Author remilyknits

Book Review: The Crafter’s Guide to Taking Great Photos

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My mom was kind enough to give me several great books for my birthday.  I’ll be reviewing them here over the next few weeks.

First up: the crafter’s guide to taking great photos: the best techniques for showcasing your handmade creations by Heidi Adnum

The only thing cumbersome about this book is the extra-long title.  Once inside, this slim volume packs tons of useful information and tips into short, readable chapters. I felt confidant skipping the bits I was familiar with already, because each section is clearly labelled.  Throughout the book, I found the photos beautiful and inspiring.  In addition general tips on photographing handmade work, the author devoted nine chapters to specific categories of the handmade, including pottery, jewelry, and (hooray!) knitting and needlecraft.

Each topical chapter gives specific tips for camera settings and tools, solutions to typical challenges in that category, and (my favorite) interviews a crafter from that category. I learned a lot from these “practitioner spotlights,” even those for crafts I’m not currently pursuing.

For me, the biggest gift from this book is the detailed instructions for DIY lightboxes and diffusers.  I’m pretty happy with my camera right now (a Canon Powershot A710, a few years old at least), but every once in a while I wish I didn’t have to wait for good weather to take my knitwear photos.  I’ve also struggled a bit when photographing smaller knit items. The lightbox and diffuser solve both these problems — can’t wait to try them out.

Cast-On Monday: Shawl Project (Prototype #1)

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I’ve spent the last three-ish weeks knitting almost exclusively on a fingering weight sweater prototype for The Sock Report 2 (yay! still excited about this publication!).  If you know me at all, you know I am the exact opposite of a monogamous knitter.  In the last few weeks I know that I spent an hour working on  my Catkin shawl (as a reward for finishing the back of the prototype sweater), and I made about one hexipuff a day.  That’s it!  Normally, I will bring 3-4 projects along to a given knitting session, switching every hour or so to keep it fresh.  That’s just how I roll!

My work paid off: I finished the prototype with a few days to spare, and sent the pattern and sample off to the good people at The Sock Report for photography and tech editing.  You can imagine how antsy I was to cast on something NEW and DIFFERENT!  But of course I had all those neglected projects for me waiting in the wings too … so I compromised, and cast on for a new design project with this gorgeous BMFA Socks That Rock LW (Rare Gems):

I’m planning a three-design collection of one-skein fingering-weight small shawls.  I want to feature small/indy dyers — the STR for the first shawl is the most “mainstream” skein I’ll be using.  I’m also using a skein of “Cranberry” Merino/Tencel from Mind’s Eye (on the left) and a skein of “Walker” Barefoot Bohemian Sock from Bohemia Fibers. I had initially planned to use a fourth dyer as well … but the two skeins I picked from that dyer just didn’t “go” with the other three.  I will still design a fourth shawl, but it won’t be part of the collection.

So here’s a question, dear reader … what shall I name these three shawls? I had some pretty horse-related names picked out, but between the “Walker” skein (legit zombie) and the red/purple/blue of the other two, I’m sort of thinking of a zombie/monster theme might be better.  But, I don’t want to put off people who aren’t rabid zombie fans like me.  Hmmmmmmm.

New Pattern Release: Eye of the Storm

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I’m pleased to announce the publication of my latest pattern, Eye of the Storm!

Pattern: Eye of the Storm

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: $5 on Ravelry

Yarn: Schoppel-wolle Zauberwolle (one 100-gram ball)

This triple-layered scarf has been swirling in my head for the better part of a year. It started as an “I wonder if I can …” kind of question. In this case, the question was this: “I wonder if I can knit something with three different layers, all at the same time, without seams or any other tricks?” Could it be done? Yes!

Imagine the scarf as viewed from the end, with three legs. Trace the direction of knitting outward on a leg, then back inwards, then outward again on the next leg, then inwards again – each leg is worked out-then-in, and the legs are worked in order, counterclockwise.  I thought I might need three circular needles – one for each leg? – but as it turned out, by swapping needles in and out and the end of each leg-row, the three legs can be created with only two circular needles.  (The mathematician in my soul wonders if this means a scarf with N layers requires N-1 circular needles….)

Each layer in Eye of the Storm has the same lace edging. The layers are three different widths, revealing the lace on each layer. The unusual construction takes advantage of the long color repeats in Zauberwolle: because the layers are worked simultaneously, the color changes line up perfectly.

Many thanks to the lovely and cooperative Sara, who modeled Eye of the Storm for me.

Want to see how it’s accomplished?  Check out my video and photo tutorial.

 

Help a Fellow Knitter! or, Remily Knits Loves Zombies and Reality TV

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Hey all — you may remember my mentioning Craftlit once or a dozen times over the last few years.  It remains one of my favorite podcasts — reading books! making stuff! — if it had reality TV and zombies I would marry this podcast.

ANYway, the hostess of Craftlit is in a tricky spot with her younger child.  He had some fancy surgery several years ago to fix an ear defect, and he needs a repair ASAP in order to ensure that he doesn’t lose his new ear. Ms. Craftlit has sorted out the housing and airfare for the trip (the ear surgeon is in CA).  To raise a “food and other emergency” fund, she’s having a bit of a sale.

If you are so inclined, you can hop on over to her blog and read more about the situation and, more importantly, the myriad ways you too can help.  Things that might especially interest my (knitting) readers… she’s running a sale on her patterns, you could buy WWMDfK or preorder WeWMDpK.  (I made the Wilhemina Shawlette from the first book.)

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There are a lot of other cool knitting and literature things on her blog — go check it out, see if you can spare a couple bucks. You’ll get something neat that you want, and help a fellow knitter.  Just do it! 🙂

Tips and Tricks: Knitting Multiple Layers Simultaneously

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I recently had a brainstorm … you know the kind.  I wondered, was it possible to knit, say, a three-layered scarf, with all three layers worked at the same time — no seams or anything else — so that I could use a slow-color-change yarn with different-width layers and have the colors change at the same rate?  Well, I had a vision of circular needles flopping and changing, and I made it work!

I’m releasing “Eye of The Storm” any minute now on Ravelry — watch this space for an official announcement on Friday.  In the meantime, here’s a quick video and photo tutorial of how it works:

These photos show the scarf in progress…

#1 — Ready to knit the wrong side of the long leg — outbound from the center spine. Note that the needle tips match — the same circ is used to work the outbound legs, always.

 

#2 — A view of the back of the work — the long leg is next up to be worked, the middle leg is hanging off the back of the scarf, and the short leg has just been worked.

 

#3 — At the end of the outbound leg, drop the circ you just freed up …

 

#4 — …. turn the work ….

 

#5 — …. and pick up the far end of the other circ.

 

#6 — Work the right side of the long leg — inbound towards the center spine.  Notice that the needle tips do NOT match — on inbound legs you always use two different circs.

 

#7 — When you finish the inbound leg, push the stitches for the short leg (now the “hanging off the back” leg) onto the cable of that circ.

 

#8 — Push the stitches for the middle leg (the next leg to be worked) up onto the tip of the circ.  Ready for the next leg!

FO Friday: Ravellenic Edition (Part II)

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I finished my other two projects for the Ravellenic Games!

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Project: Blue Tiles

Pattern: Parquet Tiles

Designer: Rose Beck

Available: $5 for this pattern alone, or $12.99 for the Archi-textural Collection (on Ravelry, naturally)

Yarn: Knit Picks Capra in Celestial

I love this soft and luscious yarn!  The pattern was not my usual “type” — I’m not often drawn to plain-old knit&purl designs. Too many are poorly-rendered, overly-cutesy designs fit only for washcloths.  But, Parquet Tiles is elegant and lovely — not washcloth-like at all.  Enjoyable knit, reasonably quick, well-written pattern.  High marks!

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I worked hard throughout the Olympics on my puffs.  I’m proud to say I have officially “caught up” to my 366 in 2012 goal, and I’m currently running 4 puffs ahead of schedule! I was helped greatly by a mini-skein swap of 40 gorgeous new STR Lightweight colorways.

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Project: 40 STR Puffs

Pattern: the beekeeper’s quilt

Designer: tiny owl knits

Available: $5.50 on Ravelry

Yarn: BMFA Socks That Rock Lightweight

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FO Friday: Ravellenic Edition

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I finished two projects so far for the Ravellenic Games!

Project: Orange Cowl

Pattern: Clewe Cowl

Designer: Rachel Henry

Available: FREE! on Ravelry

Yarn: CEY Duchess

What can I say? I already knew I loved Duchess (plush, cashmere blend, alas — out of print).  I have knit a few Clewe Cowls — my own pattern, so of course I think it’s just right.  Eli’s cowl was quick — it fits him well, though he does not (as yet) appreciate the wonders of a mobius cowl. He kept trying to flatten it.

Next up: a hat for me!

Project: Blue Beret

Pattern: Greenery Beret

Designer: Melissa LeBarre

Available: in Weekend Hats

Yarn: Mirasol Yarns Nuna

I picked up this yarn as a “courtesy purchase” while checking out a LYS. It is a silk/wool/bamboo blend, so it was lovely to touch and drapes nicely, but still holds a block.  The pattern is basically two repeats of a feather-and-fan variation, followed by a decreasing f&f.  It works.

New Pattern Release: Full Bloom Bag

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Introducing my latest pattern: Full Bloom Bag!

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Pattern: Full Bloom Bag

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: $3.99 at Knit Picks / $4.50 on Ravelry

Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in three shades of green, and three shades of pink

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Design/Skills Needed: This cute little bag packs a lot of knitting technique into a single project: stranded colorwork, steeking, and applied i-cord work together to create a colorful bag inspired by old-fashioned wallpaper.

In order to achieve the vertical stripes on the finished bag, the body is worked sideways, in the round, using stranded colorwork to make the stripes and roses. The body is then steeked and the first and last rows are grafted. The bottom is worked in the round from picked-up stitches, and the top edges are finished with applied i-cord, which is then extended into i-cord handles.

Directions for a simple lining are included in the pattern, but (dear reader) you may remember I blogged about how I sewed a lining with built-in pockets. If you make this bag, I urge you to give pockets a try!

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The bottom of the bag has mitered corners in garter stitch — sturdy and perfectly square.

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I had a really hard time letting go of this sample so it could sojourn to Knit Picks for review.  I am anxiously awaiting it’s return, so it can be my cute purse and project bag for some time to come!

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