I’ve always struggled with photographing my knitting. Lately, I’ve been photographing finished knitted pieces in the shade on sunny days, and it’s been more successful than anything else I’ve tried. Indoor shots never have true color, and photographing in direct sunlight produces harsh, over-exposed photos.
This light box method looks awesome, though. You’re not dependent on the weather, and you can get crisp, true color results. You definitely have to have space to store your light box, and the size of the box limits the size of the piece that you can photograph, but it’s got real promise.
Detailed instructions on building a light box can be found on Wiki Knitting.
- Sunday, August 5
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Between making a hat for Guy’s big ol’ head and trying to make the Baby Jayne hat in a size that will fit the baby during the three-week window that it’s actually cold in Texas, I’ve put a lot of thought into hat sizes.
I came across this site that lists common head sizes for premies through adults (it also lists a lot of other baby measurements, along with common blanket sizes).
Bev says that hats should be 1″ to 1 1/2″ smaller in circumference than the recipient’s head, so that the hat will stretch and hold onto the head.
I also realized that, when swatching for a hat that will be knit on circulars, you have to swatch as if you were knitting on circulars. Meaning, you knit across to the end of the row, and then instead of flipping the swatch and purling back, you move the swatch to the other end of the circular needle, carry the yarn loosely across the back of the swatch, and knit across the next row. You have to swatch this way, because purling back tightens the stitches, and will throw off your gauge measurement.
I learned this a little too late for the Baby Jayne hat, so it’s bigger than I expected. I’d never have thought of it, but thankfully Fran taught us to swatch that way for our Socks on Two Circulars class. Hopefully the next hats I knit will fit better.
- Sunday, September 17
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So, I was looking for something to buy to use my free shipping (see previous post), and I realized that I’m going to need stitch markers to finish Guy’s hat. I looked on the Jimmy Beans Wool site and didn’t see any that weren’t seriously ugly, so I went a’Googling and found these lovely instructions for making your own.
- Friday, February 24
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I spent last week in New York, courtesy of my extraordinarily generous parents. They used their frequent flier miles and Mariott points to treat me to a plane ticket and hotel room, so that I could be mom’s sidekick during the day while dad audited a class. We packed an amazing amount of sight-seeing into three days, and had a fantastic time.
Aside from it being my first trip to New York, I was pretty excited about having some down time to knit. I took both Guy’s hat and Karen’s scarf, thinking that with all of the time spent in airports and airplanes and in front of the tv after a long day in the city, I could get both projects finished. Ha! I got about an inch and a half added to the hat, and that’s it.
I packed all of my extra yarn to take with me, but forgot that it was pretty useless to me, considering I had yet to roll it into balls. Gah! I hate taking yarn into yarn stores to ball if I don’t have the original receipt, because I don’t want them to think I’m stealing it. And I know how to roll a yarn ball on a toilet paper tube, but was too chicken to ask the hotel’s concierge for a mostly used roll of toilet paper.
I wasn’t quite sure how to get my yarn balled, but Guy had a brilliant idea. (He’s good for those.) He suggested a magazine rolled up, and secured with a rubber band. Brilliant! So I used mom as a swift (first photo), the magazine for a ball winder (second photo), and produced a perfect ball of yarn.
Of course, almost a week after I returned from the trip, the perfect ball of yarn is still in the bottom of my stitching bag, waiting to be turned into hat. But at least it’s ready. (And I won’t mention that my stitching bag is still in my carry-on bag, which is still in my trunk.)
- Wednesday, February 8
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Ok, now I’m obsessing over dress forms. There’s a really pretty one for sale on CraigsList, but it’s a size smaller than I am. That’s how I’m convincing myself not to buy it, see. I’m trying really…really…really hard not to buy it.
This, though, this could work. I was on Knit and Tonic the other day and noticed that she’s got a duct tape mannequin. I’d heard about them before – my previous hair stylist had one made of herself so that she could sew her own wedding dress.
It’s a pretty cool idea. You put on an old t-shirt and have a friend wrap you in layers and layers of duct tape. You then cut the shell off of yourself, tape it back together, and stuff it. Voilà! Instant dress dummy with your exact measurements.
The instructions look pretty easy. Someday may have to have a knit night dedicated to wrapping each other in tape.
- Friday, January 27
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I’m currently working on a black hat that’s going to have one gray stripe. I’m just getting to the part where I change colors, and was wondering how to go about it neatly. I had read this tip a while ago, but couldn’t remember where. I just came across it on knitty.com and wanted to archive it here for future reference.
From the pattern for Kate, the kitten in britches:
The “jogless join” avoids that little “step” that happens when you switch colors while working in the round. To do this, work one round in the new color. On the first stitch of the second round, pull the stitch below that first stitch (in the old color) up onto the left needle and knit it together with the stitch in the new color. Keep knitting in the new color. Lovely.
- Thursday, December 29
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