At the end of May I flew to Denver to shoot the class. It was scary, but super fun. I tend to tell stories better in photo format, but since I was in front of the camera instead of behind it, I’ll take a stab at how it went:

Things I Learned Shooting a Class for *Craftsy

Looking directly into the camera when speaking? Harder than it looks.

Speaking normally into a camera? Also harder than it looks. (Sounds? No. Looks. No. Sounds.)

Time it took for me to shout “LINE!?”  2 seconds.

Number of times I said, “sorry!”  I lost count (I’m Canadian, I can’t help it!)

Ways my brain reminded me the internet is forever, thus freaking me out?  4 and then I lost count.

Number of times burping on camera? 5. I think. It may have been more. (I was nervous, ok?!)

Number of hours spent in Spanx? 30+ (Which is 29 hours more than I would have liked.)

Minutes spent debating whether Americans would understand the command “Control-Zed”?  7

Ways the production crew at Craftsy rock? 400 and then I lost count

And y’all, the low humidity in Denver made my hair super flat and super shiny. I should live there all the time! (Having a makeup lady every day would be pretty kickass too.)

Want to see the trailer?

And here’s the official spiel about Shoot It! (Apparently I’m irreverent! Hee!)

If you’ve ever noticed the beautiful photography on someone’s blog, book, published patterns or Etsy page, and wondered, “How do they DO that?” this is the class for you. Quality photos make the difference between marketing that sings and stuff that makes you look like a total amateur.

Knitter and photographer Caro Sheridan explains it all – from planning before the shoot to editing afterwards, and all the details in between. Whether you’re looking to shoot product pics, or just want to learn more about photography, you will benefit from Caro’s upbeat, irreverent and detailed instruction.

What You’ll Learn in Shoot It!

• How to plan and execute a photoshoot from start to finish
• Making a storyboard and shot list to create the story you want to tell
• What a pro keeps in her tool kit – from lipstick to legal forms
• How to capitalize on the fancy features of whatever camera you have
• Directing your model and getting the hero shot
• Photo fundamentals like composition and color
• The basics of digital editing – without expensive software

*You know about Craftsy, right? They have online classes that you buy and watch on your schedule and own forever. There are instructor interactions, ways to make notes during the video, student forums; it’s awesome! Their online classes are better than a live class – you can take it as many times as you want, whenever you want and access never expires. I’ll admit, when I first checked it out last year I was sort of skeptical, but OMG it’s fantastic. I’m taking the quilting Block of the Month class as well as Miriam’s Lace Shawl Design class and they’re fab. I honestly thought I wouldn’t groove on learning this way but I’m a convert.

So my Shoot It! class is there! Check it out! Come join me in the class! You can sign up anytime and the class is yours forever to watch whenever you want. COME PLAY!

I always love when Thea pings to set up a photoshoot. She comes stocked with ideas for styling, props and location. Invariably we leave the prop bag in the car, but I love the energy she brings to a shoot. She’s so much fun to shoot with, and I think that comes through in the photos. I never have to ask her to laugh or smile, she’s always just ready.

We had a specific beachy theme in mind for this shoot, but the weather wasn’t cooperating in the slightest. We’d planned on cut-offs and flipflops, but what we got was drizzle and temperatures in the 30′s.  We drove around the North Shore for a bit looking for just the right spot, but in the end, this beach in Nahant was perfect. We got out of the car to take some test shots and it was SO DAMN COLD we decided to just knock the whole thing out right then and there.

The weather isn’t everything though, I think we got that beachy casual feeling without the sunshine and warm weather.

The pattern is Charleston Tea, by Thea Colman. (Or find it here on Rav.)

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(Frick is gorgeous, so that makes it easy too.)

Sur bicyclette! (because nothing gives French flair like a striped shirt and a bicycle, right? Ha!)

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And lovely Specs,

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The pattern is the Frick Frick Beret which you can get here on Ravelry.

While we were in the first round of edits for the book (in 2010!) I cast on for St. Moritz, by Snowden Becker. It’s one of my favourites from the Knitting it Old School
book, I love that scoop neck. I didn’t have yarn in the stash even close to gauge, so I subbed in some Elsbeth Lavold Silky Tweed. Different weight, different gauge. Because we were so deep in editing, I figured I needed something mindless to work on, so I omitted the lozenge stitch as well. (Cue ominous music here)

And work on it mindlessly, I did. It’s a top down raglan, which has the benefit of being able to try it on as you knit so you can get a perfect fit. Did I do that? No, no I didn’t. (more omnious music. DUH DUH DUUUUN) I knit to pattern and mindlessly kept knitting until the body was finished a few weeks later. Then and only then I tried it on. Huge. Giant. WAY too big. I heaved a heavy sigh and put it in a time out for close to a year. Last January I pulled it out, tried it on again and had conveniently put on some weight (ha!) so the fit was slightly better. Might as well finish it, right? It just needed sleeves and a collar!

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So in March of 2011 finish it I did. I photographed it, wore it once to an event and it’s been sitting in the trunk show suitcase ever since. I’ve lost the book editing weight since then and that sucker doesn’t fit at all now. Sadpants. I really should rip the whole thing and reknit it with the lozenge pattern and 3 sizes smaller, but I’m not quite ready to face it. Until then, I’ll just slap a big fat FAIL sticker on it and chalk it up to being mindless.

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Seriously, look how giant!

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Details are all here on Rav. Sigh.

I love to plan shoots with Thea Colman, because when I get to her house she’s completely up for anything. So when I say, “there’s this great cemetery down the street I’d like to shoot” she doesn’t balk. She just says, SURE! And off we go.

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We piled in the car with Stitchy (expert stylist, sweater  smoother and smile getter) and headed over midday last Saturday. I usually prefer to shoot early mornings or late afternoon, but we had some nice winter light and enough clouds to hide the sun here and there.

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Grey backgrounds can be tricky and suck the life out of sweater colours and make things feel a little flat so I was definitely looking for other colours to throw in the mix. I think that yellowy-orangey-greeny moss really saves the day here though. I love it! I’ll definitely head back to shoot there again.

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The sweater is Chambord, knit in Rowan Felted Tweed Aran. All the goodness of Felted Tweed in an aran weight! I wanna try it!

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It’s no secret that I’m usually about 97 million degrees warmer than everybody else and I’m constantly complaining that it’s too hot wherever I am. (How I lasted in Texas for so long, I’ll never know.) So it’s no surprise that in the winter, I can often be found in a pair of mary janes without any socks. I wish I could be one of those people who can wear handknit socks, but I’m just not.

The trouble with Mary Janes in the winter is that my feet do get a little cold. A stiff breeze will go straight up my pantleg and hoooooo, doggie. Brrrrr.

A few years ago at Target I found some brown cotton spat-type legwarmers that were perfect under my jeans. I could keep my ankles warm and still shake my fist at the kids picking up on 80′s fashion trends. “Legwarmers! Pfffft. You kids don’t know from legwarmers. I would NEVER wear legwarmers again. Let the 80′s die! (And get outta my apple tree!)”

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Safe to say I’ve worn those cotton $4 legwarmers into the ground and this year was the year to replace them. I reverse-engineered the originals, spent an afternoon or two knitting and tada! New knit legwarmers for me! With sparkles, no less.

Want to make your own? I wrote up the pattern, just for you! Behold, the Undercut Legwarmers.

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Download now!

And because I know how this is going to go, I’ll answer the question before you ask. The shoes are Fluevogs, the plaid Benatars to be specific.

I’m so excited to share another fun thing that’s happening! I’m going to teach a class at Webs! While recording the Ready, Set, Knit podcast back in October, Kathy encouraged me to put together a photography class to share some of my knowledge. And when a queenpin like Kathy tells you to do something, you do it!

The class is called “Styling and Photography for Indie Designers” and will be at WEBS on March 17th at 1pm. Officially, it’s described this way,

“Learn how to prepare for a successful photoshoot, whether you’re taking the photographs yourself or having a professional do it for you. Rather than the technical details of aperture or camera settings, we’ll look at the human side of styling and composition. Caro will share behind-the-scenes tricks to help make your patterns stand out in a crowd and rocket to the top of knitting queues. No camera necessary!”

I wanted to put together something that would help non-photography experts improve their pattern photography and non-designers improve their finished object photography. Instead of hardcore details about aperture and white balance and tech details (that can make eyes glaze over) we’ll dive into the styling and set up so that you can take beautiful photos, even if just with your phone!

I’m super stoked about this class and I hope you can join me! You can register online here:

Come join us!

I’ve been hemming and hawing (and ultimately getting paralyzed) about how to share the photos I’ve taken for all the knitting pattern designers I’ve been working with. I don’t know why it hasn’t occurred to me that I can just make it a weekly feature. I blog really well in my head, I just haven’t had any time to sit and actually blog some of this stuff. I really need to get a huge backlog of work posted, so I’m starting this week. I present to you, Photoshoot Friday. Or F.O. Friday. Or something named along those lines.

I’m going to take us back. Waaaaaaaay back. To TNNA in June! (I told you there’s a giant backlog, right?) Amy Herzog, Stitchy and I were walking down to dinner one night when we passed the federal building in Columbus with some art panels from the mid-70′s. Stitchy and I looked at each other, silently nodded and kept walking. The next day when Amy was all set to shoot one of her new designs, we told her we had the location all set. As far as backgrounds go, this has become one of my favourite shoots ever. The light in that corner of the building was magical and the orange! Oh, orange, how I love you.

The pattern is Wintry Mix, by Amy Herzog.

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Man, I love that grey and orange together. Grorange wins!

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Last April (what?! So I didn’t blog it til now? Whatevs. I’m a slow poke blogger I guess) I finished Cirilia Rose’s Double Decker sweater from Knitting It Old School. Now that we’re back into sweater weather, I can confidently say that this is one of my most worn handknits. I love the way it turned out and I’ve worn it everywhere this fall.

I didn’t knit it exactly to pattern, as I wanted the bust purl line to hit below my bust instead of right across it.  I knew I could adjust it to more of an empire waistline type deal, I just had to work out how to do that. I mean, mostly it was just increasing the length before the underarms, but I also (on Amy Herzog’s advice) threw in some bust darts.

Bust darts! Honestly? This part intimidated me at first, but I have to tell you they were so easy to do.

I followed Amy’s advice and knit a size smaller than I usually do using my overbust size instead of  my actual bust measurement size. For bust darts I increased an inch worth on either front working the increases on each right side. I knit straight for a bit and then decreased more slowly on every other right side row.

Honestly. Why did I think bust darts were going to be hard?

The buttons I found at Seed Stitch in Salem when we did a trunk show there and I love them. They’re a little heavy for the sweater and probably add 3lbs of weight, but look at em! I think they’re perfect.

And can I just say how happy I am that I can officially knit the smaller size in everything I make now? Less yarn! Less knitting! Better fit!

The Berocco Lustra has gorgeous drape and is super warm but is a single ply, so holy doodle this thing pills like crazy. I’m not sure that I’ll knit with this yarn again, but as long as I’m willing to hit the sweater with the shaver every day, I’m fine.

Full details on Ravelry: Double Decker

The most exciting thing has been the travel for what has officially become Splityarn Photography. Every weekend this fall I’ve been shooting and editing. I am LOVING it. Want to know what I’ve been working on?

Knitty! 3 shoots in the Deep Fall issue including the cover (!!!)

Takoma from Julia FC:

Ann Weaver’s The Candles:

Amy Herzog’s Vignette:

The Charles Collection for BHK Cooperative (going live this week, but you can see the photos on the BHK facebook page)

Kate Atherley’s forthcoming book (I did the how-to shots)

AudKnit’s forthcoming book

Photos for some of Mad Color Fiber Arts colourways

Flint Knits Pam’s newest sweater she debuted at Rhinebeck: (Sneak peek only for now but this whole shoot is fantastic, as is the sweater.)

Fun, right?

I will eventually put up a proper page with all my pricing details, portfolio and how it all works, but for now if you’re interested, shoot me a note. I’m happy to talk on and on (and on) about it. I travel heaps too, so it’s possible I might be in your neighbourhood! Eeeee! I find it all so exciting!