Prepped
This weekend is the photoshoot for Curls 2. This is ridiculously exciting, as I think all this gray is going to be amazingly fun to take photos of. I've been doing that thing where I scurry around making sure I have everything I need for days now. Of course I need all the curls themselves. I store them on a dress form to keep them from getting wrinkled after they are blocked. These are on Alethea's companion, Verity. You've not been properly introduced yet, but I'm sure we'll fix that at some point. Both ladies are coming with us for [...]
In Which Props are Assembled
As far as I can can tell, the key to photo shoots (quite possibly to books in general) is lists. Lists of knitting. Lists of photo ideas. Lists of props. The list of props for this one looks something like this. That's an old trunk, a blanket, a pair of pajama pants, handkerchiefs, fancy hangers, a tea cup, a champagne coupe, a bottle of champagne, a pair of boots, a stack of old books, yarn, and a basket. And yes, yes I need them all. There is a plan for each and every one of them, and I think they're [...]
Follow-up
So we had two outstanding mysteries. First, the Emily Bergan and her delightful suitcase. Second, Aloysius and his intriguing body art. And now, thanks to the powers of the internet and its amazing ability to collect knowledge from all over the place and put me in touch with awesome people who know things, we have answers. The first comes from my dad. He looked up our friend Emily and found the following: Emily Bergan (ticket number P.C. 22573 aboard the "Queen Mary" - Cunard White Star Ltd, which matches the tag on the suitcase) had a cabin (e.g., not steerage) on [...]
New Arrival
I have a big head. I'll pause for a moment for you to insert the obligatory joke here. This big head thing makes it a bit challenging to block my hats. Esmeralda helps, but she has some...protuberances that my head doesn't currently have. Luckily, the Chez Violence Home for Wayward Knitting Props is an accommodating place, and we've always got room for a new resident. May I present Aloysius? His head is pretty much exactly the same size as mine. And, like most of the characters pressed into service as knitting props, he seems to have had an interesting life. [...]
Additions
The Chez Violence Home for Wayward Knitting Props is adding a wing. Or maybe it's just a room? However we're justifying it, I am now the proud owner of a Nifty Old Trunk. Strange as it sounds, I actually need it as a photo prop for Book the Next (yes, yes I really do...it's totally a legitimate and justifiable business purchase and in no way a shameless indulgence). Some time, when I have a bit of free time, I really must see what I can find out about our friend E. L. Bergan. The tag says he or she sailed [...]
Storage
I confessed that a shocking amount of last week was spent at the dining room table - pins in hand, the smell of wet wool filling the air - while I blocked and blocked and blocked some more. The natural result of this process is a lovely pile of freshly blocked woolies. But, if your house is anything like mine, it doesn't present a huge number of large, flat, cat-free spaces in which to store great swaths of knitting. At the same time, I very much did not want to fold these bits up until they were safely photographed. So [...]
Introductions
I do not generally support alarm clocks. Working from home and for yourself means they are seldom necessary. But this weekend, I made an exception. I set an alarm. And not just any alarm, a 6:30 alarm on a Sunday morning. That's borderline barbaric. But, there was knitting to photograph, a vacant lot in which to do it, and the sun waits for no knitter. So Alethea, The Boy, and I rolled our sleepy selves into the car along with rather a lot of knitting (and the camera, I was quite proud I managed not to forget the camera, that [...]
Conjugate
Shall we conjugate the verb snow? How about weep? Regardless of what mid-April snows do for one's state of mind (or one's sinuses), they do at least provide encouragement for knitting. The first mitt of the re-knit version of Adumbrate is done. I'm awfully fond of them. The thumb is unreasonably tidy. Alas this picture doesn't quite show it off in its full glory (Millicent won't bend her thumb in to show it off, but she has a long history of being a troublemaker). I'll do my best to find a more cooperative model for the proper photos.
Display Some Adaptability
I'm unusually well equipped when it comes to blocking tools for knitting. I've got the traditional mats and pins. I've got a wide array of hat forms. I've got sock blockers. I've got mannequin feet. I've got mitt blockers. I've even got hand forms. Yet despite this unquestionably impressive array of props, I still find myself having to improvise from time to time. I'm off to take pics of these mitts later this afternoon. I made them to fit me (I'm greedy like that), but the lovely friend I've tricked bribed sweet talked into modeling them for the pics has [...]
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