we hearts our cameras

I had some photo classes this week and last, so much fun! Thank you to my students, Cath, Marie and Emily, for many enjoyable hours of photo geekery. And can I humbly say that you blew me away with the alacrity and elegance with which you translated my yammering about framing, exposure and depth of field into some truly lovely photographs:













Views from a yarn shop. Thank you all once again for a remarkable experience. Now go forth, white balance and shun the flash!

it was all so sudden...

This last Thursday I got to take a train across the river and up (Up = North).




(I did remember my camera, but forgot to renew the battery. So I interspersed precious moments of 'real' photography with phone camera photography, and apparently my phone thought that I was in a Hitchcock film.)

All the way to Tacoma! And Madrona.



With my good mates Star, Lee and Sorren! And since I am a dope and people usually hate having cameras stuffed in their faces besides, I have no adorable group shots. But I did catch some other important stuff.








(Look! It's Lee and Star!)

We ran into a bunch of friends and a few famous people and generally basked in the glory of the fancy hotel and the even greater luxury of a day off from our lives.



I realize that I kind of fail at the storytelling end of things here, relying overmuch on pictures and cryptic half-phrases. But really, what more can I say about an entire day in the company of great people, doing the things that we love to do best? The weather was marvelous, we packed the best collaborative picnic basket I've had in years, and many hilarious and unrepeatable stories were made and shared. And we ended our stay in Tacoma here, and that, my friends, is all I have to say about that.

mass communicating!

A couple weeks ago my friend (and boss) Emily asked me to be a guest on the internet radio show she co-hosts called "Knit Happens". It was great fun, I've never been on radio before, so much more civilized than television...but I digress. I had my family and close friends vet the resulting show and was adequately assured that I don't sound like the blooming idiot that I hear when I listen, so I bare my soul and offer it here to share:

Listen Now!

Enjoy, and be kind! On a related note I do have a class coming up at Twisted that deals specifically with becoming acquainted with your big fancy DSLR camera, and there is space! Sign up if you wish you could wield the beastie a little better, we always have a blast.

And soon I will have a post about my fabulous madcap adventures in Tacoma at the Madrona Fiber Festival...stay tuned!

time well spent

Hello again, friends.



I've been busy while I've been away, I assure you. I have most of a sweater done, even!



Soon to be this pattern, out of Madeline tosh Vintage in the colorway Tart.

But even better than that, there are new yarns for sale at the shop!


"Arsenic & Old Lace", 100yds of a bunch of soft and sparkly stuff, including vintage lace and recycled sari silk!


"My Old Aunt's Kitchen", 130yds bulky BFL and cotton thread bouclé thick/thin


"French Revival", 190yds silk/wool DK-worsted


"Skittles", 350yds merino sport-ish single ply, in rainbow stripes! Taste the rainbow...


"Tartan", 350yds DK merino


another "Jacks" (subnamed 'Sparklejacks'), an adorable silky and sparkly 30 yds of random!

And hopefully more to come before too long...depends on how long that those sleeves take me...

HowlCat

This is become the blog wherein I discuss my generous and talented friends and thereby show nothing of my own. I'm fine with this for the present, so let's move right along.











This is something I like to call the HowlCat (cowl+hat) from my dear friend Alex. It is just so flippin cool. I remember months ago when she discussed the concept with me and I had only the faintest idea of what she was envisioning. She promises that this will become a pattern soon available to the general public, but in the meantime she sent this one to the boy in our Christmas box.

She also sent me this:





I love it so much! Thank you Alex! She also sent a bunch of other stuff of a wooly or comestible nature, like a miniature garden of delights, but they didn't make it into the light in time for a photoshoot. Just imagine in your sweet heads how incredibly impressed and lucky I feel, and have a truly wonderful weekend.

Daisy Dear

In the midst of all that madcap holiday knitting I took on a test knit project. I don't really know what I was thinking, but I'm glad that I did because it was a really fun hat to make.



This hat was designed by my friend Lenka who is one of the most amazing colorwork fiends I've ever met, and she designed this one as a good 'beginner's' project. Which it actually is (heck, I did it) since the design is very intuitive, there are no overly long yarn floats and the motifs move you along very quickly.



The crown of the hat is especially masterful, I think, with a strong architectural theme that is again very easy to memorize. I didn't even choose those colors, they just dropped into my lap, unbidden. And who am I to protest? I used the Brown Sheep Lanaloft Sport, which is a blessedly forgiving yarn which helps give a professional veneer to my amateurish colorwork skills



This hat will be published soon under the Twisted pattern line -- check in with them to try it out for yourself!

light!

The sun came out, after all that moaning, and I lost no time in getting out my camera. To see what there was to see on my walk to work, and to find those instances of my colors that I could. The above photo is of a mysterious window display that has captured my imagination for years now.







We had a birthday party for the boy yesterday, complete with some crafts which I'll blog about soon...right now, I have to finish knitting! Gahhhh!