This week: teaching Chicago in person!

As much as I enjoyed teaching virtually these past two years, I am thrilled I'll be in front of a room of living breathing people teaching iPhonography in just a few days  in Chicago!

 

If you'll be at H+H Americas, the trade show for handmade business  please join me !

THURSDAY JUNE 23,  9:45-11:15 am     Smartphone/IPhone Photo Confidence 

FRIDAY  JUNE 24,  9:45-11:15 am  10 +  Tips for Product Photography

These will be fun, helpful, talks filled with actionable tips and time for Q&A.  Not to mention so many images to look at!

And then if you're in the area, visiting or a local,  I am so excited to be teaching hands-on Fabulous Phone Photography for Knitters and Makers                                      SATURDAY JUNE 25, at STRING THEORY YARN COMPANY                            Chicago (Glen Ellyn)    9:30-Noon

If you're thinking about this one , don't wait too long, there were just a couple seats left when I checked in on Friday! I have wanted to visit this shop for ages, having met Janet Avila, the owner at past events and long admired her mission, attitude, events and style.  Oh, and yarn selections! Going to be some new projects cast on here, I can pretty much promise that.

 

3 things: I'm working on Today

1)The Little Sock Arms Sweater *for my favorite almost-eight-just -twelve days-can you-believe it-really-do -you-know--ONLY-TWELVE-MORE-DAYS-TILL-I'm....8 year old.    This is such a clever and fun knit. 
Zoe spied this pattern on  Ravelry in  July.  Her Rainbow Sweater was outgrown after two years, and I offered to knit a new fave.  I warned her it might take a while for me to find the right yarn.  At the time I hadn't realized that self-striping fingering weight yarn is alive and well and found at any event or festival with lots of indie dyer vendors. 
It was my good luck to be teaching at Knitting At the Estate in rural Illinois in September-and there was Julia Vesper from Knitterly Things-- with this exact sweater on display at her vendor booth next to all her gorgeous striping yarns.  And the  designer, Stephanie Lotven of  Tellybeans was there too, and  taking my class, and I was enjoying her company, so boom, I came home ready to knit it up.Talk about kismet.

2) More color!  I was compelled to cast on for this scarf knit in the round the day I peeped the latest Mason Dixon Knitting Field Guide 13, full of Kaffe Fasset wild abandon. I have a bunch of Starcoft Fiber partial skeins that I've been hoarding saving for I-don't-know-what. So this is it!  -- and it is just pure joy. Also-- two handed colorwork just makes me feel so...balanced. No plan on the colors--I have lots of greens and some yellows too.  It's fingering weight so this may take a while but I do not care. Process,  it's all about process on this on. 

3) Business Untangled -- January 15 in NYC at HereNowSpace.  STILL A FEW SEATS LEFT! I am  honored to be part of this professional development day for Indie Makers of the fiber world. It's going to be fun, it's going to be helpful, it's going to be focused. I am teaching an Iphoneography class with a lot of in-phone photo editing.  I can't wait.   If you are at all tempted, I urge you to join us. I am also excited to learn about newsletters and hear the roundtable discussion. Plus lunch and snacks so... see you there?

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* If you're thinking that this pattern would be fun to knit for an adult but, ummm, maybe not in fingering weight yarn because all those stitches...good news she also published Worsted Sock Arms  it for a full range of adult sizes in worsted weight yarn. I am tempted, are you?

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!

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.

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.

3 things: what i'm knitting now

The sub-title of the post should be: for better or worse.  I'm really jazzed about  a number (greater than three! a cornucopia of knits!) of projects I have going on,  but these three are actively being knit on this week.

ONE 
My Jane Jacobs Shawl from I Knit New York.   I am having fun with this! Mosaic knitting over a large surface is new for me. It flies by magically. My only issue is indecision about colors. I need to swap out for the next section.  Designer Kirsten Kapur gave me the heads up that in mosaic knitting, subtle contrasts get lost--more so than in garter stripes or stranded colorwork. Who knew??  Being friends with the designer has its advantages, but now I am fretting the colors.  I think the next section will be blue (see yarn options at top) with black squares, then with grey with squares and end with the purple with lightest silver/white squares. Or....maybe not...

Bonus: on an episode of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, there's  a scene with Jane Jacobs, on a  soapbox in Washington Square Park. I sputtered in excitement as I watched " Hey I AM KNITTING A SHAWL named after her".  I may have repeated it three times.  (any wonder non-knitters think we are crazy?)

TWO I finished Dave's sweater, Zacapa by Thea Colman. I love everything about it except the fit is messed up.  Entirely MY fault, NOT the pattern's.  Dave tried it on fresh off the needles,  I thought all it needed was a good blocking. So I wove in ends, finished seams, blocked it thoroughly (3 days to dry, no joke, it is heavy yarn ).  Now it is obvious the sleeves and shoulders are all wrong.  My first saddle shoulders will soon be my second saddle shoulders ;-) .  I have lost my zip to work on this but he loves it, so I shall seek zip and rip back soon . Quite a ways back. UGH.  It's beautiful Jill Draper Makes Stuff Middlefield yarn , far too nice to leave unworn and neglected!

THREE
If you are thinking " wtf ? scribble lace in south florida flamingo and green?" , I hear you. Though we are calling it seaweed green and mermaid pink.  It is a gift for someone who is all about such foof and flair.  I want to make something that she will love.  Back in the day  (so far back, pre-ravelry) I knit at least two Loopy & Luscious Wraps .  This is a narrower version as a scarf, in the venerable KidSilk Haze and a skein of really lovely but intensely pink Soul Wool merino. Both skeins have been here a while.  It became obvious to me they need to be this gift.
The scribble lace cranks off the size US15 needles--I watch a little TV and work on it at night for an hour or so-  it'll be done soon and then I can leap onto one of three sweaters for me that are in the plans. And on my Make Nine.  And calling to me every time I walk past the yarn.

Not unrelated--Berroco is running a Lopi KAL starting February 1st.  I am so in to Lopi-Along.  You? 

Make Nine 2018

I've been having a fine time over on Insta looking at Making Plans of the Multitudes. Did you know you can follow a hashtag now,  as well as a person?  I added #MakeNine2018 to my feed and poof, inspiration-- and aspiration-- out the wazoo.

I wasn't going to put one together myself but it's amazing what a snowed-in day leads to....

1. September House Sweater from Kirsten Kapur (pattern releasing soon) .

2. Amy Louise Shift by Ellen Mason, Odacier .

3. Solbein by Mary Jane Mucklestone, as a pullover.  I'm indecisively hovering over All the  Lopi to pick colors. Side note: It's in Making No. 4 Lines, which is SO GOOD.  I could Make Nine from it alone.

4. Dottie Angel Frock from Simplicity. The company's pattern photos are white bread twee but look around online and you'll see great versions. Again, indecision abounds, this time for fabric choices.

5. Farmhouse Cardi by Savory Knitting, Amy Christopher. Ok, so I started this near the end of 2017 but it had to be put aside, so it's 95% a 2018 knit. In Jill Draper Makes Stuff Empire. With vintage buttons. Why am I sitting here blogging when I could be working on it???? ;-)

6. Jane Jacobs Shawl by Kirsten Kapur from I Knit New York, released yesterday! I cast on late last night, could not resist, in  this Backyard Fiberworks .  You can see the sample at VKLive in NYC, at the Backyard Fiberworks booth--and get signed print copies of the book.  I am quite biased, as the photographer but it is a gorgeous collection. I could easily Make Nine from this one too.

7. Brioche.  I really enjoy going round and round in 2 color brioche. I have a lot of beautiful yarn. I think you know where this is going......there will be more brioche.

8. Metamorphic Dress by Sew Liberated. I am crazy about this dress. I've yet to see a version that I don't love. If I can  get the proportions right, it will be a major part of my wardrobe. (It's reversible so that's doubly true).

9. I can't show it  yet but Berroco Portfolio 5  (link is to Portfolio 4, which is no slouch ) is coming out in a couple of weeks.  I'll add the link when it's clickable. Again I am biased since I shot it, and it's one of my favorite series of photos ever so....obvs I need to knit from it.

Anyone else do one of these? leave your link in the comments!

giveaway BT Loft for mitts (and more)

GIVEAWAY Brooklyn Tweed LOFT to make TUROA Mitts from Drop Dead Easy Knits

My co-author and brilliant knitter Mary Lou Egan blogged about the Turoa Mitts pattern by our other co-author, Kirsten Kapur, and threw in a giveaway of a skein of Brooklyn Tweed Loft. It's one of many substitute yarns you could use to make these little beauties. As a gift. Or a a little holiday self-care for your hands. 

In classic Mary Lou style, in the same blogpost as the giveaway, she drops a killer knitting tip: how to judge the comparative weight of two yarns.  Let's say you've got, ohhh I dunno...a zillion leftover skeins of yarn you might use for these mitts but you are just not sure what weight they are. Or how they'd go if you want to knit them together to make a Sidekick Hat?  Or you think the yarn company must have been drunk when they called a yarn worsted as  it's skinnier than most fingering weight ?  You will want her trick.  

More giving --seeing as it is the first night of Chanukah tonight (no, I am not prepared, whydoyouask??), I'm going to gift you with more excellent tips and advice: go give a listen to Abby Glassenberg's annual community tips podcast from her While She Naps podcast.  Now, I know you are thinking "but she sews stuffed dolls, and I do not, I am a knitter/maker/DIY person" but here's the thing..the tips span many crafts and well beyond. Many good recommendations for books, podcasts, tools....and some quilting stuff that I don't understand, but you might!

Lastly: Our book Drop Dead Easy Knits is  full of excellent patterns, stylish but sot-too-taxing to knit AND I just noticed  it's super reasonably priced on Amazon this week. Geeez. For the cost of two single patterns elsewhere,  you get all these. (Ravelry link to see all 29 patterns).  Buy it , throw in a gift certificate to your LYS (or, use it as an excuse to visit your LYS to pick out some yarn in person) and BOOM excellent gift for a knitter in your life. 
Or...you know. Self-care.;-)

 

post4: the Never Fail Watch Cap

Here you have it, the Never Fail Watch Cap from Mason Dixon Knitting Knitstrips, knit in The Croft yarn on US size 8 needles. Easily less than one skein.  What is not to love?

I've already talked about how simple the pattern and how delightful the yarn. I may have whined a bit excessively about the need to make one long Kitchener seam. It really was no big deal.

An entertaining little knit, and sooo quick. Pretty sure another will be on the needles soon. But not, however in my other skein of The Croft, in the blue/green for Dave. When asked what he thought about the hat, and if he wanted one, too,  the reply was something like "It's a good one. I like it. Ummm no I don't want matching hats.......I'd really like if you'd finish my sweater though....."

See? They named it right.

As far as Dave's sweater...I have tons of knitting time this week, a Woolapalooza of Knitting Time! FOs ahead. 

post 3: felting has its limits

This right here is exactly how many felted balls a five year old will make with you before she remembers that felting little wool balls is actually quite boring.

post 1*: Grand Central Scarf fr DDEK

There's a train station in New York City,
That's elegant, old and so pretty.
Waiting or onboard,
Simple knitting's adored.
Empty handed? You have my pity!**

We're talking the Grand Central Scarf by Kirsten Kapur from Drop Dead Easy Knits.

At a glance, its a  striped textured scarf with fringe. Take a closer look! I am crazy about this clever pattern. Here's why:

Instead of the expected knit back and forth on looooonnnnngggg rows, it is actually knit in the round. Yup, that's right, in the round. Mind blown?

You cast on a lot of stitches and knit around till you have the desired width of your scarf, (or run out of yarn).  Cleverly designed to have no finishing , it has a section where you let stitches drop and cut once, to create the fringe.

OK. As one persnickety and mean-spirited review pointed out, there is the very minimal finishing of needing to knot the fringes at their base.  And optionally, block it.  Shhh don't tell anyone, you could skip the blocking if it is draping nicely.

thanks to the beautiful Sarah Hunt of Fibertrek podcast for modelling.

The texture is a simple slip stitch with a good rhythm-- you'll not need any glancing at a pattern. Which is why it is great travel/waiting knitting. If you've ever knit a Honey Cowl (and holy cow there are close to 24,000 of them on Ravelry, though I think half of those were knit by Mason Dixon Kay), I refer you to that kind of vibe.  Though not the same texture. It is, however, really pretty on both sides.

Kirsten designed it using two shades of DK weight yarns but Mary Lou cleverly used a skein of Jill Draper Makes Stuff Rifton, which has long color changes-- making the project even Drop Dead Easier, by not needing to switch skeins. ***   If you fell for beautiful gradients at a festival or yarn shop recently, this might be a good use for them.

***************************

* Every November I attempt NaBloPoMo but despite good intentions, fall short.  Me+Rules = UNlikely To Follow. So I number my posts for the month and do what I do. .

** The three authors of Drop Dead Easy Knits--Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops, Mary Lou Egan, and I- committed to blogging about each of the patterns in our book. If you visit our blogs, you'll find the posts. I said I'd do it in limerick...so...I haven't slipped up yet.

*** I cast on for  Grand Central in Rifton, too, but idiotically decided to work it from both ends, for the stripes, rather than just knit through it. About halfway in I realized my folly: I had a frustrating tangle from the two end knitting (so. not. easy.). Plus, Jill had spun this yarn so the color changes repeated, her colors were so thoughfully and gracefully appearing yet  I was ending up with matching sections instead of stripes....It was not working. If you use a color changing yarn, just go straight through it and let the dyer do the heavy lifting.

NY Sheep & Wool: Postcards Rhinebeck 2017

New York Sheep & Wool was a daytrip for me this year.  It was, as you've no doubt gleaned elsewhere, unseasonably warm.  Also unusual, I only had dark sunglasses (prescription, I am Ms Magoo), no normal specs, so my picture making was...interesting.  SO. VIVID.

With sunglasses turning things extra bright, I peered over and saw that indeed, longtime fave Nanne Kennedy of Seacolors solar dyed up some strong hues this year at her farm. Love love love.

It's always all about the people and What They Are Wearing, for me. More love love love.

There's the full view of Cal Patch* of Hodgepodge Farm and friends from the Ulster County Spinners in their Dottie Angel Frocks.  Head-to-toe handmade love.

The talented and beautiful Kristy Glass, first thing in the morning when one could wear wool...for a bit...in the shade. Her YouTube channel has this year's 90+ minute Rhinebeck Sweater roundup online already...get your popcorn and settle in. She's the best knit world interviewer/supporter/video star. She interviewed me about the shawl I was wearing. My sweater stayed in the car. I'd declare Yoked Sweaters the Big Thing this year and Boyland Knitworks Sunset Highway the most worn.

Things I didn't buy but will:(L) White Barn Farm's gorgeous Home yarn, in the colorway Remains of the Day. Will be ordered as soon as I choose the pattern it deserves. (top R) Eco dyed woven wool from Rwanda, at the Umva LongRidge Farm booth.  bottom right: Dragonfly Fibers. Swooooon.

Another view of an Umva shawl, and then, something I DID buy, Bristol Ivy's stunning book Knitting Outside the Box. The designs are like her, beautiful and smart. The book is gorgeous and full of skill building, thoughtful, inspiring  essays on ways to make innovative shapes and drapes. In my fantasy world, I take it with me to a cabin in the woods on a snowy weekend and dig in, by the fireplace.

Hugs! (or...neck locks...)That's Cal Patch running into  my Rhinebeck date Beverly Army Williams. I highly recommend attending with an excellent travel buddy maker friend--but go find your own, you can't have her, she's mine;-) Such a fun day exploring and ooohing and aaaahing and hugging...

Here's Beverly and Thea Colman, Ms Baby Cocktails herself,  at the Jill Draper Makes Stuff after party.  Thea's helping Beverly choose yarn to make her newest release Rye and Rum Punch--not that you can see much of it, but Thea is wearing it. She helped select the contrast colors in Windham. This was vicarious shopping at it's best, I am crazy about that sweater. To the queue!

More from Jill Draper's** studio in Kingston---clockwise from upper left: Jill Draper herself, looking 1940's glam,  Misa Erder and Karen Clark (ChooChooKnits) in a mind boggling show of knitting genius. Misa designed and wore her cowl Market Day. 
Karen surprised her by sweaterizing it. (!!) On the bottom left, Misa considers two Empire bumps. This photo, made in a  dark-ish corner at dusk, doesn't  do credit to Jill's dyeing.  That one on the right was SO GOOD. Something like this but, y'know, even better.

Being the bon-vivants that we are, next stop was the Mason Dixon Knitting MDK Pie and Cider Party in the woods.

It was a no shoes party.  The lovely The Wooliers sisters won Best Prepared, in their knit slippers.  Check out that view of the shoes on the front entry porch: in which we confirm  the Venn diagram for MDK and Wearing Clogs is almost totally overlapped circles. Notable exception, my high rise Tevas.   My motto: Sandals till the freeze forces me into boots!
Ann and Kay cut the pie, the cider flowed. It was a lovely way to end the day.

* Cal is an amazing maker and teacher--that link is to her etsy shop but you might want to surf around and see if you can take a class from her, or find her vending at a holiday market.

** If you are clicking over in the days just following the festival, Jill may not yet have refilled her etsy shop, but don't worry, it'll be back in a few days....