky but not too hot. We have a lot of that weather close to the water in August,  with slices of sunlight coming through at times. We were shooting in the last hours of daylight, so first task  was seeing where the sun might fall if it did peep out. And of course figuring out which pieces to shoot by which backgrounds. The photos above are Yliana, my assistant, in test spots.  Can you tell she does this so much that she is 100% unphased by a lens pointing at her? 

Having so many horizontal and vertical lines in the background has the potential to make me crazy. Here, I love it with the sophisticated simplicity of Shellie's designs.
This top, Acacia, above,  is halfway between a T and a poncho. LOVE!

Mission accomplished! Until we saw ourselves in the group selfie we hadn't realized all three of us dressed in the exact same shades as the  colors in the collection.Sooooo stylish, we are. (NOT!)

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*I am, really trying to do Three on Thursday reliably but this week had a lot of curveballs-- i am sure you had the same!  My friend Beverly claimed the Four on Friday option this week--but I still couldn't get it  together. So here we are with Several on Saturday. Isn't 90% of life about showing up??
Also BTS= Behind the Scenes :-)

3 things I’m liking

Ok,that I’m  loving.

1-The new Berroco Yarn booklets arrived! I photographed them in September, and enough time  has passed that they look fantastic and fresh and of course I love seeing how the creative team chose to use what we shot together  on the photoshoot. I am so proud of these! The online versions of the books look good but the printed booklets are gorgeous. .

And there are some pretty fabulous new patterns and yarns. I’m going to single three out next week I think !

(Um, wait.... can you single three? )

2) a Blogger mobile app that seems to work? I’m trying it out right now! It has been a challenging week schedule-wise here,  so I’m thrilled that I might have found a way to make a quick post from my phone. I’ve tried  do mobile posts in the past and found it...clunky and awful.

   3)  Adult Ed Microsoft Excel! Go ahead and laugh but I am authentically excited to finally learn alllll about how this application works and tricks to making my spreadsheets behave themselves. I love a good spreadsheet but my self-taught Excel skills were making me crazy! In just the first class earlier tonight, I already solved a problem that had been plaguing me for years.

3 things: knits I am looking at

I invite you to follow my hashtag above over on Instagram, please!  I had a lightbulb go off over there last month.  (you are going to say...ummmDUH..in your best middle school voice).

1)  Westminster Shawl by Toby Roxane Barna, from her book Design Doubles. That's Toby herself, modeling. We started planning this photo shoot in 2015, shot it in 2017 and it just came out!  (the book pairs sweater and shawl designs that use the same motifs or stitch patterns but in different ways). This one is knit in bulky yarn--I'd wear it as a scarf.

I spend a majority of my work hours photographing, planning/prepping/proposing to photograph (or post production editing ) handmade knits. or related subjects.  I'm immersed in knits and images and yarns I am dying to show you but can't till they are released, months or even years later.

 2) Legwarmers in Berroco Millifiori Big. These were shot in spring 2017.  At the time, all I wanted to think about was the end of winter! But this week? So fresh and YES! 

I realized I should just post what is newly released, or whatever calls to me seasonally or by mood or style.  More often than not  I love revisiting the photographs separate from the context of the work day we shot it in. .
3) and here's my 3rd thing in knit photos: more legwarmers! I adore these bootcut shaped ones from Jill Draper Makes Stuff new collection Here. It's all in her wonderful Kingston yarn, photographed in her hometown of Kingston NY. This was shot in a combination bar & bookstore (seriously why do I not live near one???)

I'm not making the blog a priority these days  but I'm not giving up--just showing up when I can. Meanwhile I hope you'll say hi on Instagram or wherever you find me.

* I'm going to be a sheep peep helping my friend Anne Lahners at her Olympia Farm booth at the NE Fiber Festival of New England  in Massachusetts this weekend on Saturday Nov 3 (it continue son Sunday Nov 4) . Please swing by and say hi if you attend!  I am looking forward to it like crazy.

Lucy & Ethel Cowl: Drop Dead Easy Knits

It's time to shine a spotlight on the Lucy and Ethel Cowls from Drop Dead Easy Knits. Design by Kirsten Kapur

When we brainstormed a pattern name that referenced two friends that were fun and colorful (as the cowls are) and had slightly different styles (as the cowls do), we leapt on Lucy and Ethel. But we didn't know they knit!!!  And I don't think they are faking it, you can find Lucy knitting on several episodes and sometimes just for the hell of it.  Links to I Love Lucy episodes for your wintertainment* right here

Two simple stitch patterns make up the design.  Like everything in the book, they are simpler than you'd think , and more stylish than you'd expect from a pattern that isn't hard to knit.  Worsted weight**, so they go fast .

The longer style can be loopy, I always think of that one as Lucy.  Or for a quick knit and less volume, the shorter cowl Ethel is a great choice.

The cowls appear in a chapter of patterns we presented as great for knitting in multiples to give as gifts to your friends. We wanted the photos to give off a buddies vibe. You wouldn't know it from this photo, but these two had just met. We had to use the top photo, with the hat hiding the smile, in the book, so that the focus stayed on the knits and not the beautiful happy faces.  I don't think photoshoots need to be dour affairs-- we like to goof around a little while we work.

Just like Ethel and Lucy!
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* I know you may be reading this in Australia or somewhere else southern hemisphere, and it may not be winter where you are....but frankly, it is SO WINTERY here that I can't imagine anything else today. Sorry! I have midwinter January brain.

** The samples shown are in The Fibre Company Knightsbridge yarn, which is lovely llama and silk , but I'd also knit them in Berroco UltraAlpaca--it has some of the same heathery colors and wool/alpaca loft and an insane range of  color options. I just fell down the rabbit hole of choosing...Barley and Cerulean? Zinc and PeaSoup? or GrapefruitMix??? aaaaghhhhhh. What would you choose? 

I Knit NY: bts with Kristy Glass Knits

 On a summery early October day (remember summery weather? )I was in New York shooting the excellent brand new book I Knit New York* from One More Row Press--the first in their series of Knit Like a Local.

I was so focused on my work that day, I didn't realize Kristy had filmed us in action, including my very enthusiastic two thumbs up to the model, somewhere around the 7.20 mark on the 10 minutes video. 

And as long as we're all video-sharey today, here's our beautiful and multi-talented dancer model Becca, doing her thing with her band, the Gentlemen Brawlers. 

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 I bet Kristy didn't know I caught her in action too.....

Shot while the model was changing, and as you know , given 10 minutes, knitters gonna knit.I have A LOT more to say and share about this book, so I'll be back on the topic soon.


* You can order the book online or if you are coming to VKLive in NYC this weekend, stop by the Backyard Fiberworks booth and get a signed copy from Kathleen Dames and Alice O'Reilly, the talented partnership behind this project. Bonus-see the samples and get some of Alice's yarn :-) ** If you do not follow and watch Kristy Glass Knits channel, you are missing out on some of the best knittertainment around, as well as seeing great interviews, meet people,and see books and ideas reviewed by this talented and passionate social media rock star.

3 things about the brioche topper (to start the year)

Brioche Topper by Laura Nelkin is my first FO for 2018.  It was also my last FO for 2017.  Lucky for me  (Thing 1):  The Brioche Topper is a fun knit.
It's a perfect Three on Thursday post because...I knit it three times.  Above: the final, version 3 .
It was a gift for sister Lulu, she wanted something chunky, and I thought I'd supersize the aran weight pattern into something slouchier.

Above, a view of unravelling between V1 & 2.  

V1 was ginormous. Version 2 was smaller, but not quite small enough (I like loose hats, turns out sister Lulu does not, and to be fair, she's  petite) . V3,  knit Tuesday night, just right. 

 

Are you wondering which yarn I'm using for all this knitting, ripping out and knitting again. ? The hand dyed is a Wonderland Yarns Tweedle Dee Dum bulky weight merino  in the colorway January (nailed it! so. exactly. right). and the grey is Quince  Osprey. Both feel soft and squooshy and warm. Both held up fabulously to the re-do and the re-do of the re-do.

 It looks cute on her, right? --and  she showed up wearing  gift circa 2010 granny square scarf . 

I'll be knitting more of these.  Because it's a great design. Thing 2: The brioche section, which is essentially double weight, is great on the ears. Also if you like brioche but don't loovvvvve it, it is just a small section of the project. However, I DO I loovvvvve brioche, so I'm ready to cast on another brioche project.

My final version used size 7US needles for the brioche section and size 10US for the rest of it.  This 3 sizes difference is what the designer suggested. When I knit V1, I thought really full brioche would be better, so I used size 9 needles.  Nope! Duh! Listen to the designer! It was waaaay too relaxed.  

The very large V1. See how much poufier the brioche is compared to the top? Two heads could have fit in there. 

Thing three: this is a very well-written pattern, just follow the instructions and don't try to mess around with it like I did on V1 and V2--- you'll have a fab hat the first time around.

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Belated happy new year! December blogging was obliterated by my return to yoga plus holiday related activity. I'm not saying  I'll be back daily but I'll be here...more. 

And, in the interest of sharing BTS, here's the uncropped view of my top photo.  Usually I duck outside to make a quick photo on the porch but it's so freakin' cold out I just didn't want to.

So... here you see an old roasting pan, some paint chips I picked up to choose colors for painting the stairs and stairway walls (I guess their colorway is also January?)  .  I plopped it on a cabinet that gets decent light from windows nearby.  I'm getting very enamored of shooting on old baking trays. You'll see more of that this year, too, no doubt.

Stay warm fellow east coasters in the US! Knit a new hat today!

bts: Bay pullover

ETA: now through Sept 4, Berroco is donating all PDF pattern sales to support the Houston Food Bank.  I'm thinking time to go stock up on future knitting plans....

 A quick BTS (behind the scenes) for this pullover, Bay.  It's a free pattern from Berroco* this week.  
(go ahead, go click over for the PDF, then c'mon back for the blab and more views)

When it popped up in my feed a few days ago, it was like seeing an old friend from the shoot, in May.  I see so many beautifully simple knits on photo shoots, that get lost in the mix of the bright and shiny distractions in my brain. So happy to remember and add this to my mile long queue.
 I'm pretty sure Bay would be a real go-to sweater in my wardrobe.  As well as a speedy knit.

We shot it in a farmhouse in southern Rhode Island that I adore as a location. If you are thinking "is Rhode Island big enough to even have a south and north?"  the answer is...sorta? The south county  is all beachy towns and more rural than the area leading up to Providence.  While lots of older homes have been homogenized when updated, this one is frozen in the 1940's. In the very best way. Wood trim, big old windows, original wallpaper, wide wrap around porch. Swoon.

My assistant caught us in the act of getting this specific shot of Bay. It's funny to see us squooshed up like that--it feels totally normal and not contorted while we're working.  That's Amy Christoffers, the creative director, next to me, assessing the shot.   We  hop around together like this all day. The white cloth on the floor reflects light back up toward the model and blocks light from bouncing off the green floor and tinting the scene. That's a reflecting panel on the left, propped against another bed, and even that pillow in the corner was taken off the bed that's being used in the photo, but propped up to bounce in a little more light.  There's an assistant holding a reflector....and some of our own lighting that gently brightens things up. You know, so it all looks natural ;-)

 It's knit sideways in two pieces, and has that great seaming, and a simple neckline.

 Go get it! It's definitely queue worthy. And for those of us attending the NY Sheep & Wool Festival in a few weeks who feel compelled to make a Rhinebeck sweater but haven't started yet...it's a contender, right?
Hair & Makeup by DD Nickel
All photos by me.
I'm not sure who designed Bay but if I find out, I'll add the credit.
(I truly do have the best clients. Looking forward to more shoots with the Berroco team soon.)

* as I was putting in the links, I noticed  the home page is full of the images and patterns in Portfolio 4. So good, all in their new Ultra Wool. I want to take the rest of my day off and just knit some fall things....

pompano tank: louet euroflax yarn giveaway!

Read down to enter our  giveaway of  Euroflax Sport Linen yarn plus Kollage Needles to knit a Pompano Tank for yourself !

When knitting a Pompano Tank
Designer Kapur is to thank
It's quick and it's easy
The eyelet border's breezy
And it barely takes more than a hank.
Yup back at you with a limerick* introducing a spotlight on the Pompano Tank from Drop Dead Easy Knits. With bonus give away, thanks to Louet North America.

As I've mentioned here and here,  and many times before that, I'm all for knitting on the beach and wearing knits at the beach. Linen is pretty much the perfect fiber for both actions. When Kirsten Kapur designed the Pompano Tank for our book, I was all heck, yeah!  It's the kind of piece you can throw on over a bathing suit, over a camisole  or as a layer over a shirt. The simple A line shape and scoop neck is exactly my style. 

Is it yours, too? Enter our Pompano Tank GIVEAWAY by leaving a comment below, by midnight Sunday August 13th to win 5 skeins of Euroflax Sport in Eggplant (same colorway as our model Katrina is wearing here) and a 24 " size5 US Kollage Needle. Shipping included in US,  if winner is from outside US, you have to pay your own shipping (sorry)**

Last September, at the book launch party, I impulsively cast on a Pompano Tank for myself in wool.  Although I made a gauge swatch,  I (red flag!) didn't check the measurements of the size I chose to knit, against the measurements of my, ummm, body.  I know, idiotic...but I was basking in the glow of celebrating the book.  Long story short, I adored the knit, it practically flew off the needles in 3 busy weeks, but it doesn't fit me. Totally owning the error--I am considerably shorter than a size L waist to shoulder measurement. Not to mention wider in the hips. It is in my do-overs pile.

photo courtesy of Jani Estell...love her garden!

In more inspiring news, my wiser and immensely talented friend Jani Estell, over at Starcroft Wool and Yarns, knit herself this fabulous version of a Pompano Tank in her Fog yarn.  She lengthened the eyelet section and the stockinette above it, before the small amount of shaping toward the waist, creating a tunic out of the tank. Since it is a bottom up knit, you can slip it on, and decide exactly when to start the shape as you go.  I plan to copy her as soon as I can, because this tank/tunic could be a real staple for autumn outfits. or...dare I say it...a Rhinebeck debut?  We've got like 10 weeks, which is more than enough for this truly Drop Dead Easy knit...maybe you and I both should be casting on a Pompano for success?

*More Drop Dead Easy Knits spotlights can be found at these links, we're presenting them every 2 weeks. We joked about introducing them in limerick, I'm the one taking the joke too far....
Short Beach Shawl
Kiawah Pullover
Galworthy Gift Bag Parley Cardigan  
Abide Shawl Searsport Market Bag Glama Wrap Polliwog Baby Sweater 

**Kollage Needles are square and have super flexible soft cables, and nicely pointy tips. I personally love knitting with them. I hope you'll like them too. 

bts: Minnesota 52

In early May, I bopped off to Minnesota for a wonderfully whimsical book project: Minnesota 52: 16 Knits Inspired by the Road.

Megan Williams & Cori Eichelberger, aka KnitCahoots, were self-publishing their first book project . They'd reached the "whoaa...this is really happening and we need a photographer stat...and whateverelsehappens on a photo shoot, too". Fortunately we share a friend and top notch tech editor, Ellen Silva, of The Twinset Podcast, who made the connection.

We had to stop and scout this location: a sheep quilt painted on the side of a barn in Zumbrota MN.

Cori & Megan's theme is their  friendship and the knit-related adventures they've  had traveling between their homes, 100 miles apart, along Minnesota Highway 52. They wanted playful, small town locations that matched up with the spirit of their story, and their colorful designs.

So there we were, cruising along Mn 52 seeking locations. That's Cori and Megan on the right,  pre-enacting the cover image we shot 24 hours later-with much smoother light, you'll notice--on the left.  Here's how it looks on the book:

 I knew they both love color--especially Cori--and I knew they had a joie de vivre ---joie de knit? that had to be communicated but without going overboard into the "gee aren't we kooky" kind of pictures that try too hard. It had to feel real.

A rare instance where the overused cupped hands mitten shot actually works! Minnesota stone FTW.

We shot in  some small towns, a park, and a farm. 

Because you can't do rural Minnesota and not have a farm. (I urge you to play that for the sound effects)

And the, on the day of the shoot, the magic started happening right away.  We told our models--all part time models and full time scientists-- the shoot would be playful. Jo showed up just after dawn in the Pine Island Cheese Co parking lot with...her unicycle! She's wearing the Snow Thank You Sweater, which is high on my Want to Knit list . Don't you love the shoulder construction and lace, with the striped sleeves? It's designed by Megan Williams.

Nancy, the lovely woman who let us invade her farm, offered us various props....including a gosling. And a rabbit. 

FYI: Minnesota girls are not afraid of gosling poop dripping down the wardrobe, and a big armful of bunny is a welcome addition. That's Jen in the Nice-capades Sweater

We had a blast. Everyone pitched in...the authors hauled scrims, Ellen the tech editor became my photo asst, the models smiled and posed and looked beautiful  in wool all day despite some spring heat, and helped on set when they weren't posing.

It was one of those days when all the pieces came together and made the shoot match the spirit of the book. It's full of colorful, clever and very wearable designs----I tell you, Minnesota knitters are a whole 'nother scene of knitter, and these two are all in. I learned about SQ's  (sweater quantities of yarn) and VKN's (Virtual Knit Nights) where groups of knitters log in online, via  google hang out , enjoying  weekly knitting nights with each person in their own home spread far and wide. The Knit Cahootsters introduced me to a whole slew of indie dyers I didn't know about, and led me to a fabulous shoe store Luya Shoes, in the most unlikely location of Zumbrota MN.  I learned that Subway makes chopped salads as well as sandwiches, Walleye Pike is still delicious when freshly cooked, and Minnesota Nice is as true as ever.

Loved working with these ladies! I'm sure we made quite a scene--a photo crew shooting models and wielding 6 foot reflectors isn't seen everyday in rural Minnesota.   Anyway..... that's getting off topic. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry. I'll be casting on at least one, as soon as I get my queue in order!

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.