Craftsy: Shoot It! Class Review

Have you tried any Craftsy.com classes yet? I've been grabbing several of the free short videos and have enrolled in a few full length courses. I especially love that once you are in the class it's yours to view whenever! This week I have been able to make a few moments to make my way through Shoot It!

I have been a fan of Caro / splityarn for a long time, back in the early days of knit blogging and I even have one of her camera straps! Listening to her I like her even more - she's really down to earth and presents the information in a very easy to understand way. She discusses shooting pictures for patterns if you are a designer as well as those finished object shots. Each lesson, there are ten, is less than 30 minutes long - that is just right. I was able to knit while I watched, and when I needed to, I could pause, make a note, leave a comment, whatever.
I'll fully admit to being snobby about photos. I've spent a lot of time (and a lot of pixels) on my photos, and for the most part I feel like I am getting decent images. I should put in more to the post-production side and edit them a bit more (that's going to be one of my new resolutions, I will be revisiting Lesson #9: Post-processing). It drives me crazy to see on Ravelry projects or etsy items for sale just awful photos: out of focus, not centered, wrong exposure. I feel it's even worse when the shot is accompanied by a brush off "apology" - sorry for the terrible picture. I've been there. I've put up a bad photo now and again in the interest of time (and never-ending-energetic-children!) but there are instances when I see it every. single. time. Enough. Take another picture. Wait another day! It's worth it to show off your hard work! (end rant.)
Sadly, because I've had to split my time between the usual suspects (children, work, home, knitting, upcoming birthday, and holiday) I have no photos to show right now. I've been making notes as I watch the videos (another pretty nifty feature of the Craftsy classes) and I hope to put them to good use soon - I have some good ideas now for photographing my Lanesplitter skirt and I'm just about finished with socks and a hat that need their picture taken. I give this class 2 thumbs up - if you want to take better pictures, this is a great investment! Did you know that you can give Craftsy classes as gifts? Pretty cool.

Full disclosure - because I have signed up to be an affiliate of Craftsy.com, if you sign up for a class / make a purchase on the craftsy site via one of my links, I get a little bit in return. They offered me the opportunity to take a class of my choice for free, and all opinions are my own.

Here are your angry eyes!

Each time I picked up this hat to work on it, all I could hear in my head was the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in Toy Story 2 (thanks to the all-day post Thanksgiving marathon). "I'm packing your angry eyes!" This hat was a test knit for Cambria Washington. The pattern is well written and there are size options for babies through adults using different needle and yarn combinations. There are several eyebrow choices as well. Nate needed a new hat, and she still needed the toddler size tested! I used Rowan Calmer, which I love - it's got a bit of stretch, and makes for a warm hat. It's the same colors as Nate's Brick Rolled sweater. So, what do his "angry eyes" look like? A lot like his happy eyes, little ham!
Actually, the first photo I shot was probably the best, but I didn't have any settings ready so it's very grainy and I'm not going to waste the space on it.
Like his sister, he's got grabby hands when it comes time to wear a hat, so this is not going to ultimately cut it for this winter. This kid still needs a hat that ties under his chin. Or one of those hood / cowl versions.

Downtime.

Phew. After the wild week of Thanksgiving prep, work stuff, and a successful turkey dinner for 11, I'm ready to lay low. Of course, things are sure to pick up speed again with Christmas on the horizon. I've been knitting pieces here and there - I finished my Lanesplitter skirt, and it's a bugger to get a decent photo of. Which is why I'm really excited to make time this weekend to participate in the Shoot It Craftsy class. I've taken a "Photography for Knitters" class before, but I could use a refresher. This is a great time to try out the Craftsy.com classes - this weekend all the classes are $19.99!

I've also bought a Amigurumi: Design Your Own Monster class. Once you buy the class you can view it whenever you like! I'm actually saving that one for me to watch in January - I'm planning on working on my crochet skills in 2013 and that seems like a good present to myself! In the meantime I'm avoiding doing much of anything today. I hope to pick up my knitting and swatch a bit. My eye has been wandering to the online yarn sales - and pattern sales!

Vote 2012

Doing our part! The Lorax misheard me today when I told her there might be a line when we vote - she thought I said there might be a lion. Now that would be exciting! She voted for puppies, Nate voted for cookies.

I spotted this on twitter today and it struck a chord: 1)Vote for "your guy", 2)love "the other guy", and 3)pray for both. I am extremely happy this election season is done (though it does mean that holiday ads are going to start up immediately). I am tired of the attack ads, spun facts and nonsense that goes along with it.
Want a flash back? Here's a photo of the Lorax at the last presidential election!

Weathered

Sandy has come and gone. She destroyed a lot of trees in my town and left a lot of people in the dark for most of the week. It could always be worse and my heart just breaks for the people in New York City and along the Jersey Shore. Connecticut took a beating, no doubt, but we are getting back to normal with minimal wear and tear. I think we may have been more prepared than most, we weren't taking any chances after last years storms.

I thought I would be able to get a lot more knitting done. I just couldn't though - the schools have been closed all week, so with two little ones underfoot and being distracted and exhausted, I couldn't get much accomplished. The projects I planned on were fingering weight - what was I thinking? At night when I finally was able to put my mind to knitting, my projects were all fingering weight! Not the best idea when knitting by camping lantern. Oh well. I did finish one Jelly Bean sock and have cast on for the second. This sock is so comfortable! This is my first time using Spinnery Sock Art - Forest, this is the Grape Swirl colorway. I hope I can push myself to finish sock #2 because I know I will wear these with everything!


I finally got going (after a few restarts) on my Syren Scarf KAL. I'm using The Wool Dispensary Useful Poison, an MCN blend, and it is lovely to work with! In my storm prep, I did print out the pattern but that's not so helpful when you have someone who likes to take the paper. It crumples! It makes noise!



Halloween was postponed due to the storm, but luckily the local apple orchard had a Halloween parade last week, so the little ones did get to wear their costumes.


I did a little bit of Halloween knitting, these eyeballs for a Halloween swap - I found some greeny-grey-zombie-flesh colored yarn in my stash (it might be malabrigo) and I love how they turned out.


I also received a special request asking me if I could help make a baby's 1st Halloween costume. Mom wanted the little guy to be Peter Pan, could I help? I am never one to back down from a challenge and I am powerless against the baby knits. I ended up crocheting the hat (from this pattern) & booties (from this pattern) and am very pleased with how they look! They were a big hit! And my small Yarn Pop bag was the perfect size for this project!

Now I've got to play catch up! Stay safe, stay warm!