Picture Practice

Two sweaters in progress for Miss Lily Catherine (not yet born):

Do you ever overdo it when you find out someone in your family is having a little girl? I do. Even though I love baby boys, too, I have the most fun knitting for baby girls. So when I heard that my cousin's wife is having a little girl this spring, I really got busy going through my patterns and my yarn.

It took a while to narrow things down to just two sweaters, but eventually I chose an old favorite (Erika Knight's Garter Stitch Cardigan) and a pattern I have wanted to make for a long time (the Mardi cardigan from Posy Gets Cozy).














I hope Lily Catherine (named after my wonderful grandmother) does not mind knitted goods. Between me and my mother, who also knits and crochets, she is really in for it!

Bright Mittens and a Farrow Rib Scarf

Another project, quickly finished.
Malabrigo mittens, in the color Molly, for my daughter:

Pattern: Breathe Deep (from Through the Loops)
Needles: size 7

This is a fun pattern and it works up very quickly. I ended up having blocking issues with the Malabrigo, though. The mittens really stretched when they got wet, and I had to throw them in the dryer with some damp towels to get them back into proportion. I don't think I can get away with that again, so I'm not sure how I will wash them next time.










And here is more Malabrigo, in Emerald. I am making a farrow rib scarf for my husband. So simple, and so soft! Still, even though it's only been on the needles a few days, I feel like it's dragging. I tend to have this issue with scarves, which is why we don't have more in the family winter accessories basket.

Camera Issues...Among Other Things

I know I have not been blogging as much as I intended, and here is the reason: I am having camera issues. There is definitely a lot of knitting going on around here, but my pictures have just not been of a quality that I feel good about posting. I've put some things on Ravelry (because I can't help myself, Ravelry is so fun!) but I'm not loving the image quality coming from my camera. Everything is either washed out or too dark, and the flash is pretty much worthless.

I guess the question I am asking myself is whether the problem is actually camera related, or more of an amateur photographer issue. Before two months ago, I had not taken a picture in years. I just do not come from a picture taking family. So although my camera is an under-$100 model (which I personally think is plenty of money to spend on just about anything, besides yarn) is the problem really just that I don't know how to use it properly?

I had a friend here from out of town a few weeks ago and she let me try out her Canon. (I think it was the Powershot? Something like that.) It definitely took nicer pictures, but the conditions still had to be ideal for it to work properly. I'm not sure if it's the model I'm looking for. I don't want to jump into buying a camera without thinking about it, because I have a feeling I'll be stuck with the next one for a really long time. I'm like that with electronics. I just don't get a huge kick out of buying this year's model of whatever.

So that is what is going on here. Lots of knitting, not much blogging. For the above stated reasons!