Our snowy day

Jumped for joy for the snow . . .  

Made an apple tart . . .

 

 

 

Bundled up . . .

Visited our neighbor . . .

Ate the tart together. . .

 



Played with the fabulous selection of toys . . .

The Dress Pattern

 

 

What fun!

Sometimes I quilt too . . .

I finally finished my baby boy's quilt.  Never mind he's almost three and I started it probably about a year and a half ago.  My first born's quilt was finished before she was born.  Hey, I got busy, mm kay?

I chose a simple friendship star block made with coordinating scraps solids and prints.  The white background is made from a high quality old duvet cover that we just never use anymore.  My piecing skills are definitely improving!  No major gaffs in the piecing department this time.  I'd love to say that the green block is the wrong way on purpose, but it isn't. But, I do like it and I'm glad I made the mistake.

And are we liking the new camera?  I sure am.  I have been told by a number of people (all with sweet cameras mind you) that you can get great shots with a point and shoot.  Hmm, how should I put this delicately?  They are LIARS!  All of them!  You want to improve the look of your photography instantaneously - get a decent camera!  I saved up pattern sales for what seemed like an eternity and bought the Sony Nex C3 with a pancake lens.  It's not even a DSLR, just a step up from point and shoot.  Fabulous fabulous fabulous shots just right out of the box.  I still wasn't getting that nice in-focus object, blurry background effect I was hoping for so I sprung for a f 1.8 lens. 

I have also been practicing a ton.  Just taking the camera everywhere, snapping photos at work, at the kids' activities, at home, at the park, etc.  I still have a long way to go, but we're getting there!

On the crochet front - I'm working on a bunch of patterns at once!  Got what you may call "pattern bottleneck."  One of the patterns is a design I made for Galler Yarns.  The design is a secret and will be published by the company this winter!  So happy they chose to work with me, what a thrill.  I also have a cute girly fair isle style cardigan coming down the pike.  Hopefully we'll get that published very soon.  I'm also working on a few others including the felted ankle tab bootie that was a best seller as a finished item on my Etsy site.  Can't wait!

Focus on Photography - A Conversation (and GIVEAWAY) with Kat Goldin

One of the reasons I love Etsy so much is that I get to meet so many fabulously skilled crafters from all over the world.  I love to browse crochet patterns and am always drawn in when I see crochet photographed beautifully.  I recently came across some absolutely gorgeous photographs of some adorable crocheted hats.  I emailed the shop owner, Kat Goldin of Scotland, to ask her about her work, specifically her ability to capture her crochet designs on film. I still struggle to get good shots of my products, so I was so happy to find that Kat was incredibly generous about sharing her photography secrets.  She was also kind enough to stop by for an interview and GIVEAWAY to two lucky winners! See below on how to enter.


You can find Kat on Etsy, Facebook, and her Blog.  Let's show her some love!

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am originally from Iowa, but live in Scotland with my South African husband and 3 children: Ellis, 4, Georgia, 22 months, and Theo,10 months.  I am a blogger, keen photographer as well as a crochet and knitwear maker and designer.  I have been selling on Etsy for a few years, but only just to friends up until October 2011 when I decided to take it seriously and started publishing my designs.  (They are all available on Ravelry as well as my free patterns, fyi)

What is on your hook right now?
A lot! I have about 6 hats I need to finish for mailing out tomorrow!!  I always have too many projects and too many ideas.  I struggle with inspiration overload and will often stay up most of the night working on new ideas on top of my normal workload.
 
What inspires your crochet design style?
I actually stay away from a lot of he usual sources of crochet inspiration (pinterest, etsy, ravelry) and look instead at story books, history and real life for inspiration.  For example, the Pixie hat was designed because I wanted a snug little hat with a short point for when my newest baby was in the sling.  But then, I am always up for a challenge.  The Snugasaurus hat was actually a dare on Facebook!!

How did you become interested in photography?
It developed out of my blog.  I am a perfectionist and I couldn't stand when my photos weren't absolutely the best!! I started learning and reading and working hard to get great images of my kids and my life.  What started out as a hobby has become a slight obsession where a camera MUST be with me at all times. I use photography for the blog, for my Etsy shop and I also do a fair bit of paid photography work.

Only yesterday I took delivery of my new (rather sexy) camera- a Canon 7d, but I have been mostly shooting on a Canon Rebel xsi - a really fantastic entry level DSLR. Prior to that, I had been using a Panasonic Lumix DMC - FZ18 - an excellent point and shoot option.

Do you need a DSLR to get the quality shots that you get?
Without a doubt, one can get great shots with point and shoot cameras.  However, you have to work harder to do so, or as I recently heard it described, "Your photos can still sing no matter what the camera, but the better the camera the higher the notes".  The trick lies not in the camera or kit you have, but in how well you use it. Understanding some very basic principles of photography and learning how your camera works will probably do more to improve your images than laying out a lot of money for an expensive DSLR.

That said, there are things that DSLRs can do that point and shoots just can't, or at least not as well.  DSLRs give you a lot more control over the images you are capturing as they enter the camera, even in a fully manual mode on a P&S, you still will not have the range of options like a different lens and external flashes.

It looks like a lot of your photos have an interesting depth of focus that gives the background a blurry effect. Can you tell us how you achieve that look?
 I get that look using a 50mm f1.8 lens on my camera.  The lens, also called the "Nifty Fifty" is a great investment for a  casual product and portrait photographer with even an entry level DSLR. Its not expensive for a lens (about $100) and can really give some lovely shots.  It is my go-to lens and I rarely use anything else!

Can you share with us any final tips, techniques, and suggestions can recommend to the struggling photographer like myself?

Read your camera manual (and if you don't have it, most manuals are available online)!!!  Point and shoots and even DSLRs set into "automatic" take pictures based on a series of assumptions about the scene they are photographing...the amount of light available, the colours, the distance to the image, which object you want focussed on. The thing is, they aren't always right.  The camera is often fooled by things like bright backgrounds or available light, so learning how to change the settings so you can get the image you (and not the camera) want.

Also, turn off the flash -- 9 times out of 10 a straight flash will ruin your picture.  Now, living somewhere that rains 11 months of the year and is only light for a few hours a day in Winter, I know better than most that sometimes a flash is necessary. If you have to use it, then try bouncing the flash off of a white business card.  I have successfully used a train ticket held in front of my flash to give a more even light.  Also, if you have a DSLR, a Lightscoop is a good and cheap investment.

For small products, setting up a lightbox is cheap and easy.  I use a white "blackout" blind from ikea, draped over the back of my sofa in the sunniest room of the house. Even a large box lined with white paper with the front and one of the sides open for light to get in is a great way to get professional looking photos.

Finally, editing software can help make your images even better.  There are free packages like Gimp available, so you do not have to spend a penny.  However, if you can, I do recommend Adobe Lightroom.  If you have children in school, you can usually get it at the education price and it is a great investment, because lets face it, in the world of online sales the image is the key.

Find photographers you like and investigate how they take their photos.  I have been really inspired by Ashley Ann Campbell of Under the Sycamore. She is great because she does a lot of explaining "how" she gets the images she does.

And most importantly - take a lot of photos.  Commit to improving and practice! Yes, there will be some horrible shots, but there will be good ones as well and over time the good will outweigh the bad.

And Now it's GIVEAWAY Time!!!

Kat is offering to two lucky winners one pattern each.  To enter, please go to her Etsy page and check out her crochet patterns, then comment below and tell us which one is your favorite!  Giveaway ends and winners will be chosen on February 26, 2012. Please do not forget to leave your email address so that we can get in touch with you if you win.

Thanks to Kat for the wonderful advice and fabulous giveaway!

A Week in the Life of BHS

Okay, let's start off with the name, Ball Hank n' Skein - a few things to be said here: (a) balls and hanks and skeins are all units of yarn - in my mind, a ball of yarn is what you see the kittens playing with in Goodnight Moon; hanks are the twisted up yarn you see in nice yarn shops that need to be made into a ball to be used; and skeins are the elongated balls of yarn that you see at big box craft stores.  Those skeins are also in nice yarn stores, but you never see hanks in big box craft stores.  However, I've also heard that skeins can be any of the above - it's just a generic way of referring to a unit of yarn. (b) I practice law too and I thought it would be funny to have my own little yarn law firm - however, I'm thinking that no one except for my wonderful boss got that joke.  Oh well! (c) nicknames are forming - I'm starting to call this little crochet thing I got going here BHS - my cousin on the other hand refers to it as Ball Hankey. 
Next topic.  My week has been absolutely insane.  Good insane, but insane.
We went to the coast to see my cousin who was visiting from Virginia.  She's the kind of cousin who is really like a sibling. It was so great to see her but the visit was too short and I miss her already! We had visits from Aunt Gin Gin and Rey, we saw Aunt Mantie Mel, Johnny and cousins Sam and Kate and Zoe and Mikey and Katie, we stayed with Aunt Nanny and Harry and had so much fun with all the little cousins!  We also had visits from Uncle Earl and Doreen.  Just tons of family love. 
When I got back from coast I came home to some absolutely stunning pictures of my teal and pink cotton ankle tab baby booties that were taken professionally by Jessica White Photography.  Here are some of the lovely shots.

Is she not the cutest little punkin you ever did see?!?!  And the booties look great on her too.  So fun.

Then I started a new design.  I crocheted just a ton of little baby booties to felt.  I am loving, I repeat LOVING the way these little felted baby booties are coming out.   Here are some pics.



Note lovely tomato plants in the background!

This idea was not mine.  On Etsy, I just started finding all this cool stuff that I love that I can't afford right now, so I messaged a bunch of shops to see if they were interested in trading.  A few shops responded and I am in the process of doing 2 trades.  One of the shops requested a felted version of my ankle tab booties.  So glad she did because they are fantastic!  They are so soft and warm and fuzzy and cute and flexible and oh my goodness, I'm just nuts about them.  Stay posted for new listings and maybe just maybe if I can garner the strength, a pattern.

Wow! What a week.