she shoots sheep shots

on second thought

2009-11-08T22:09:00.005-05:00

My new hat. When I put it on my head I thought this is IT, this is what I really wanted in a new hat.
Pattern: Felicity
Yarn: Sport weight- 1 skein of Six Paca Farm alpaca (description here) , and 1 skein of Frog Tree alpaca in gold. I am crazy about these colors together. I'm tempted to add a small amount of bright red stitching embellishment. For some reason that color combo speaks to me this week.
Needles: sizes 3 & 5 US
Notes: Ok, this is such a cool hat if you look at it on Ravelry , mostly knit in worsted weight. Or here's a good example.There are, like, hundreds to admire.This is a lighter weight yarn so I modified the pattern , by casting on 96 stitches to start and increasing starting with K6 M 1, until I worked up to K12 M1 .
Since the yarn was thinner, I was worried the hat wouldn't be long enough. A baggy beanie? No thanks. So I added 8 rows before starting the decreases. And I knit 3 rounds between each decrease row.

When I first put it on my head I thought I was all that. I had the slouchy hat I wanted.

Now, I'm thinking maybe too much volume. That's a lot of slouch. At some point slouch just becomes...pouf. So this may get a restructuring. Or I may just be lazy and wear it.

brought to you by the letter b

2009-11-07T19:14:00.010-05:00

My Annette is blocked & dry.

Thanks to yesterday's long roundtrip in my new ~~car~~ mobile blocking unit. Funny view back there- some photo equipment, my yoga mat and knitting. Throw in a cup of coffee, maybe a little dark chocolate, and there you have me. Thing wise, I mean.

I found these bug buttons marinating in my button tin. My sister Lulu brought them back from England for me a long time ago- maybe a decade or more. I've been saving them for just the right sweater.

As luck would have it, she popped by as I was contemplating giving them this permanent home. My other option, also under consideration at the moment, was mismatched vintage (and here vintage means not sure where they came from) green buttons. She told me I could do that if I wanted to "perpetuate my patchwork potholder look" . Or I could use the bug buttons if I wanted "a smarter style". Being mature and all, I didn't say anything in a sarcastic Goofy voice like "well, garsh, who wouldn't want to look smart" . But you know, I think I'll go for it.

a mere shadow of a post

2009-11-06T22:42:00.002-05:00

I had a half-decent post planned for today. But I just got home, 10 pm, after a day spent on Lawn Guyland going through an aunt's home before she sells it, then visiting her in the hospital--and much contemplating on the nature of STUFF, mortality, time passing and gawdawful traffic. Really- 3 1/2 hours to travel 93 miles??!!

So, a shadow is what I have for you.
Till tomorrow.

do handknit socks reduce stress?

2009-11-05T18:39:00.002-05:00

You wanna talk stressed? Bridgeport CT is stressed. I still like to look at it though.

Last week a reporter from cnn.com called me, writing about professions identified as being high stress compared to the level of pay. I figured she was looking to talk about the stress of working as a commercial photographer in this cruddy economy. It turns out the stress factors identified are deadlines, crazy, weird or precarious working conditions, unpredictable budgets while keeping clients happy and the pressure of needing to always produce fabulous work.

Really? These are things I like about the job. A little chaos is good, that's my motto.
So here I am as the commercial photographer poster child. When's the last time you saw handknit socks on CNN ?

what i learned today

2009-11-04T17:37:00.003-05:00

#1 If I am out of caffeinated coffee , I must not make a pot of decaf and try to fool myself . It will result in headache and crankiness in the extreme by 2 pm.

# 2 Having the photo editor of a lifestyle magazine I admire asking me to make & send a quickie glimpse inside my home is humbling. Very.

1st tuesday in november

2009-11-03T22:55:00.003-05:00

Is it weird that this is what I consider an all-american image? I heart diners.

My day as an Election Official got off to a whomping headstart. As bad as the 5 am call time at the polls was, the as-yet-unexplained way that I read the clock wrong and was ready at 4 am, fully dressed and out the door was even worse.

No matter. There's something about being hands-on so close to the nuts & bolts of democracy, and the nuts & dolts of my community, that I have to love it.

commitments, with issues

2009-11-02T20:57:00.006-05:00

Oh, the pressure. November. A month when the darkness comes too early each day. A month to cast your ballots* in the US. A month to commit.
NaKniSweMo 2009 ? Vestvember ? NaBloPoMo ? Yeah, sure, why not.

If you ask me, all uncooked tomatoes have issues. The gooky stuff with seeds.

Well, umm, in the past I've had a mixed record with these sorts of efforts. Daily blogging? Sorta kinda made it through the month. Scrolling back from that link, I see I fell apart around the 21st. A sweater in a month ? OK, that I've done a few times but the year long effort ? Pfffffft. Gone with the summer breezes, I'm just putting the final touches on # 7.
A vest in November? When I joined Vestuary, I finished it in April.
So I'm not making any promises. We'll see how it turns out. Sometimes different is good.

* don't forget to go vote tomorrow (Tuesday) if you're in the US. I'm working it again, I got a promotion to tabulator tender. woohoo! Take pity on your poor Election Officials. We're there from 5 am on to welcome you. Not expecting it to be as exciting as last year, I may get some serious knitting in on that November sweater.

not necessarily in order of importance

2009-10-30T06:15:00.012-05:00

My souvenir from last weekend: One skein of Lisa Souza yarn, in the colorway St Valentine's. It's a big honkin' 560 yards of Sock!merino. Perhaps an Ishbel? I've heard wearing red gives extra energy. Works for me.

I bet you thought I was going to say something about a Red Scarf for the Red Scarf Project right? No, but I'm working on that. You should too. Have you seen the prizes Norma has for those knitting and donating?

Last Sunday , sister Lulu needed to do some reconnaissance in a charming CT town, prepping for a meeting. I went along figuring, whynot? Great weather, a Bloody Mary at the historic tavern mid morning, a hike around the colonial harbour...what could be bad.

She had in mind walking in and out of every. single. charming. little shop...and the tavern didn't open till too late in the day.

I think I've already made it clear how I feel about recreational shopping. Without the camera to give my morning purpose I'd have hung myself up on one of these lamp posts.

I can't complain too much. Twee overload was offset by the sun.

PS. my friend Birdsong is having a contest over on her blog, she wants to know about life changing events in yours, as she just had a biggie. Go. Enter.

me & younification*

2009-10-25T09:10:00.015-05:00

(* I didn't make that word up, more here on the subject).
Oy this social media. It used to be easier to keep work & personal life separate.
This was personal life:

2 sons & their best friend ,random day at the summer cabin in the 90's

and this was work life

.
page from my website

The two rarely mixed. I thought it was important not to let on how I spent my non-professional time. Or that I even had a personal life. I did a lot of magazine and NY Times assignments that were odd or quirky or even dangerous. I worried if my clients knew I had a family they might not give me the same work. In retrospect, I bet they wouldn't care. But, you know what they say about hindsight, right? Then a few years ago I started this blog, and then started shooting Shear Spirit.
About then's when the veil dropped.

People I met through the blog became my friends and they became clients,

Behind the scenes shooting Mason-Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines

then came Facebook, and Twitter and Linked In and OH FUGGEDABOUT IT! I can't keep straight who is work and what is personal. I just try to look presentable in public.

Which brings us to Friday, I traveled to NY for a meeting at my favorite publisher's (read that as: the one who is giving me the next book contract) to talk about art direction for another project with Joan Tapper. Yayaya! details soon, new adventures on the horizon. From there, downtown to a photographers' trade show at the Javitz Center, got teased about my knitting blog as usual by macho male colleagues, (yeah, I'm looking at you Jake) , listened to a pep rally for social media & Twitter (yeah I'm looking at you @photojack) BTW? Knitbloggers are light years ahead of even most gearhead photographers in this realm. I went home, woke up the next morning and off to StitchesEast, the knitters trade show in Hartford, to sign books and browse.

If you're keeping score, that's 2 tradeshows in 2 days in 2 cities, each was part work/part social. Does it matter anymore? is it better in this increasingly tech driven world to have transparency between your personal life & your business world and just be a human? Will we all soon speak in 140 characters or less no matter who we talk to, be it spouse, boss or that guy who hangs out at the bar in the center of town?

And more importantly, do you want to know if I managed to buy a skein of yarn this weekend? I did! Next post.

last minute news saturday

2009-10-24T09:04:00.009-05:00

I'm up in Hartford CT at StitchesEast from 12:30 on signing Shear Spirit at the Seacolors booth, # 727. Bring your copy, or you can purchase one there. Whatevah..just stop by & say hi. It's a rainy day, what better to do than browse the wool?

Nanney Kennedy, the shepherd, dye artist, sweater designer and force of nature is Mz Chapter One in Shear Spirit on her Meadowcroft Farm in Maine. You will be glad you met her. I know I am. An afternoon with Nanney is never, ever dull.

Holiday season is coming and a coffee table book makes a happy gift. Just saying.

the long post-rhinebeck post

2009-10-18T19:04:00.010-05:00

Mine was a daytrip. I took the Robert Frost route to get there.

".........I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by......"

I was enjoying the scenery right down to every punny barn sign but worrying about the poor poor vendors, I wasn't seeing any other traffic. Had the economy finally thinned out the fiber fest crowd??? Till I realized I was just a little, cough ,off target.

Happily the New York Sheep & Wool Festival at Rhinebeck is as popular as ever.
The vendors with ready to wear woolens were happy, too. It seemed like all the vendors were doing OK , although I didn't succeed in adding to their totals. So much to admire! Too much to take in! I am a sucky shopper!

This yurt between 2 barns was full of fantastic wet felted pieces & rugs. I liked the scarves, I can't explain exactly how they did it, they are part woven fabric and part felt.

Retail slacker's remorse: wish I'd bought one.

Here's why I really went to Rhinebeck. My plans to hang with Team Mason Dixon Knitting:

Progressive Knitters in Support of Progressive Lenses

id's by Rav link: Kay, Bonne Marie Burns (of ChicKnits, she designed for the MD book), Ann, MaryNeal (another MDKnitting designer- Rav link to that Margaret sweater with the words) and yours truly. The combined brains & talent of these 4 is a forcefield. Plus they're a lot of fun to have a photo shoot with. Or a beer.

Here's some foodstands area play by play action:

While BonneMarie is interviewed and taped for LetsKnit2gether knitcast,we ran into Guido, of Its a Purl,Man .

So Kay sits down, takes my knitting and starts going a few rounds (I am thrilled. It's a sportweight alpaca hat begun Thursday and I want it done NOW). Guido plops down next to her, take a sidelong glance and pulls out his drop spindle.

Only at a fiber festival is this so extremely normal as to not even get a second glance. Well , yeah, Guido's sweater may have gotten a second glance but its got a sweet story behind it, go ask him.

I know its silly since I live so close by them but I was thrilled to run into New Haven & Shoreline SnB friends all day long.

Fr'example Rebecca, Anne w/ 2 kidlets and no blog, and Alina. Between fairground and the Ravelry party later that night, our little corner of the knitting world represented.

What else is there to report?
Tons of inspiring handknits , reallive sheep & alpaca, delicious food and excellent company. What more could you want for a chilly fall day?

Maybe a little bunny to go.

practicing

2009-10-14T06:36:00.010-05:00

I am trying to train for Rhinebeck. Last year , I came home with a bottle of cranberry wine. Period. Full stop. In a year that had me at 5 fabulous fiber festivals - I know! weep for me! professional duties!- I purchased all of 2 skeins of yarn and a handful of mohair locks. Total.

So when my friend Shelly asked me to meet her at an alpaca farm shop near her house yesterday, I thought it'd be good for me. I was missing my friends at Victory Ranch, and my visit there last October.

Bozrah CT is no match for the mountains of New Mexico. But still, not so bad on a fall day.

The alpaca were predictably adorable. Six Paca Farm has a coffee shop in its farmhouse shop too. In training for my pledge to be decisive and acquire some yarn this weekend at the NY Sheep & Wool hooha, I forced myself to practice.

Look , a skein of tealish, overdyed brown alpaca. Sportweight. 160 yards. Lovely! But what will I do with it? One skein. Why?

I am not meant to be a stasher. Instead of working later today, I just know I am going to dig around and see if any of my alpaca leftovers might be similar enough in weight to knit a stripey Felicity hat. Or I'm going to do what I began at 6 am: go through every freakin' sport weight alpaca project on Ravelry, in search of the right one.

Note to self: make shopping list before Saturday with quantities/projects . Or else, stick to the wine.

utterly twitzcapated

2009-10-09T21:36:00.008-05:00

Oddness this week.

It started when I swept this book off the new non-fiction display at the library. I was all "Heh, go ahead and show me that Twitter is worthwhile and not just a whole lot of TMI". Or something like that.

Predictably, there I was the next afternoon customizing my Twitter home page. And then finding folks to follow, and checking out Tweet readers, and downloading Twit apps on my phone. There you have it. I'm tweeting now. You can follow me and so far I haven't been trumpeting stuff like a bad hair day and how I wish I had some more Imperial Cookies in the freezer stash but hey, give me time. (and by the way? both true today).

In tribute, but not necessarily adhering , to my newfound 140 character ~~addiction~~ devotion, a bulleted version of what's up 'round here:

• a 36 hour trip to DC for a family funeral gave me some unexpected knitting time: train to NY, BoltBus to DC & return. Annette (scroll down a bit to see it from that link ) is progressing, maybe a Rhinebeck debut

• nevertheless, I am no longer in the sweater-a-month club. That I never really joined, anyway.

• This blogpost from Yahaira, which led me here, got me jonesing for shot cotton. I rode it out all week, thinking it'd go away. Nope. Looks like I'm dusting off the old Singer.

• Conveniently I was in NYC yesterday with my childhood BFF's. Our shared passions for handcrafting, fueled by our shared passions for vodka drinks and the shared blog links from above kicked in. Our first stop, a fabric store near Chinatown.

iphone view looking up

• That ceiling glimpse alone should tell you what we faced. The teetering fabric bolts everywhere were too much to handle, plus no one working there thought they had anything resembling shot cotton. We headed over to Soho, passing the yarneristas crawling in Purl and found every color of the fabric we wanted at Purl Patchwork.

• And I fully planned to set up the ol' machine and get right down to it today but the weather demanded some hiking in the woods.

iphone view, looking down

See you at Rhinebeck next Saturday? Maybe I'll be the contrarian in my new sewn, not knitted, scarf.

And, maybe I'd better get knitting faster.

traveling knits , or not

2009-10-03T19:03:00.006-05:00

an uncharacteristically restrained composition from me, yes?

Last month I was supposed to be at a professional retreat up in Maine. Just before it, I recalled the most important items I brought the last time I attended this event: my wool socks and my fingerless mitts. But, oh, my poor old mitts. I blogged about the sad state of them here.

The obvious move, knit a new pair quick. Maine Morning Mittens, I know, startlingly unimaginative choice. Believe me if ony knitting something with a geographic name took you there, I'd be working on a Hawaii Hat, and a Brisbane Bonnet, too.

Yarn from the (no longer so) big bag o' Noro scraps. The funny thing is they are mostly from the same half-skein of Kureyon, with some purple for both thumbs that had been pulled out of another skein long ago.
And a couple of rounds from some greyish Iro to end the purpley/lime green one when the half-skein ran out.

Quick, great fitting, functional. Completely unpaired looking but I'm going to wear them with the attitude that they are intentionally mismatched. Which, I guess, is the truth.

ps I had to cancel the trip at the very last minute. Glad to have'em anyway.

speaking of sheep, and goats, and pixels....

2009-09-30T07:02:00.007-05:00

This came up suddenly , so I'm spreading the word.
Thursday evening, October 1 (yup tomorrow) I'll be presenting to the Photo Arts Collective in New Haven,CT at the Kehler Liddell Gallery at 7 pm, a slide talk & conversation.
No charge,in the company of a wonderful group of photographers.

The title is 'How My Book Idea Became a Published Book" and will be all about Shear Spirit*.

Come for the sheep or the depth of field, it'll be a good time.
ps. Feel free to bring your knitting.

* I'll have a few books with me, if you'd like to snag a signed personalized one.

red:ready?

2009-09-21T06:50:00.006-05:00

Never one for subtlety, a gentle reminder to get your needles moving for the Red Scarf Project 2009.

How lucky is it that my red photo safari yesterday segued into a job today with a red combed chicken.

Quick review: each scarf should be approximately 60" long and 5 to 8" wide, , unisex in style, preferably a shade of red, in a soft not scratchy yarn. Style up to you. You know, something you might see a successful college student wearing. Please no fun fur, no loose unwoven ends or wildy wonky mistakes. Keep in mind it'll be mailed in a fed ex box, so super bulky scarves won't work. BTW fed ex donates all the delivery, yay Fed Ex!!

The Orphan Foundation of America (OFA) is accepting the scarves for this year's care packages now through December 15th. Each scarf is sent in a care package to foster kids who have aged out of the system and are now going it on their own in college. It means A LOT to them. They do not receive care packages otherwise; there's no one to call or text at home when things are a little bumpy, or they need some help in decisions. The OFA's work in advocacy for these young people is so very worthy of your support!

Along with knitting a red scarf, ( or instead of , if your knitting plate is full ) consider:

- donating to the Red Scarf Fund for Foster Youth

- donating little items that can go inside the care packages like gift cards to inexpensive restaurants , or bookstores, or coffee shops, toiletries like hand cream or razors, , stationery goods like tape, pens, notebooks, small packets of snack foods...and if you work for a company that can do so, urge them!

- be a virtual mentor. You have no idea what an impact you can have on someone's life by mentoring. You'd be matched up with an OFA college student interested in your field, and be in contact with them for advice, encouragement and support. Read this OFA blog post entry on what a difference you can make.

- if you' re in the DC area, volunteer to help sort out or stuff care packages at OFA

- download and print this 8x10 Red Scarf Project poster/flyer, and put it up at your LYS or community bulletin board

Ok, that's my opening red post for the year. Look around at your own reds, there's got to be a shade you want to work in.

sighted in Carver

2009-09-15T22:11:00.013-05:00

Carver is a picturesque southeastern Massachusetts town. Cranberry bogs, colonial houses, a town green..... so maybe it's not that unusual to see this kind of swarm by the library.

Photography for Knitters Workshop Afternoon in action

Tara shooting Johanna. See how the hat photo came out here

Gina's laughing, but look how Carole's fab Hemlock Ring image turned out on her blog here. Worth the groundwork, yes?
oh, don't mind us, it's just photographers with knits and knitters making photos. Perfectly normal, move along. Oh , OK, maybe someone driving by might have wondered.

I think I was showing a position and situation I'd use for mitt photography, not shielding myself from the wrath of Mercury. Thanks to Johanna for sending me the photo, I don't think I've ever seen myself at this angle. I like it! (Kay, you're right, my hair is sort of turning into dreadlocks, it turns out.)

Some reports on the class here and here (you must see her tree trunk shawl hug) and on the links under those top two photos. In case you're wondering.

When Carole read about my Minnesota workshops, she & I started planning one closer to home. Literally, for her. She generously arranged to have her library be our classroom. It was the right setting, both inside & out. Having worked on location for as many years as I have, I can make use of almost any place, but this one was sweeeet.

After the slide show/talk part of the afternoon, and the working with light demo, we were outside for some hands on. I'd asked people to bring fiber or projects to practice with. Lucky us, Gina owns a yarn store, Knit One Purl Too . She brought some gorgeous Noro-esque Plymouth .

Darned if I can find it on their site, you'll have to email Gina from her shop link for the name of these skeins. Word to Plymouth: you have some wonderful yarns, you need a hipper, more stylish looking site. And, um, yes, I am available.. ...

Kim from The Woolen Rabbit brought this skein of her luscious hand dyed yarn.
Her basket of FO's gave us a good subject too. I had to control myself from dumping it out and pawing through each piece.

Inspiration, everywhere.
Thanks again, to Carole for getting this show on the road, and to Maryse, for being so generous & modeling for us with gusto in the lighting demo. Fun!

ps. I want to link to more of the talented knitter/photographers from Sunday, email me if you post anything from the workshop, or what you do with it after, on a blog /Ravelry and I'll add a link.

some kinds of wonderful

2009-09-10T23:41:00.021-05:00

Most days, I don't mix my photography work life with my knitting life. On Sunday, I'll mash it up good and dish it out. I can't think of a better way to spend the day. edited to add: the Photography for Knitters workshop 9/13 I'm referring to was wonderful, what a great group! full report & photos soon.

The kindness of knitters wonderful: five pair of beautiful handknit socks donated for the fundraising auction at AIDS Project New Haven. They're going to be offered as a group, a luxury item, handknit socks for the week.
But let me show them to you individually, and at the same time prove that if you need a distressed surface , my yard is your go-to location.

From Sunflower Fairy, who brought a beautiful new little boy into the world this week , congrats, Heidi! The pattern is Charade, that's a Ravelry link since the designer at I May Be Knitting a Ranch House seems to be blogless now. And here's where Sunflowerfairy talked about 'em.

These from Rebecca/Archiknist. Last year I watched her crank out 52 pair of socks, cheerfully. At least whenever I saw her at SnB she seemed cheerful. Maybe she was sitting at home cursing yet another set of heel flaps, who knows? She talked about these here but didn't say what yarn she used. I can tell you they feel great, and love those contrasting toes & heels.

DariaSen , that's her nom d'Ravelry, whipped these out. She has the most amazingly even, tight tension in her stitches. Socks for a rainy day. Thanks Daria !

A glowing pair from CostumeChick. They're a Wendy Johnson pattern, see the deets on CostumeChick's Ravelry page. This is the first time I've seen/touched this yarn, it knits into lovely sock fabric. Reminds me of Trekking - but fuzzier. Mmmmm. Great choice Val!

And in the long distance charity knitting category, my friend Irish Ann. She sent these from the UK when I posted about the APNH auction. Ann & her hubby Mike are New Haven SnB regulars when they're on this side of the pond. Thanks to them I've discovered a fondness for mulled wine. (Come back we miss you!)

I firmly believe socks look way better photographed on feet but with these beauties all blocked out and ready for presentation at the fundraiser, I didn't want to besmirch them. Not that I wasn't tempted.

You'll notice none were knit by me. Guilty !

Last bit of wonderful, from our annual 'hood 3 day banging end of summer fest

I am not sure what the theme is here but she was passing out real true-life wishbones along the way.

ready for a deep cleansing breath

2009-08-31T18:34:00.012-05:00

Or a good cry.

The lobster shack by the marina. Note: no eel on menu

Let's say you turn 19 on the same day you're packing your stuff because you are getting into the old Buick (a bonafide Grandma Car, but you think it's extremely cool as it is now yours, all yours), with your dad and driving to Florida, where you're moving into an apartment (for the first time) and returning to culinary college.

And...let's say your mom thinks you should stay on track and pack and finish doing laundry. And what are all those things on the floor in your room? Maybe make a list of missing essentials.....stuff like that?

Would you and the buddy helping you go out for gas, stop by the marina to say bye to a friend, take the big squirming bag full of live eels he offers you? Then return to the house, abandoning all else to kill and gut eel for cooking later? No???!!

I thought not. Me neither.

Breeeaaaaathe. Let's look at my finished Gaia shawl and forget the guys, the filleted eels, the clothes, skim boards, books, old kitchen stuff, in disorganized mini-towers and how much I'm going to miss the son going so far away again.

pattern: Gaia Shoulder Hug
yarn: 1 skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock, love this colorway # 279!
needles: size 6 us
notes: A little small as shawls go, not bad for a shoulder wrap if you're short. The pattern is written for a skein of Kureyon Sock , which is 100 yards longer than this lovely Silk Garden Sock skein. If you look on the Ravelry link, you'll see the larger ones in Kureyon. I used the picot cast off as recommended to make the little riffle on the edge.
You know what? I like this pattern so much I may just knit another one. Maybe on size 7 needles next time, it could be a little more open before blocking. It's such a good project for filling in times when you need to knit something mindless. But not boring.

I'd probably wear it this way, if I were keeping it. Which is very, very, tempting.

fish I around

2009-08-30T08:14:00.004-05:00

Last heard from, I was ~~clinging with a death grip to a steel ladder welded to the back of a fast food building~~ scampering up to the roof of a Sonic - who says photography isn't a glamorous career ? And my Gaia shawl was getting a picot cast-off.

In the mix, I had the use of a fisheye lens for a couple of days. Fisheyes are gimmicky; they are the eyelash yarn of photography . Every once in a while, fun to play with. Before I handed it back, I turned it on Farley, who passes by at 7 every morning.

And on the battle of man v. nature at my mechanic's shop.

Sidenote: when you drive a 20 year old car, you know your mechanic and his yard decor pretty well. He's got a steampunk vibe going on.

And on late summer chaos out front.
The Gaia shawl is finished, on a slow dry over this wet chilly weekend. You can see from the fisheye shots that I ignored days of brilliant sun & dry breezes, giving it a dunk n' block as a storm moved in Friday. So....show & tell next time, I'll spare you the vision of a damp striped shawl pinned out on a bright patterned beach towel, draped over a floral sofa.

coookie monsters unite

2009-08-25T22:15:00.004-05:00

The winners have been notified - I'll share blog names once they respond. Your flavor suggestions have me salivating. Mostly. Not so sure about the lavendar....although I'd love the scent. All are noted by the baker, and she thanks you !

For the 62 folks who didn't win, I'm sorry. Go treat yourself and order a consolation treat. I'm telling you, you'll like 'em.

If you want o find me tomorrow, look on the roof of the new Sonic DriveIn opening in Massachusetts. I Am.Not.Kidding.

cookie time : contest

2009-08-18T10:54:00.006-05:00

My similar knits were saved by single mindedness: I gave the shawl a couple days of attention. It's in cast off stage now, in all its glorious Noro-ness. The asparagus Annette sweater's traveling to Florida with me in a few hours for some one-on-one attention. Because who wouldn't want to handle wool in Miami in August.
So ....what better time for a cookie break? How about chocolate chip?

Last month I had the thrill of doing a photo shoot for my BFF, a professional in the restaurant & baking biz , a cookie baker extraordinaire who's just opened her new cookie business. You can find her on etsy at Imperial Cookies.

To celebrate, I'm having a virtual cookie tasting contest. Hustle on over to her etsy shop, read her descriptions, come back and leave me a comment here saying which one is your favorite flavor. Or...what you'd want to see when she adds her next cookie to the lineup.

Since I really want to share the cookie love, mention the contest on your blog, let me know that you did, and you get entered twice.
Leave your comments by midnight Sunday August 23rd.

There'll be two winners---because I can never decide on one of anything. Drawn randomly, and each winner gets a pound of Imperial Cookies cookies of your choice.

Not that I'm trying to influence you, but these are incredibly good with tea. Or red wine.
Just saying.

in which we recall the Rule of Similars

2009-08-14T14:05:00.011-05:00

IF you are working on two projects, both being knit flat on size 6us 32" circular needles,
AND each is around 200 stitches across per row

AND each has a few stitch border (in once case garter, in the other, seed stitch) followed by that very long row across

BUT one has every other row as YO Slip 1, K2 together PSSO , K3 repeat across row

AND the other has every fourth row (or so) as YO, K2 together, repeat across row

THEN you will inevitably pick up one project but go on auto pilot and knit the other's YO row sequence.

AND you will do this more than once.

• • • • • • • • •

still a few spaces left! September 13th......why not join me?.....click on banner for info

some class in mass!

2009-08-09T22:12:00.025-05:00

She Shoots Sheep Shots
Photography for Knitters Workshop Afternoon
Sunday September 13th in Carver Massachusetts
workshop: 1:30-5 pm
preceded by potluck lunch (optional) : 12:30-1:30 pm
click here for all the details & to sign up
edited 9/14/09 : Thanks to everyone who came, it was a wonderful group. I'm already seeing some kickass photos posted ! More dates being scheduled, but if you'd like to have a workshop in your area
shoot me an email galeATgzuckerDOTcom

handpainted handspun alpaca yarn at Victory Ranch,New Mexico

A hands-on digital photography workshop for anyone wishing to improve their images of fiber related projects, and the world around them, and for making the photos look as wonderful as possible on a website or blog.

If you're just stopping by, hi there: Gale Zucker here. I'm a professional photographer and serious knitter. Sometimes I combine the two, when I photograph knitting books or for craft magazines. Getting great images, and then making them look terrific online, can be a challenge, right? The workshops are a chance to share my two passions and pass on some skills.

Point & shoot digital cameras welcome, I always say it's not the camera, it's what you do with it that counts.

The lunch first is just for fun, optional if you can't make it, but a good addition to the day, don't you think? Here are links to reports, with photos of course, from knitters who attended a shorter version of the workshop in Minnesota last month.

the flapotis scarf, from Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines : real knits on real people we nabbed to model

Icelandic lamb at Misty Meadow in Minnesota

I'm hoping to teach more workshops in coming months. It's fun, and there's so much to talk about and show. Come learn to make your photos phabbier and your pixels perkier. And your knits'll look...nattier? ( I'll work on that one.)
Thanks to Carole for helping to set this up.

* yes, you are one of Those People

2009-08-03T08:38:00.014-05:00

...who have a knit blog with no knitting? Unh-uh, not me.

A Gaia Shoulder Hug was supposedly my vacation knitting in Minnesota. I barely touched it there. We were too busy doing fun Twin Cities stuff.

That bridge by the Walker Sculpture garden, the aviary at the zoo, the Mill City Museum Ruins......

I can't remember a vacation trip during which I knit less since my guys were toddlers. When I did knit, it was just the right project: engaging while placing the eyelet rows at color changes, and mindless in its stockinette-i-ness. Working on it yesterday at a neighborhood brunch, I incited my friend Peggy to run over to the LYS and start four of them for gifts right away.

Carol's porch by noon yesterday , iPhone cam view

She blames me, I blame the Mimosas and an exciting storm current while swimming.

The Sage Remedy Top , finished a while ago. My gauge relaxed seriously since swatching, I modified wildly on the fly, and it's not-so-flattering . If you are considering knitting it, avert your eyes, go look at all the successful versions on Ravelry . Worse than the fit : the shoulders. I seamed them inside out. I knew it wasn't going to be fab on me by then, so I left them that way. Sometimes I amaze myself with my ~~low standards~~ acceptance of All Things Awry.

Clinging to the very selvedges of the NaKniSweMoDo, I cast on for a 7th sweater. This is Jo Sharp SilkRoad Tweed DK, a yarn I've been wanting to knit with since spending an afternoon with Norma last November. You'll need to scroll down the linked post.

* this post's title was a fortune cookie the 15 yo son got while out on the town in Mpls. The older son's read : "You have that horny & desperate look. It suits you, work it. " We've been teasing him ever since. Nice parents, huh?!
older son Iphone cam view, Uptown Mpls.