Hankering for Yarn » blogs

b5media Lifestyles roundup

Del — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 09:04:29 +0000

Here are some great holiday-related posts from this past week around b5media’s Lifestyle channel. In case you’re looking for other cool blogs to check out (whether artsy, crafty, all about home, etc.), read on:

Kettle & Cup asks if Starbucks Limited Edition is worth $26 a pound. (I love coffee, so it’s tough for me to say no!)

All Holiday Cafe spills the beans on what happens when kids make their own gingerbread house kits (what happens is cuteness)

Jewelry and Beading has a neat post on how to make rosary beads

Tangled Thread shares how she made her own Christmas ornaments and sewed sequins on for finishing

And She Knows Parties shows us how to recreate peppermint candy shops – What’s so nice about this one is how you can customize it to make it uniquely yours

Image: Photos.com

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Want to take better pictures of your knitting?

Del — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:33:11 +0000

If you have your own blog or Flickr page, you might want to take better photos. There are a ton of knitting blogs out there and some of the most popular and memorable contain gorgeous photography.

Light is a big factor in taking great pictures, but you can’t always rely on natural sunlight. What if you have a rainy week? What if you don’t get home to take photos until it’s dark?

I found this tutorial on how to take detailed photos of your knitting. It shows you how to make a lightbox and how to use your camera to your best advantage. With a little time, patience and practice, you can dramatically improve how your pictures appear. Which in turn may make your blog more popular and memorable.

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Ravelry killed my knitting journal

Del — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:09:32 +0000

When Ravelry hit the craft scene, it caused a sensation. There was some controversy (it was “clique-y”, why did you have to be invited in, etc.), but it has definitely changed the online world of knitting and crocheting.

While there was some buzzing that Ravelry led to the demise of some craft blogs, that may have happened to some bloggers anyway. Blogging is still evolving, after all. What Ravelry did kill for me was my knitting journal.

A few years back, I bought this nifty little journal and I treated it like my knitting diary of sorts. I recorded what I wanted to work on, what I was working on and the yarn I used, needle size, yarn care, whether I liked the yarn, etc.

Hmmm….all things you can now do at Ravelry…but with pictures!

Needless to say, my knitting journal is gathering dust on my bookshelf. Sorry, journal, but Ravelry makes it so easy to record this same information (the only thing I can’t do is tape my ball band and yarn sample to it) as well as share it.

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