Archive for July, 2011
July 27, 2011 · Filed under Life |
I am so knee deep in yarn and in this book I can’t tell you what side is up. I’m knitting like a mad women, while trying to balance two kids and LIFE. The life part is running a pretty close race with keeping up with the kids. By life I mean the house, the yarn, the cloths, the bank, the car. The car, keeping that dang car clean. The kids are determined to mess that car up at all costs. OMGOSH THE GIRLS. They are about to be two and four. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?? I CAN NOT!!!
Continue reading “Lost in yarn” »
Getting the correct exposure when working in Auto (more accurate color representation)
For those of you photographing yarn, all of the same applies from the previous tutorials except your getting more of a product shot and it’s more important to pay direct attention to what you are placing your yarn on. Lots of people use white light boxes. I don’t so I don’t have much to say about them except I think they are great. If you don’t want to go that route a pretty stone boulder, or wooden step can be a nice backdrop for your yarn. Avoid distracting things like mesh iron tables, flat plastic plain green table tops (the out door variety) or glass (reflects light badly sometimes). Try photographing your yarn on several surfaces and see what turns out best when you get back to the computer. If you are photographing a dark yarn you may need to place it on a medium toned surface so the yarn color does not photograph too darkly. Avoid a sheet, its wrinkles will show up. If you insist though, iron it out very well and find a bright spot in the corner of your kitchen so you can smooth the sheet out perfectly on your table. A wrinkly background is always very distracting. Maybe try the back of wrapping paper, most of us have some stashed in our closet someplace. The best would be some poster board from a local big box store or even better, a crafts supplies store.
Continue reading “Photography for Knitters – Part 4 Photographing Yarn” »
A reminder for those working in Auto, to HOLD DOWN THE POP-UP FLASH on your fancy DSLR so the flash doesn’t go off, the camera will automatically adjust the settings to work without the flash, but if you don’t do this it will be very lazy and use the flash which almost always makes for a flat picture. For point-and-shoot camera’s turn the flash auto mode to OFF. Some may even have a no-flash-but-still-auto setting but I don’t know your camera. Holding it down works on most DSLR cameras.
Natural Light Outside
If you are taking photos outside, the absolute worst time to take pictures is mid-day. Instead you should be taking photos just after sunrise or 1-2 hours before sun-set. Overcast days do make it easier to photograph mid-day but you can’t always count on that.
Continue reading “Photography for Knitters – Part 3 Using Natural Light Effectively” »
July 2, 2011 · Filed under Tips & Tricks |
I was swatching something with stranded/two-color knitting the other day and I felt, well there is no other words that can describe how I felt except very bad ass. knitting with two hands is intimidating, scarey even. The mere thought of it is enough to make a person avoid anything with two colors on 1 row. But the truth is its really easy, its EXACTLY like riding a bike. Give yourself 10 minutes to half an hour and it’s set in your brain and your good to go. The best way to learn is to knit a hat, probably a kids hat and on circular needles. Find a small circular, a 16″ and cast on enough stitches that you know you won’t have to be pulling and tugging to get around in a circle. This wound up with a hat that fit my head (sorry I can’t show it because its got some book stuff integrated into it).
Continue reading “Stranded” »
My name is Brandy Fortune, and I design knit-wear for kids. I love Crème Brulée, Sci-Fi, 70 degree weather and reading a good book in bed. I spend my time knitting, sewing, taking pictures, co-editing the web-zine 
