Episode 15 - Knitting and Newborns

In this episode I talk about Mother's Day knitting, taking a newborn class, and photographing items for Etsy shops.

• Knitting Butterflies Ravelry Group
• Instagram: butterflyem4
• Ravelry Page: EmilyStraw

Game: 2048
Down Cellar Studios with Jen
Prairie Girls Knit and Spin Podcast

Fiber Stories:

• Rikke Hat by Sarah Young - knit in Oh Loops! Platinum sock in Blueberry Butterflies

• 20% Cooler Socks - Rainbow Dash yarn by CuppyCake Yarnz
• Mother's Day Cast On - Vanilla socks made from some Deborah Norahville Serenity sock yarn in Teal Tease

• I picked up Knit to Flatter by Amy Herzog
• I also picked up some latch hook kits to do with my kids on Mother's Day
• I finished my Woolen Mill St. Yarns Corriedale roving in Juliet Jules
• Malibrigo Nube roving has been used to throw the gauntlet down to Sarah from In A Sknit. We are knitting Hermione's Everyday Socks and whoever finishes theirs first wins! My socks are from Blue Skies Over Colorado from The Loopy Ewe

Events:

• Estes Park Wool Market June 5-8 in Estes Park, Colorado. If you want a preview, visit Crafty's Class "Know Your Wool"
• Stitches Midwest August 8-10 in Illinois is coming up! If you happen to see me, please come up and say hi!!

I Dream of Knitting:

• While taking a class on Creative Live by Julia Kelleher on Creative Newborn Photography, I began to dream of having a whole box full of baby hats for newborn photography

Photography Stories:

• I did a 6 month session with a sweet girl I have been photographing since she was a newborn

• I also covered a baby shower for one of my oldest and dearest friends
• Coming Up - Dance Studio Portraits, and practice dance session, Mom and Dad session, Operation Sock Drawer

Photography Tip of the Week:

• This week I talk about doing photography for an Etsy shop. 
• Use natural light
• Consider using a Lightbox for smaller items
• Use tilted poster board and reflectors for larger items
• Be sure to check your exposure settings and use the exposure compensation setting to make sure your images are getting exposed enough.
• Calibrate your monitor to be true color, visit Improve Photography

Episode 14 - Mad Hustle

Knitting Butterflies Ravelry Group Instagram: butterflyem4 Ravelry Page: EmilyStraw
Clicking Away:

• 20% Cooler Socks are still in progress, Jeck pattern with Rainbow Dash yarn from Cuppycake Yarnz

• Mermaid Song Shawl is finished! Pattern is by Susanna IC, yarn is KnitPicks Shadow Tonal in Summer Blossoms. I mention the podcasts Knitmore Girls, Must Stash Podcast, and Knit Girllls.

• Anne's Sweater by Joanna Johnson in Green Gable Knits is on its way. I'm knitting it out of Brown Sheep Company Lanaloft Sport in the Sandstone colorway. Will I have enough yarn? We will see!
• Rikke Hat by Sarah Young. I saw this on The Fat Squirrel Speaks, knitting it out of yarn from Oh Loops! in the Blueberry Butterflies colorway.

I Dream of Knitting:

I mostly have been dreaming about spinning a lot more someday. I add a few fibers to my wishlist, and I'm excited the basement will be done soon so I will have the room.

Photography Adventures:

• I was blessed and privileged to photograph the March of Dimes event in Greeley, CO. What an amazing experience!

• I purchased a 55-200mm f3.5-5.6 lens for this event, it wasn't an expensive lens but it made a huge difference in the quality of my photos!

• I have been taking classes on Creative Live from Susan Stripling and Jim Garner, which really helped my photography and story telling skills.
• Tip for this week - backlighting. Try putting your light source behind your subject, whether it's the sun, a flash, or a lamp. This is a great tip for hard light!

Episode 13 - Bunny Pox

In this episode I talk knitting, favorite "new to me" podcasts, keeping toddlers busy, and posing tips in photography.

• Knitting Butterflies Ravelry Group
• Instagram: butterflyem4
• Ravelry Page: EmilyStraw

Clicking Away:

• Anne's Sweater from Green Gables Knits by Joanna Johnson, knit in Brown Sheep Company Lanaloft Sport
• Mermaid Song Shawl by Susanna IC in the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, knit in Knitpicks Shadow Tonal in Summer Blossom
• 20% Cooler Socks, Jeck pattern by Regina Satta in Rainbow Dash Yarn from Cuppy Cake Yarnz
• Rainbow Ripples Baby Blanket in I Love This Yarn

I Dream of Knitting

• This episode I play along with the Prairie Girls Knit and Spin podcast and think about what I would do if I won the lottery.

Podcasts I have been listening to:

The Knit Wits Podcast
Must Stash Podcast
ACTually Knitting
Knit.fm


Countdown to 30?
The countdown to 30 is over, but I had a great birthday!

• I treated myself at the Loopy Ewe and purchased some Blue Skies Over Colorado sock yarn and Prism Yarns for a lace shawl.

• I used a Busy Bag to keep my kiddos happy during a trip to the DMV.

Photographing Your Knits:

I recently watched a course on Creative Live by Lindsay Adler called Posing 101. Here are a couple of takeaways I wanted to share with you:

• Objects closer to the camera are larger than objects farther from the camera. Example: hips closer to the camera are going to appear larger than hips farther from the camera.
• When appendages point toward or away from the camera, a phenomenon called foreshortening occurs. This makes your limbs look shorter and thicker, and less flattering.

In this photo, I needed to pull my shoulders forward more and put my limbs out at an angle from the camera. This photo has some critical technical errors in posing which is why it's not terribly flattering. Redoing some posing will help greatly, I hope to demonstrate this soon!

Stressed...

It's 2:30 in the morning. I'm incredibly stressed and can't sleep.

I feel like I'm a terrible artist.

I end up comparing my work with other photographers all the time and keep coming up short.

My town is too small, and circles keep overlapping and I'm not incredibly okay with it sometimes.

After I get frustrated with the above, I want to smack myself because I feel like I'm acting like a 12 year old middle school girl.

I'm finding myself angry and frustrated with people a lot, and I've been cutting off some ends recently. Then I feel like I'm being judgmental and negative and that I just need to get over it and be nice again. Then I have the middle school girl situation all over again.

It's so expensive to run a business legally (location permits, liability insurance, etc.) and I'm getting down hearted trying to figure out how to make those expenses get paid for.

Truthfully, in my circles right now, I feel like the sloppy seconds.

Episode 12 - Frog Pond Birthdays

In this episode, I have frogged and reknit several projects, celebrated my 30th birthday, and given advice on purchasing a new camera.

• Knitting Butterflies Ravelry Group
• Instagram: butterflyem4
• Ravelry Page: EmilyStraw

Clicking Away:

- I am reworking my 20% Cooler socks using the Jeck Pattern instead of the Collywobbles pattern. I had this pattern recommended to me by Lynn at the Loopy Ewe, along with Chiagoo needles. I have started knitting at the gym like Sarah from In a Sknit.

-I'm currently working very hard on my Anne's Sweater by Joanna Johnson in Green Gables Knits, using Brown Sheep Company's Lanaloft Sport. I tried adding back darts a la Amy Herzog's class Knit to Flatter, then decided it was too small. I frogged back to where the decreases begin and started over.

- I'm also working on my Mermaid Song shawl by Susanna IC in the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, though I restarted it in Knit Picks Shadow and I have decided I love knitting lace.

Countdown to 30

- I celebrated my 30th birthday with friends at a Paint and Sip place in my hometown, it was a blast! Please share your advice and stories from transitioning into your 30's, I have lots of listeners with great experiences I would love to hear all about.

I Dream of Knitting

I have made two ponies by the Nerdy Knitter, if time and practicality were not an issue I would totally crochet ALL of her designs. She is an amazing designer!

Photographing Your Knits

-Tips for this week: What ever camera you have, learn how to use it well.

I love classes from:

Improve Photography website and podcast

Creative Live

Photo Biz X-Posed podcast

What I use:

Nikon D5200 24.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR NIKKOR Zoom Lens (Black) (refurbished, purchased at B&H.com)

Adobe Creative Cloud for editing (Photoshop and Lightroom)

Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR FX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

I used to use a Nikon D60

-I share my philosophy on investing in high ticket items, specifically about purchasing a new camera. The concepts can easily be applied to any high ticket item though, such as spinning wheels, sewing machines, and even knitting needles. Instead of spending an entire budget on the most expensive piece of equipment you can afford, go one step down and use the rest of the budget on classes to learn to use your equipment properly.

You can find used and refurbished camera equipment from:

KEH.com

B&Hphoto.com

Adorama.com

Craftsy Flash Sale

I wanted to let all my readers know that Craftsy is having one of the biggest sales of the year right now. Here is some info for you:

Save Up to 75% on Yarn & 65% on Fabric! Don't miss out on Craftsy's Gone in a Flash Sale! Get up to 65% off fabric and 75% off yarn now. Limited supply, shop before it disappears! Hurry, offer expires Friday, March 28th at 11:59pm MT 2014. **This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links If you see something you want from Craftsy, consider purchasing it through the links above. This helps support the podcast monetarily which pays for great things for YOU like giveaways! Have a blessed weekend!

Episode 11 - Knitting Frenzy

In this episode I have MANY projects going and have a hard time paying attention!

• Knitting Butterflies Ravelry Group
• Instagram: butterflyem4
• Ravelry Page: EmilyStraw

Thank you for the iTunes reviews!

Clicking Away

• 20% Cooler Socks - Rainbow Dash Yarn from Cuppy Cakes Yarnz in Collywobbles pattern by Fibertowne Designs
• Knitted Patchwork Blanket by Martine Ellis
• Sheep Wagon Shawl by Joanna Johnson is going well, though I had a few hiccups!  (PS - I did call Knitpicks customer service, they were AWESOME and I have new needles on the way! Hooray!)

• Mermaid Song Shawl by Susanna IC in the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, knit in Cascade Alpaca Lace

• Vanilla Socks in Patons Kroy 4 Ply in Cascade colorway (not Oceana). I got the idea of gym knitting from Sarah from In A Sknit

Events

• I will be at the Estes Park Wool Market on June 7th (event runs from June 5-8)

Countdown to 30

 I am determined not to get depressed about my birthday and have already booked a night with my friends at a paint and sip place. 

Photo courtesy of Studio Vino Paint and Sip

Photographing Your Knits

Today we are going to play a game of pretend. Here are the tips I am going to use when photographing you in your beautiful sweater:

• I am going to create a visual frame with the nature background, like we talked about last week.
• I am going to place you at least six feet in front of the background we are using, for example, a gorgeous blooming lilac bush.
• I also recommend using a low F-stop/aperture (f 4.0-6.0) or the portrait mode on camera to help the camera focus on you and your sweater and blur the background
• I also will double check to make sure there aren't any hard shadows from tree branches coming across your face or garment