Ketchup

No, not that kind....

Just a little blog post catch up. There have been knitting and things going on here at the Minion Ranch, but I've just not been in the mood to take and edit pictures and actually blog something (read: lazy). I guess I could partially blame it on the evil Enablry Ravelry, which has become an incredible time suck and procrastination device for me lately. It seems I sometimes spend more time looking at knitting (other peoples') and reading about knitting (other peoples') than working on my own WIP's....

Anyway, on to the ketchup. Here's a nifty item that I've been wanting for a long time, and cute husband got it for me for Christmas...

Living in the PNW, trying to find the right time and place to take pictures can be challenging, especially in the winter. With this lovely little tent, external light of any kind can be aimed from the outside, allowing you to concentrate the light and take pictures of even the darkest objects on the darkest days.
(Minions provided for scale---must be purchased separately.) Simply remove optional minions, place your object inside, provide some lighting or place near a bright window, and you can take pics of your most objects without color change or much loss of color (depending on the lights you provide). The folded-up flaps provide a way to leave just a small hole for your camera while taking the picture, or you can use it with the front open as well. This particular light tent came with 2 drapes for the inside, white and black. It also collapses down to go into a small, portable soft case.

It will take a little practice to get things perfect, but here's my first couple of test shots with some beautiful Noro sock yarn...

Not perfect yet, but I love the way it was so easy to capture the colors of the yarns. The colors as portrayed are pretty close to the original with no color editing applied. (Also need to figure out what to do about those wrinkes in the backdrop cloth...). I'm so excited about being able to take pictures on any day, no matter what the light level outside, and at night---no more waiting!

I also got a set of Knitpicks wood knitting needles for Christmas, which I absolutely love! I'm usually not big on wooden needles because of the drag factor, but these are slick with much less drag than bamboo---just a little bit grabbier than turbos or Denise. I'm using them for the first time on my Secret of the Stole-ii. Progress on that is very slow, but it's not because of the needles....they are working out great.

I also completed a scarf for my hubby as a Christmas gift. Even though it was only a scarf, it was not without it's complications. Cute hubby is many things: Cute (of course), smart, lovable.... and picky as hell about some things. It had to be just the right yarn, just the right softness, just the right length in just the right stitch pattern to reduce chance of polite rejection. After much trial and error, I ended up with this...


I'm happy to report it was a smashing success all around and he loves it! The color is actually a more deep Merlot-red than I could capture in the pics. Rowan Cashsoft DK held double-stranded in a nice, manly-looking Mistake Rib.

I have never knit anything in Mistake Rib before, and I have to say I really like it! It makes nice, deep rib channels with a nice stretch, without bunching up together like regular rib. It's more interesting to knit than a normal 2x2 rib, and it also has a slightly more complicated and attractive appearance on the finished scarf than a regular rib, in my opinion. I like any stitch pattern that makes me look like a far more clever knitter than I really am, without giving me a headache. Hey, I did say I'm lazy, after all...