3 things: Talking About Knitting

1) Martinique Shawl in Liana from Berroco Yarn.
This from a photo shoot last September, when we soldiered through dozens of spring yarn designs in autumn, and tried to give a summery feel. At the time, with fall winds whipping, I wasn't sure we hit the mark fully. 
Months later I go online and see the release, and I fool even myself!  Summmmerrrrrrr. I am so ready for summer beach life, even 6 feet away from my friends. We did a trial last weekend and it worked .
 This yarn is a water-color-y linen in  dk weight, this is exactly how I'd want to use it.
Also, I adore the model, Frances.

2) I've left this MDK Field Guide coin project as my Zoom knitting. That's a category I never thought I'd need!  I don't do a tremendous amount of Zooms, thankfully, maybe 1-4 a week.  And when I do, this is  my happy-inducing companion.  I look forward to the end of quarantine-based Zoom calls but I do not look forward to ending this addictive tubular scarf......it may be really really long by next winter. That's all I'm saying. 

 3) That ShannaJean Cowlette is fini!   In the home stretch I surprised myself with two realizations. First, I was not tired of making bobbles*. Not even in the very long bobbled bindoff.  Something about the stabbiness of creating them matches my mood during Covid stay-at-home in a lovely stitch-to-moment ratio. Enough said on that topic, eh? 

The second realization? It's so not my style! I don't know when/where/if  I'll wear this.**  Somewhere along the last third of it, still enjoying the process, I had the cold clear light of day realization that it isn't me, at all. I love the colors and the yarn.  I have no regrets about the making.  Maybe for teaching at a knitting event?  I'll let you know....

* bobbles: I knit backward to make them, if I had to turn the work around, that'd be the dealbreaker.
** Above, I tried styling it in the only way I can imagine wearing it, with  a denim or chambray top. I didn't notice that I flipped the edging in every shot. I am never too professional to make rookie mistakes!

3 things on my mind (work related)

 Berries in a Box by Lori Versaci

Hadley by Veronik Avery  as seen on Mason Dixon Knitting (their gorgeous Winterburn Aran yarn!)

1) I photograph many knits on jobs,  that I'd like to (make and) wear --but wouldn't connect on my own.  The two above are just the tip of the iceberg.  Go check out the link for the top one, Berries in a Box. It looks good on so many different body types. Including mine!   Yes--of course I try on samples while they are here with me for photo shoots. Wouldn't you?  I thought this shape would be too much for a shortie but it was so good.

The second one, Hadley, is no surprise style-wise for me . However, I'd only seen the original pattern that was multicolored--and it's a whole'nother  look in dark red and oatmeal. , like this sample I was sent to photograph.

2. Why why why why why am I dragging my feet on getting my new website up?  Even a good sheep shot can only hold a place for so long!  The funny thing is, I had my professional website very early on--in 1999, when relatively few photographers had websites, and most internet activity was still dial up or slow connections. The images on it were tiny!  I've had many webites since then...and a new one has been half designed for months now.
Do you drive yourself crazy not getting things done too? 

Thanks to Nancy of Getting Purly With It, for this photo , she was in the class :-) and caught me making namaste hands without knowing it.

3.  I love teaching iPhonography workshops. Yesterday's in New York at HereNowSpace was especially enjoyable. The participants were so talented and engaged.  It didn't hurt that the venue is stylish, had state of the art projection (love) and we were  surrounded by samples of mYak yarn, as it is also their showroom
At the end I was asked if I have an online video instruction version of my workshop. Nope. I almost always get this question when I teach....usually I just say nope and move on. This time I started pondering. Maybe I should produce one? On the things-to-look-into list! 

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Maybe a better title for this is 3 random things...but hey look at me, three blogposts already for 2020! See you next week. or, maybe this weekend wandering around VKL in NY ?
 

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.

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. 

it's time for Trip Mitts' return

Trip Mitts-- a pattern you can knit (in multiples) before the holidays.For yourself. or not.
Do you listen to the Twinset Designs podcast? I'll confess I am a slacker  in the knitting podcast department--I am picky picky about who I listen to. And I just plain forget to seek and listen.  Which is a shame because there are some brilliant podcasters out there, making a great mix of friendly chat, smart ideas and knitting information that inspires and illuminates. 

 I was lucky to be part of an interview with Ellen and Jan of the Twinset, when they caught me and my co-authors at Rhinebeck, (photo swiped from Twinset Jan's IG feed , thanks Jan!), this is Team Drop Dead, in which two of us are wearing matching sweaters, the Keynote Pullover. To be upfront, Twinset Ellen, 2nd from left,  is our tech editor (she is amazing!) and we have been friends for s few years. However, I still think their review of Drop Dead Easy Knits, in Episode 85 with our interview,  is well worth a listen.

I was thrilled that Ellen mentioned my Trip Mitts at the end of the segment--she'd tech edited them when they were going to appear in our book.  They got cut. We had more than enough content, and an editor thought they were too rustic.

It was understandable-- I know my design sensibility is on the brux side. I released the pattern alone,  last year. And since the season is nigh for quick knits that make great gifts--and quick knits to wear on your poor cold hands--I'm bringing it back for your attention.

The pink ones are knit in Anzula Oasis. And the blue ones are some handspun wool and a teeny bit of a marigold yarn for the closure.DK weight for both, but you can sub almost anything. See the project page to get what I mean! Stashbusters, for sure.