3 projects from Saturate/Desaturate

I've been on a work bender since late summer, photographing a ton of projects that I am crazy about. Like, I'm busting to show and tell.  Most of them won't surface for months or even a year...but happily Saturate/Desaturate , a collection and ebook from Kirsten Kapur/Through the Loops was released a couple of weeks ago.

It's probably not news that I love collaborating with Kirsten, considering that I shot her Shawl Book One and we co-authored Drop Dead Easy Knits with Mary Lou Egan. Among other adventures.

This book is extra special to me. The concept came up when we were on a long drive and I was saying how her designs are so strong that she could show them in both her signature color combos AND as natural, neutral solids that let the textures and geometry shine, showing each piece two ways. A while went by (we come up with a lot of schemes that never reach action). Then she told me she'd partnered with Malabrigo Yarn and the idea became real! Next we had to figure out a way to photograph the collection.

Naturally we came up with fantastic visual solutions that far outstripped the budget. Like going to a wonderful location where there were houses painted all kinds of colors and shooting in front of them, or shooting by street murals all over NYC , standing somewhere different for each set up. Logistically a budget buster for all the extra model and shooting  time needed to travel all over.

In the end, I decided that each project was plenty strong on its own.  No need to get crazy with the backgrounds! We'd show Saturated (in multi colors) against a plain white studio wall, and then the Desaturated (monochrome neutral or natural color version) would be photographed against a multi colored backdrop of fabric and styled with more neutral / naturals.

There are five patterns in the collection--I left off a bulky hat that I love, and a gorgeous wrap that looks crocheted but is infact some beautiful knitting stitch. You can purchase them singly if you are able to make those kind of choices ;-)  Go look!

my cladonia shawl

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Once upon a time (2013) , in a land far far away (Nashville), I succumbed to a spell cast by a dyer (Denise of Lost City Knits). Although foresworn to never buy single skeins just because they are pretty, especially never if they look questionable next to  my skin, the spell was strong.  A skein of yarn, so soft, so golden that it glowed, bearing the fairytale name Rumplestilskin came home with me. The skein lived happily. Though not ever after.

Peering deep into the bottomless pattern wishing well (Ravelry ), I was entranced by  Cladonia. So many Cladonia shawls, some solids with contrasting lace trim. My gold could be the trim, and cast no sallowness on my flesh! But what yarn was worthy of the golden skein?

Two months later, I was teaching at Fiber College of Maine, near Swans Island Yarn, with its busy fairy dyemothers. I was overcwhelmed with options in their shop,when my fellow teacher Kirsten Kapur herself, selected a yellowy grey and declared it the Cladonia-est in all the many shelves. (She later admitted she was just worried about time and chose it randomly- but I like to think it was alchemy.)

 When 2014 rolled around, I cast on, taking my shawl WIP  far and wide. The shawl went back to Maine, to the Hudson Valley, to New York City, to Indiana, Vermont, New Jersey, to Delaware and Washington and Long Island and Rhode Island and Nash Island... . So many many islands..though none tropical, which made the shawl very very sad...oh wait, that was ME .........

Cladonia became The Project to Work On Between Other projects.  I tired of grey, breaking out the Rumplestilskin for stripes.  In 2015, the Cladonia had a no-growth spell. I knit, it stayed the same size.  In  2016, the Cladonia grew and grew. If not the fastest Cladonia, then maybe it would be the largest one in all the knitting land.

I crossed the enchanted eyelets row between stockinette and lace border in May. It went quickly, buoyed by my fairy knitting god mother (the designer herself) who reassured (knocked me upside the head)  when I had my inevitable freakout on the 14th of 16 lace rows, that row 3 looked weird and maybe I should rip it all back.  Kirsten pointed out that the stitch count and pattern would be a hot mess if I had skipped YO's.   (DUH!)

I started to cast off..and the lovely glowing golden skein ceased being endless. I visited my collection of leftover fingering weight yarns.  Don't you all save your leftover skeins , in the YouNeverKnow box? and chose a Lisa Souza  vermillion from this project for that last row with its picot and looped detailing.  That is how my shawl shall live. Blocked, and happily every after.

photo editing workshop on 5/21 + behind the scenes

You have seen Kirsten Kapur's Shawl Book One, haven't you? I'm super proud to be the photographer.  Since I need to also let you know about the upcoming LIVE Interweave webinar I'm doing Thursday May 21st on PHOTO EDITING, I'll use an image from the book to show exactly why Photo Editing is so crucial.

register for the webinar in advance

 The Before is an idea gone bad. Too much blue sky distracting from the model and more importantly, the Cladonia Shawl. Shadows in the wrong places. Dirt (or maybe that's a bird flying by, in the sky). Phone lines, bad cropping,...you get it. It's not a successful image out of the camera.  The shawl is not the star of the visual story.  But it is, in the After photo.

Photo editing can't make a bad picture good, but it can make a promising picture pretty wonderful. Join me and see how easy it is using a free/inexpensive online software --no PhotoShop needed. Register here. It's about an hour long, and you can listen to it again, recorded, later on.

Book link--digital or printed--or both.

We shot the whole book in one day, although many days of prep work went into it. That calls for another BTS post, I think, or this one will go on for too long!  Kirsten wanted to shoot in my neighborhood in March. I live in an old beach neighborhood with lots of character. We dress super casually, it's a running joke that you can wander around the neighborhood in paint splattered shirts and mismatched ripped shorts and look amazing, but if you forget to pull yourself together before wandering into town, or go to work or---horrors- travel the 100 miles to New York City--you look raggedy. If not deranged.  My brain apparently couldn't process that I was doing my real job for a client, yet staying the the 'hood. Hence, it turns out this is what I looked like  as the book photo shoot got underway. Thanks to Kirsten for catching the styling, it cracks me up.

and here's me in action. You can tell it was still chilly out by all the crew's layers. Shawls, of course.

 I'll leave you with something nice from the book, the shot we were actually working on.  The Ulmus shawl, modeled by wonderful Katrina. More views in the shawl link.

FOUND on Friday: a perfect plan AND a fine idea

(Actually they are both fine ideas and perfect plans.)

A PERFECT PLAN  Behold my purchases from Rhinebeck,  as reported. Up by Bobo's paws,  Paintbox Gradients set from Fiber Optic.  When I taught at SSK the summer before last, I had the perq of shopping the marketplace early. A perq so wasted on me. There I stood, stumped by the beautiful gradients at Fiber Optics. What would I knit? What colors did I want? Bright and cheerful ? Subtle and earthy? Darn that talented dyer Kimber for her artfulness! The chocolate brown to light aqua transition totally spoke to me - but I guess it was mumbling. Took me till a couple of weeks ago, when I learned she was vending at Rhinebeck, to hear it clearly.  I only had to decide on yarn base.  Kashmir yarn with its 10% cashmere was it.
To offset my squirminess of owning a special yarn without a special plan, I sought a skein of natural to go with it, something with a halo. I had no pattern but a twinkle of a shawl idea.  Icelandics are feeling near to my heart this season, I've been working with Lars Rains on his  Modern Lopi collection.  When I bumped into Lars Himself at the Frelsi Farm Icelandics booth, I knew I had my 2nd yarn:  a  skein of fingering weight singles, in natural Bark.
Yesterday Kirsten Kapur released her Abingdon shawl pattern. The missing piece fell in place. A perfect plan for my  pairing. I can hardly wait to cast on.*

A FINE IDEA: I'll start blabbing about this now!  Beverly Army Williams is leading the charge for  CRAFT FRIDAY: a CraftActivist handmade alternative to the consumer-crass-ugly-day-after-Thanksgiving-glop that overlays the holiday weekend. First step: read her post and join the Pinterest Craft Friday page .  Second step: post about it yourself.  Spread the word. Plan a party. Third step: make a list of what you want to make that day.
More to come.

* the first commenter below will be my 5000th comment on this blog. 5000!  That seems so...I don't know, worthy of recognition! I love that you come by to read this, and taking the time to comment is icing on the cake. Very wonderful icing. I means seriously, you have no idea how great it is to hear from you. I'm going to gift the first commenter a copy of Kirsten's Abingdon shawl pattern, so you can knit one, too.