Frustration and Accomplishment

**This is a photo heavy post**

I'm getting really desperate to cast on Semele.  The yarn has been ready for months now and my fingers are itching for a pattern that doesn't involve turning a heel (more on that after the jump).  This is what's on my project page in Ravelry:


Originally queued: July 25, 2011
Project created: January 28, 2012
Hibernating: May 14, 2012

See, this has been waiting a very long time.  I was hoping to get started this month, but it might not happen.  Damn.

Happy Days are here again

I have a new camera! A Canon PowerShot A1100 IS. I'm in love.

Because I knit so much, a camera that could take lovely macro shots, had intuitive controls, and had some control over manual settings was a must. However, the built-in settings are working wonderfully for me, especially the Indoor setting. I can take a picture that's so near perfect that when I open it in Photoshop, I barely need to make any adjustments.

:)

I also have a new mp3 player.


I miss my iPod horribly, but I'm getting over that. Apple has done a great job of making a wonderful music accessory that is very intuitive and nothing will come close, but at least this will play music (and pick up the radio, which even the iPod can't do...)

I went 2 weeks without an mp3 player, which is a lifetime for me. I haven't been without my iPod since I got the first one.

---

Update: After writing that post, I went and bought an 8GB iPod. Yes, I'm a hypocrite; I love iPod. The sansa will be taken to the gym, though. I'm not losing another iPod.

We apologize for the interruption

I have two Flickr accounts, one for private pictures, one for knitting. I keep two flickr accounts because I'm cheap and don't want to pay $24.95 for the privilege of placing everything in one account. If Google Picasa web were better, I'd stick everything there.

But it's not.

So last night, I started scouring Flickr for this truly horrendous picture of myself 3 years ago, after a "Big Chop" that left me with an inch of hair on my head. I checked veiland first, although I was pretty certain that there wasn't anything in there except knitting-related stuff. I was right, so I switched to the old account, vne8172.

Did you know I had almost 600 pics in there? For some people that doesn't sound like a lot, but for me that's like saying 10,000! So I started deleting, all the while looking for this horrible picture of myself.

I deleted the Las Vegas Trip (half those pictures need to be permanently deleted), my (duplicate) pictures of the stash and the finished objects, miscellaneous picture of fruit trees, etc. I was proud, mostly because I'm a packrat and I hold onto everything beyond the necessary amount of time.It took me two days to find that picture. I’m still not proud of it.

What? You thought I was going to post it here? LOLOL! Not a chance.

New Play Toy

Mommy is gone.

I should be happy about this, but I'm not. She left on Monday and I've missed her ever since, especially since my friends (Andrea, Nikki, and Ashley) arrive tonight. Since they're staying until Sunday night, I won't have my apartment back to myself until Monday.

(sigh)

Anyway, I mentioned in my last post that I built a light box. It cost me all of $5.

1. Box - Free. Left over from my move to Florida


2. Tissue Paper - $1.79 at Wal*Mart, for a jumbo pack.


3. Glue - $.33


4. Tape - Free. Left over from my move to Florida


5. White Poster Board - $.50 at Wal*Mart

Hmm . . . OK, $2.62. Not Bad. . .oh right

1. Daylight light bulbs - ~5.00.

Well, that's about $7.00. Not bad. Wanna see the results?

The Inside:


And this is my little setup. When I'm ready to take the picture, I angle the light right next to the tissue paper to illuminate the interior, setup my camera on it's tripod, and snap away.

Why?

This is what a light box will do for your pictures:

Without a light box: Taken on the kitchen counter top, under florescent lights. Edited with Picasa, using Sharpen Filter and "I'm Feeling Lucky"

And knowing me, probably taken somewhere near midnight with flash.



In the Light box, with a special "Daylight" bulb. Macro settings on camera, no flash. Edited with Adobe Photoshop...(I can't remember all the filters, althought I know "Auto Levels" came in somewhere).

Definitely taken after midnight. You can't tell can you?


The Brilliant colors of the Baby Cable sock is really coming through. The light box makes everything look much more lifelike and honest. So in what could only be termed as a "fit of stupidity" I decided that I wanted to take new pictures of everything in my stash using the light box....

I'm betting my friends will ensure that craziness doesn't go anywhere.