Spring Break: The Dawning

Our spring break at school begins today.  In not any particular order, these are what is on the list I drew up yesterday:

  • build photography reflectors and stands out of PVC pipe
  • sewing
  • work on CE course
  • enquire about use of eJunkie for PayPal and other account payments
  • work on HIPAA PowerPoint
  • Read and learn about Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5
  • Take some course at Lynda.com
  • exercise
  • walk Wicket (the dog) more
  • design a shawl out of the sock yarn I have
  • work on the Man Sweater and redesign it
  • Pay a bill or two, and plan out the budget
  • hike
  • mending
  • polish my shoes
  • clean out closets and drawers
  • get a haircut
  • clean out the garage (ha!  I need a year for that, or more!)
  • sumi-e (yeah!)
  • get together with some friends!

The Pinning

Leaf Detail

The Saroyan has landed – finished, and now pinned out – to the tune of The Wizard of Oz, Little Big Man, and The DaVinci Code audiobook.  Very pleased with it – not too pleased with these pictures!  It’s outdoors on the patio table, weighted down with a rock, just in case the wind picks up.  Once it dries, all the loose ends will be woven in.

Entire Saroyan Pinned Out

Copycat

After seeing how nice Lori’s Saroyan scarf by Liz Abinante looked, I decided to go ahead and do one myself.  Mine is in a wool-and-llama blend in a heathered orchid color.  It’s coming along nicely, and soon I’ll be on the descent into the decreases.  I’ll wash it, and block it, and mark it for me!  With our cold spring here in California, it is perfect for a chilly morning or late night walk.

That said, it also is fun to use knitting to play with different elements of photography.  And it is also a good way to brag:  See?  I’m actually making something!

Knitting Saroyan is very easy.  It took a bit to get used to reading the chart as I generally knit in the round, but that along with the written directions make for an easy project.  I like the fact that there are markers to separate the body from the garter stitch from the leaf pattern – my way to knit!  I can easily complete the pattern part while watching TV.  Once done, I’ll block it out and take a few more shots, especially of the leaves.

Altogether, this is a satisfying project to knit – and to photograph!  (You can see more pictures of my Saroyan here.)

Perspective

I’ve seen a lot of “impressionist” photos of late – rather like some of them.  Certainly a different skew on photography itself, and how to use a DSLR.  Tonight, rather bored, decided give it a bit of a shot.  These were done with long exposures – 8 seconds to a minute I think – with jerks and jitters during exposure.