Stacked. Yarn Along - Feb. 27

This week I worked on five different projects! Two are finished - one of which will have a post of its own and the other was the green sample sweater that was mailed home.  On top of the books I have a cabled figerless mitt, a blanket and a crochet cowl (I'm trying out the Miss Adler design). And as you can see, I have yarn wound and ready to start several new projects as well.  In the stack of yarn cakes there is a skein of Malabrigo Rios ready for a Malabrigo March project, a skein of Good Karma Farm yarn ready for swatching for the Morning Joe KAL, and a skein of yarn my parents bought for me in Chile when they were visiting my brother & his girlfriend.  The Chile yarn does not have a project yet, but it's been at my desk waiting for inspiration to strike.  I believe it is 100% wool, fingering weight (though I'm not sure), and I have ~90g.  In my search for a project, I've also been accumulating other patterns that I am just itching to start - for me, for others, for babies due this year!


Reading wise, I'm halfway through Case Histories and still enjoying it! I have also been reading a chapter of Nancy Clancy: Super Sleuth with the Lorax each night.  We are big Fancy Nancy fans and I thought that this might be a good next step for us, but I think it might be a little too "old" for my girl.  I think a lot of it goes over her head - and there's not much of the "that's a fancy word for..." like in the Fancy Nancy books.  A book is a book.  I have a stack of crochet books from the library as well as Knit Local and I am enjoying them enough to consider buying them at some point in the future. 

And how about you? 

FO Friday

Last weekend I finished knitting my Fumior arm-warmers and I seamed them up while waiting on my computer to resolve some issues.  I love this yarn, Manos Maxima; the colorway Prince, and the pattern. For my actual FO there is a little love lost.  I blocked them to make the seaming easier and it grew more than I expected (my own fault, I didn't bother to swatch first!). I also managed to misread the directions, so one arm-warmer has ribbing at the finger side and the other does not.  I am a better knitter than that! I'm choosing to keep that design element as a reminder to read the directions!The Lorax helped to take these photos - it is quite tricky to take a self portrait of arm-warmers.The color is more accurate in the second photo, and you can see they are true arm-warmers. 

I also worked up another amigurumi friend for a swap package. This little guy is on his way to my downstream swap pal, I hope she likes him.  He is another Fresh Stitches pattern, Nasser the Baby Penguin. I have plans to do finish up another Fresh Stitches pattern over the weekend, for another swap; this has been a great way to really push me to try a few new techniques.  The whole reason I wanted to learn how to crochet was to make the amigurumi creatures! I'm looking at my stash with fresh eyes now. Much of my leftovers and acrylic is great for these fun friends!

 Linking up to fo fridays!

Yarn Along - February 20

I finished reading "The Kitchen Help" over the weekend. I decided to pick up Case Histories for my next read. So far I am finding it interesting and am curious to see where it goes. Right now a lot of my knitting is not for show. The green stripey blob in the picture is a sample knit that just needs one more piece to be complete. The white garter stitch blob is a new project in progress that I can't share much about right now. I finished two projects recently, but I am going to save those for a post on Friday.

Blah blah blah. What a boring blog post; that's the state of things right now. Between the snow storm last week, school vacation this week, little projects not getting done, mistakes being made on others, I feel like I can't win. Do you have those weeks?

Still digging out, now with more amigurumis!

On Monday, I looked out the window to see this. A pay loader on our street to clear a path down the street.  It then got stuck at the top of our street and had to be rescued by a plow. Crazy. My husband and I worked in shifts and made steady progress to clear our driveway. Yesterday, his brother came over to help with the rest. It's clear enough to get one car in / out, but it's tight. I'm hoping that our usual plow guy can come by and help widen things a bit. And maybe clear whatever we're forecast to get tonight.


Good thing we cleared it, as our mailbox is still inaccessible. The mail-person had some guts and drove their truck down our driveway to deliver the mail. There was not much considering we haven't gotten mail since Friday! There was a swap box for me - I received an adorable baby unicorn & an "OctoPaul" & "OctoPolly" for my little ones! As soon as I started to open the box, Lorelai piped up, "Can I have that?".  They are adorable! Thank you very much to Cindy, my swap pal!

After I finished my slug, Lorelai requested a princess one.  A bit of stash diving and voila! Princess, the tiara-less, slug! I used one skein of bulky for the body and double up on other stash yarn for the eyes, foot & antennae.  It's maybe 6 inches tall and 10 inches long! I left it outside her bedroom door last night to surprise her.  Success! 

Bug Eyed & Sluggish

The Blizzard of 2013 has come and gone but we're going to be dealing with this mess for a while. We measured 26" outside our front door, and CT effectively shut down this weekend. My husband and I worked shoveling our driveway yesterday and today and we're maybe 1/3 of the way done. We haven't seen a plow truck since 4pm Saturday and that was on the next road over - our road has not been touched. It's going to be several days until we can get out of here. I've never seen this much snow come from one event  and there's no place to put it! It is very pretty and very striking. These once in a lifetime events seem to be happening more often!  On the plus side we have power and we are ok with food and stuff. I've been working on my sample sweater for Plymouth, have started my second Fumior, and have wound yarn for swatching.

I've also tried to give my wrists a break by crocheting - they are sore from shoveling and crochet doesn't seem to add to the ache. I worked up this chill slug, fulfilling my participation in the Fresh Stitches Slug-A-long. He was very quick and fun to make - the Fresh Stitches patterns are very well written, and the blog posts were really helpful - I found the post about crocheting antennae particularly helpful! I'm naming him Nemo in honor of the storm.  I've had a request to make a princess one next. When asked for more details that means a tiara & ribbons. I'm hoping a pink and purple version will satisfy.

"Stawm's Brewin'" (Yarn Along, a day late!)

The weather reports have been crazy this week. They have all hinted at some weather event for Friday, my usual guy wasn't even giving numbers because the models were all over the place. Last night we started hearing numbers. Big numbers. This morning everyone is in blizzard prep mode. So something big is coming and all I keep hearing in my head is "Winter is coming" a la Game of Thrones and my subject line, said in a New Englandy-Boston-Maine accent. We're ready. We've dealt with snow before. My bigger concern is power. Especially as I work from home. On top of that, my husband will be working from home and I'm pretty sure the Lorax will have no school. Throws a kink in my usual work-day operation. I do wish I could just settle in on the couch with a big mug of coffee and my knitting for the whole day!



When I get the chance, I will be working a bit more on my Fumior armwarmers, a sample knit, and am thinking about casting on a few projects, because, why not? I need to get moving on a few projects that are for swaps. I will also be reading a bit more of "The Kitchen Help" - I'm completely sucked in to this story, though it is a bit intense. I think I have to stop reading it before I go to bed. There are some rather tragic incidents (deaths of children) and intense moments (interactions between plantation owners and the slaves who work there; there is hinting at child abuse as well).

Stay safe if you are in the storm's path! Make sure you have your knitting prepped!

Mittens!

The weekends should not be for catching up, but this weekend that is what I will be doing.  After a wind / rain storm on Wednesday night, we lost power and did not get it back until late Friday afternoon! UGH.  It was such a ridiculous thing too, not a huge storm, but it did knock a huge tree onto power lines around the corner from me.  I had finished my NaKnitMittMo mittens for January on Thursday morning while waiting to see if the Lorax would have school (she didn't) and if the power would come back on (it didn't).  Oh yes, and it was 50 degrees! January, you're so crazy!
This is leftover Lorna's Laces yarn from one of my first sample knitting jobs. The yarn cake was more than my little scale could handle, so I know I started with at least 100g (probably more). I have 46 g left! The pattern is Thames Street Mittens and I love how they turned out! I am really pleased that I was able to finish them in January, currently they are in the running for the Viewer's Choice part of the KAL - if they caught your eye, would you click my love button? Check out all the other gorgeous mittens people have made! My queue is growing, again! I have started on a pair of fingerless mitts for February already and I hope to continue with the same momentum.

While I was trying to take photos of my mittens (which is not easy), the temptation of the viewscreen was too much for one little person and I was photobombed!!


Have a great weekend!

Yarn Along - Jan. 30

Someone turns into a little ham when the camera comes out.  He knows to say "Cheese" and look at that casual way of posing. Like he doesn't really care if he's in the shot or not.  Silly boy.  Anyway, I've had a fairly productive week. I am just about at the end of Season to Taste - I have really enjoyed reading this and I have been trying to pay more attention to my sense of smell as I go about the day.  My mittens are so close to being done! I have one more thumb to go. Figures that they are ready when we are having a bizarre January thaw - it is in the 50s today! Like most places I have been like the saying goes, I'll just wait five minutes and the weather is sure to change.


I also finished this sample knit.  This v-neck pullover is for Good Karma Farm, knit in their Texas Green colorway, which really is a most perfect hunter green. I love this yarn - good thing, because when you knit an XL size in that much stockinette you had better love it! This is more than just a sample sweater though - it is a gift for one of the owners! After I knit the Charleston Tea sweater for Amy she asked me to knit a sweater for her husband!

It feels good to be getting things done! Of course I still have plenty of WIPs that are giving me the eye and projects I really want to work on, along with the next sample knit that needs swatching.  I also need to decide on the next book to read! What are you getting done this week?

Yarn Along - January 23

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~ small things



      My goodness it has been a while.  At this moment, we are all more healthy than not - in the last few weeks we've all had some sort of cold (maybe a mild touch of flu?) and have passed about a stomach bug. I am pretty sure somehow I pulled a rib muscle, so I'm achy still, but I'll take it - we're all eating and fussiness is at a minimum. I've been knitting away on the sleeves of this sample sweater and I'm in the home stretch now - it needs to be done and in Monday's mail (if not sooner!).  I feel good about it and it really has been a joy to knit even with all that stockinette! I finished the body of one mitten and am antsy to start the second, but the sweater has to take priority. We are in the midst of a rather wicked cold snap - I could use those mittens! I'm dreaming of a new hat for me, but I was pleased this morning that I was able to pull out a wool sweater, pair of socks, pair of mitts and my Calorimetry to bundle up this morning!

I finished up Pippi Longstocking and have moved on to Season to Taste, which is about a gal who lost her sense of smell after a massive trauma accident. Interesting to read while you are stuffed up with a cold / sinus issues and not really interested in eating! So far I am enjoying it. I'm looking forward to reading how she deals with the loss of that particular sense - smells are so intriguing! I find it fascinating how tied to memory they are as well.  Back when I was a chemistry grad student, I was TA-ing in a lab and there was a bottle of ammonia in a fume hood. The bottle was not capped properly, and even though it was under a running fume hood, I got hit with the vapors up my nose so much it was almost blinding and made my eyes water. I can tell that my own sense of smell has changed but one day I was unpacking items that belonged in my grandmother's house and WHAM! The scent on those items (not a bad scent in any way) took me right back to her house!

What's your favorite smell? I love the smell of ground beef browning on the stove-top, with a little bit of garlic and onion! Bacon, too. The Lorax told me she loved the way the bathroom smelled after I cleaned it with some bleach containing cleaners (following our stomach bug incident) - I think (hope!) it was just because it was a novelty to her. Generally I avoid all those chemical cleaners and stick with vinegar the chemical cleaners give me a headache now!

Sluggish.

Mondays have their own special feeling, don't they? Actually I tend to look forward to Mondays.  My house is quiet again after a busy weekend with everyone home. Today though is a rough one following a very rough weekend.  3 out of the 4 of us have been sick all weekend - 2 colds & 1 stomach bug. Currently, Nate's got it.  I've got little sleep, a very fussy little one, and a to-do list a mile long, of course.

Today also starts the Slug-a-long, a Fresh Stitches CAL, which I am very excited about. I think I have decided on my yarn (Tahki Cotton Classic, for a bit of sheen that slugs have!) but still need to pick a color.






I hope your week is starting out on the right foot!

Yarn Along - January 9

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~ yarn along





This week I have been reading Pippi Longstocking. For whatever reason, I could not stop thinking about this book, so I borrowed it from the library.  I couldn't remember if I had read it as a kid, but now that I am halfway through I think I did; so much of it is familiar and enjoyable. This was a good way to get back into the reading groove! I've been working on several things.  The Snuggly Monster buddy is ready for eyes, ears & limbs.  The belly is done in yellow and the eyepatch is on the needles. I think the ears / limbs will be solid teal and solid lime green.  I hope to get this done in the next day or two so that it can be given to a brand new baby! On the right is a sample sweater. The same sweater on which I already broke two needles! Knock wood, so far so good and my new needle set arrived today.  In the middle is my current "ooh shiny!" project.  I found the NaKnitMittMo group on Ravelry and immediately had to start a pair of mittens for me.  That didn't take long at all! I pulled out my Cast On, Cast Off book to try the "Provisional Tubular Cast On" for a stretchy cuff. It was a bit fiddly, but not terrible once I got going!

Needled

How was your weekend? This happened:


I snapped one of my needle tips off at the join while knitting on my current sample knitting job.  It figures. I probably should not be entirely surprised - I've used this particular set of interchangeable needles near daily for the last 3-4 years. As I have been working on this sweater I noticed I frequently had to stop to twist the needle tip back onto the cord. I was so fed up with it that I actually indulged in a bit of online shopping to order a new (different brand) of interchangeable needles, and then hours later, this happened!



 
I like the interchangeable needle sets because my circular needles tend to look like this most days:

A massive jumble.  I have tried needle cases before and I can't find one that I like. My needles always seem to end up back in this jumble.  Have you found a system that works?





I replaced my needle so I could keep knitting while I wait for the new set to arrive. Guess what? It happened again! Different brand of fixed circular needle.  ARGH! I'm stepping away from this sweater for a few hours.  It is a plain stockinette sweater using worsted weight wool! I think I have just developed super knitting strength, which is obviously not what you think it will be. 

FO Friday - A Hat

I feel like a terrible knitter sometimes. All of a sudden, winter weather is coming on strong and my kids still did not have proper winter hats! I did make the Lorax a hat back in November with sparkly purple yarn she chose (Kollage Glisten), but I was impatient in getting to the crown decreases. The result was a hat that really didn't fit. See?








She did wear it outside for some snow action last week, so I'm pleased that she actually wore it, but it wasn't going to cut it. Winter is here for the next few months. I can do better!
Hey look, there's the Regular Guy Beanie I made Dan - also in action!










A bit of stash diving turned up a magenta skein of Vicki Howell's Sheep(ish) yarn, one of the Lorax's favorite colors. A bit of searching on Ravelry brought me to the Heel Stitch Hat, a free pattern from the Purl Bee.   The two played very nicely together I think. It fits, it's warm, and when we arrived at school one of the first things she said to a classmate was "Look at my new hat my mom knit for me!" Be still my heart. A picture of my child in something I knit and she's not in tears? AND she spoke of it with pride to another kid? Wow. This may be a turning point, but I won't hold my breath. Cheers to the first FO of 2013!

In addition to my other resolutions, I'm going to try and get this blog back on track with the link ups and such. Today, it's FO Fridays with Tami's Amis!

Resolutions & Intentions

Source: etsy.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

All week I keep thinking about resolutions / intentions.  I've been reading other people's blogs, lurking in groups on Ravelry (almost dreaming that I was one of those knitters - 13 socks/shawls/mitts in 2013, all the -alongs: block of the month along, knit all the patterns from XYZ book, knit your queue, etc), and while I think it's become obvious over time on my blog, I don't do so well with -alongs. I love the idea of them, but my follow through tends to be lacking.  I get antsy and am easily distracted by the new and shiny.  And yet, I still feel compelled to put it down in writing on this blog my plans for the year. So, here are more of my specifics:

• Knit / Crochet at least 13 skeins that have been stashed before 1/1/12 (inspired by the Use It or Lose It thread in the Stash & Burn podcast group)
• Knit / Crochet at least 13 items queued before 1/1/12 
• Knit / Crochet at least 13 items as samples / knit-for-hire 
• Knit / Crochet at least 13 hats for PatPatsHats
• Pie in the sky - can I knit / crochet at least 13 new-to-me techniques? (Socks) Sweet Tomato Heel, unusual construction, stripes, 2-at-a-time / Colorwork / Adding shaping / my own design of something?

I am not limiting myself to this - it's a baseline.  And there is plenty of wiggle room for overlap. I know I have stash yarn that I have in mind for queued projects (both pre-2012) and stash yarn that will totally work for charity hats. It does make me feel a bit better though - there is the intention to use what I have, there is the intention to try new things, and yet I can still indulge now and again.  Let's face it - there will always be something new and shiny!

Source: tickingandtoile.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Yarn Along - January 2

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~ Yarn Along

I was very excited to unwrap "Knit A Monster Nursery" this Christmas! I am a big fan of Rebecca Danger and with recent news of new babies arriving in 2013 I am sure I will be pulling this off the shelves frequently! In the lower left corner is the start of a Snuggly Monster Blanket Friend from the book. I'm holding two strands of Tahki Cotton Classic together; the body is done - about 11" square.  I'm thinking yellow might be a fun color for the eye patches, stomach, and limbs.  The magenta blob on the right is a new hat for the Lorax.  She finally put on the last hat I made her in November and that one does not fit right. We recently had a snowstorm and this week promises true winter weather and freezing temperatures, so a new hat is a must! This is the Heel Stitch Hat from the Purl Bee, and the yarn is Vickie Howell's Sheep(ish).  

Read more.  An ever present resolution if there ever was one! I never finished "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" - I like to think I will go back to it someday, but in the meantime I'm looking to Goodreads again.  I noticed one of my knitting pals posted her self-challenge from Goodreads (to read 75 books this year! Holy Smokes! I think she'll do it too!). Ever the joiner, I thought I would sign up for it as well.  I was so surprised to see when I logged in to the site that it said I read 1 book in 2012.  That's not right.  I know I didn't read a lot, but not that little! I did slack off on utilizing Goodreads, so I have downloaded the app and have been browsing lists again (Hello, Rory Gilmore Reading List!).  I've decided to challenge myself to read 13 books this year. It's a trade off - knitting time or reading time. I may have to do more with audio books or have the kindle read to me!

 

   

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Begin at the Beginning

Hello 2013! This new year was welcomed in quietly - we're finally recovering from a month's worth of germs.

For me, 2012 on the whole was a good year, but not an easy one. So much has changed with my children and I started working from home (in the yarn industry - I'm still pinching myself on that one). I'm quite pleased with my knitting and crochet projects this year. Even with the shift (and struggles) for available time for projects, in 2012 I finished 76 items. That includes 14 hats, 3 cowls, 1 pair of socks, 1 single sock, a snowman, a pair of baby booties, 1 shawl, 1 sweater for me, 1 sweater for Nate, 2 monsters, a Holy Handgrenade, 4 mermaids, 3 pandas, 2 zombie eyes, 1 cuff, 20 hexiflats and 17 samples! 76 is certainly a respectable number of items - not my best, not my worst. A personal resolution I made last year was to challenge myself to have a paid knitting job (preferably paid in money, but yarn is ok too!) each month - I met that goal in October!

I am unsettled and undecided yet as to what I really want to focus on in 2013. I had big plans to make it a very selfish knitting year as I really want new socks, a sweater, hat, and armwarmers, but life sometimes has other plans. I've already got a pile of UFOs to take care of and new items to plan for. The usual "knit the stash / work the queue" are in there as well. I also have several other intentions for the year. I know that I rarely stick to resolutions, so I'm choosing intentions - I mean well!

So this was Christmas...

Whoosh. Another Christmas has come and gone - it was a whirlwind (as always) and went by way to fast (as always) but was a good time & a success! This year we were low key on the side of decorations due to the Little Nutmeg being rather full of grabby hands. We had a pink plastic pre-lit Christmas tree (really) - it was a work prize for DH back in the summer when they moved locations. We had some garland and lights, a few printed signs, and this year we brought in an Elf on the Shelf. There are a zillion ideas on Pinterest, and I made a note of a few, but our elf was less into mischief and more into a daily game of hide-and-seek. The Lorax loved it. Elfie, our elf, is a bit creepy looking, but it makes for fun photos - here's the round up of my instagram shots of where he hid.
My favorite was when the Disney Princesses captured Elfie in a bug box!
Though I did have a last minute flare-up of thinking that I must knit ALL.THE.THINGS. for Christmas gifts, in the end I knit 4 things. My mom had pinned several times cowls on pinterest as a not-so-subtle hint to me. I worked up a Fiona Button Scarf very quickly!
I still consider myself a beginner crocheter and this was a piece-of-cake pattern.

I'm calling these my DIY-gold-toe socks, even though the gold toe stripe is really not in the right spot. I started these Cauchy socks for Dan back in March. He had forgotten about them! They were very well received - he has worn them every day after work! I would indulge in the Spud & Chloe Fine yarn again and trying these on for the photo made me realize that I need to make myself some new socks!! I also made Dan a basic guy beanie with Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair that he loved - the hat is ready to go and in his car, so no photos yet. It's snowing / raining now, so maybe tomorrow or the weekend? It seems that winter weather has truly settled in!

One family Christmas party involved a Yankee Swap this year. I made Oatmeal the Snowman to go with a gift card. I love this little snowman and will be making myself another one! Unfortunately we had to duck out right after we picked out our gifts because it was getting late with the kids - so I have no idea who ended up with the snowman, or if he was loved. I hope!
In my little nutmeg, we had a nice Christmas. There were yarnie gifts which are great & I am very excited for 2013. I am working on my "resolutions" and what I want to accomplish / try, but for today (and probably the rest of the week), we're recovering - I think we all have a touch of Holiday Hangover and both kids are sick with sniffles / coughs / temps. How was your holiday?

WIP Wednesday

You know Kermit the Frog's muppet flail? That pretty much sums up how I'm feeling this week - tempered with a great deal of numbness, because it is near impossible to avoid the news out of Newtown. Not that you should ignore the news, but it is just so emotionally loaded that it takes a lot out of you.

Anyway, I'm trying to find that balance and not veer towards grinchiness. I've had a few projects just not work out the way I envisioned and they have been put on the back burner until my head clears. My work area is a mess of work related stuff, knitting / crochet related stuff, and I'm feeling overwhelmed by the clutter and my to-do list. I am really looking forward to December 27th or so when I can start to clear everything out and start over!

I've been working on an Oatmeal the Snowman that will be part of a Yankee Swap. I am going to have a rather hard time giving him away - luckily, I believe I will be able to make another one - this first one used up half a skein. I'm working on the arms now and have to do his scarf. Even partially done he makes me happy!


The weather has been so grey, rainy and generally icky, I would be happy to see some snow! This little snowman will hold me over for a bit!
This is my first time linking up to WIP Wednsdays! I usually do Yarn Along, but I'm not reading anything and I do want to make sure I don't let the dust bunnies into the blog!

Unspoken.

My heart hurts. I have been a classroom teacher, I have practiced lockdown drills. I am a parent to a 5 year old who attends school. I live in Connecticut, maybe an hour away from Newtown. This feels a lot like after 9/11 - a pit in your stomach and a whole lot of WTF?! This morning when I brought L to school all the parents were saying so much to each other with just eye contact.
Because I don't really know what else to do when I feel this way except to pray and to knit, I've joined a group on Ravelry: 600 Monsters Strong for Connecticut (and Facebook page). The goal is to knit a huggable critter for every child at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I'm also planning to participate with Fresh Stitches - similar idea, they are looking for knit, crochet, or sewn softies within the next week or so. Stacy is not organizing, but rather she's a great point person to get the information out there - and she has a bunch of great patterns I have had in my mental queue for a while.
Thank a teacher, hug your kids, let's all try to be patient and kind to each other this week. Thank you to the lady in front of me at the post office - she had a pile of packages to mail; I was only buying stamps and had the baby with me. She let me go before her. Pay it forward!

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.