just maryse

A 2013 Retrospective

2013 seems to have gone by so fast, but when I look back to January 1, 2013, that day seems so long ago. a lot has happened since then. i had goals then. did i achieve them? hmmm let's take a look, shall we?

1. walk 500 miles.  yeah this didn't happen. I started but the cold kept me inside. and then the excuses. and then i just didn't feel like it. and i didn't care. i just thought i was lazy. i mentioned these feelings to a new doctor, and how distracted i felt, and how i just didn't seem to care anymore. a new prescription and some chatting time and what once was "someday i will do X," became "someday i will do X, I'm going to do it right now."  i am still the same person. the one who would rather knit or play games on the couch or do both at the same time, but simple every day things that should be easy, don't feel like climbing a mountain for me anymore. 

2. keep at it with WW and go to meetings. ha! yeah this also didn't happen. see above.

3. i want to publish 8 patterns.  this was a ridiculous goal. not because 8 is a crazy number but because, i just am not all that interested in publishing stuff. yeah i get a thrill when i see my work out there in the real world. but pattern writing is tedious and boring and i'd rather just make stuff, than write out the pattern. and honestly, there are 100s of designers who are a hell of a lot more talented than i am. phew. i feel so much better having said that.  ha!

but two of my designs did make it out into the real world via Crochet at Home edited by Brett Bara for Interweave. They made the cover even!

 

The Blooming Potholders (above) and the Happy Hexagon afghan (below).

 the afghan is probably my favorite of all of the projects i have ever designed. i don't usually toot my own horn, but I was really happy with it. 

4. i got a new camera. the nikon D7000 and it is lovely.  but unlike my D80 and D90, there are all sorts of new features and controls that i need to learn about.  hence the manual in the photo. i'm reading that mof0 if it kills me. heh. no official photo project this year, but it's time to get a portfolio together so that i can make a little $$ at this  hobby.  Well i read the manual. and i learned a lot. it didn't kill me. and then i promptly lost my photo mojo. so no portfolio. no special photo a day project, etc. i did try my hand at making a little cash by doing some knitwear photography. (thanks julia!)

no worries,  i'm not ready to quit my day job. mostly because,  knitwear designers don't want to pay someone to take photographs of their designs. most think they can do just as well on their own. i think very few can. but whatever. so be it.

5. related to this, i'd like to make this website look a little better and more useful. didn't happen and probably won't. its not a priority.

6. there's the potholder swap coming up.  more info on that in the coming weeks. this did happen.  and i think it may happen again this year. i have to check in with my fellow potholder swappers before i can be sure. 

 

7. find a new job. yeah this is a goal that i have no choice but to work on. i have to pay for all of the things some how ;) ha! this also didn't happen, but definitely will need to happen this year. I got several reprieves and continued to work through the year. part-time since August 1. can i just say that 3 day work weeks are pretty awesome?

yeah so if i based whether 2013 was a success or not, on whether i achieved my goals, i'd be 1 in 7. or if i'm being generous, 1.5 in 7. but i feel better about my future than i have in years. so for that reason 2013 wasn't so bad.

i have goals for 2014 but i think i'll keep them to myself this time.

have a safe new year's eve every one.  i'll see you on the other side.

Eye Candy Friday

for macro may.

 

these were all taken with a 4+ filter attached to a 50mm 1.8 lens.

 

Macro May!

oh April, where did you go?

so tomorrow is May 1 and that's the first day of Macro May.  this is year 5 and to play along all you have to do is take as many macros as you can and post them in the flickr Macro May group.

 

technically a macro is a photo where the actual object being photographed is smaller than it appears in the photograph.  traditionally we see lots of macros of flowers and insects.  but it's fun to take macros of every day things.  it's a great way to get out of photo taking rut.

you don't need fancy equipment either. a lot of point and shoots have a macro setting - the icon on nikon cameras is a flower.  and you can get macro lenses for your iphone.  google "macro photography phone" and a bunch of links pop up with ideas. 

if you have a DSLR like i do, there are of course plenty of macro lenses you can use, but they can be kind of spendy. a fun alternative and so much more friendly to the wallet are macro filters.  i have a set and think they can be a lot of fun. 

i was going to give you some links but c'mon you guys can google that shit ;).

anyway! play along! it's fun!

 

It's a Wrap

it's a slow process to build up any kind of business especially when you are like me and don't try very hard. heh. but sometime in January, Julia of MothHeaven asked me if I would be interested in shooting her latest design. before I could give myself a chance to chicken out, i said yes. and we made a plan.

Mindy is a cardigan/jacket with all sorts of cable-y goodness. it was a lot of fun to shoot because of all of the fantastic details.  some of my favorites:

 

i love the back cables. could be my favorite thing about this sweater. 

 

i also really like the back collar. you can wear it up or down, but i definitely prefer it up especially if you've got a nice long neck like julia here.

this one's one of my favorites of julia. i doesn't show the sweater as well, but she looks lovely. i think anyway.

this one i know is horrible. i didn't even bother editing it because there was no way i was going to use it. but it is funny. and it does document the one injury we had on the shoot. photography is dangerous! and that switchgrass crap behind her is sharp, yo.

anyway, that's about it.

have a good weekend everyone!

My First Official Photoshoot

i've been thinking of doing this for quite some time. like i said in my Goals for 2013 post, it's time that I use my fancy camera equipment for something more than shooting my stash and FOs for ravelry.  so i want to thank amy aka Spunky Eclectic for being my guinea pig.  (i've taken photos of friends for headshots and such, but this was first official paying gig). 

we went out early and it was cold.  so so cold. but we had a good time and amy was a good sport. i only wish she hadn't been wearing that damn hoodie.  heh. 

SPA 2013 was fun of course. there was eating, and shopping and knitting and crocheting (i finished my first design prototype of 2013) and chatting with friends. it was much too short though.

oh well. back to work.

 

 

Mid-January

the family is finally gone. we had a nice visit in spite of my whining. i know i'm a horrible person. i shouldn't be this way. but let me tell you. it's hard watching your parents grow old, and sometimes it makes you so sad inside that whining is preferable to crying. anyway, my time and space is my own now, as it should be, and i only have to share it with j.  heh.

my excuses for not working on my goals gone, i'm kind of behind schedule of course. but one doesn't change engrained behaviors from one day to the next. plus it's january. and well. it's hard getting up in the morning.

i'm back to being crafty. i've closed the computer a bit, put down the ipad and started working on crafty things.

 

my first spinning of the year. it looks wonky but it'll knit up fine.

 

socks that were started awhile ago in 2012 but are close to being done.

 

an old blanket perfect for napping.

a fiber crafter is back.

Goals for 2013

after doing some ruminating over the past few days, i've come up with some goals for the year. lately i've been thinking that maybe i cut myself a little too much slack. i lack focus. and that would be fine if i didn't care whether i was accomplishing anything or not in my non-work life. but i do want to get stuff done. so i wrote some things down.

1. walk 500 miles.  this is a big goal for me since i'm pretty sedentary now. but it's a measureable, concrete goal, that doesn't expose me to humiliation like signing up for a 5K might. but it's one i can make happen.

2. keep at it with WW and go to meetings. i joined December 1 and i've lost 4.5 lbs.  considering that this was during the holidays with my family  visiting and i'm pretty stressed out right now i'm happy with my progress. i also like my meeting leader. she's funny and smart and sensible and moves the meeting along with humor.  again, going to meetings is something i can control.

3. i want to publish 8 patterns.  the number 8 sounds rather arbitrary but i read about it here. 8 is supposed to be good luck.  i have 2 patterns coming out in the spring already. i will decide later if those are included in the final tally.  heh.

4. i got a new camera. the nikon D7000 and it is lovely.  but unlike my D80 and D90, there are all sorts of new features and controls that i need to learn about.  hence the manual in the photo. i'm reading that mof0 if it kills me. heh. no official photo project this year, but it's time to get a portfolio together so that i can make a little $$ at this  hobby.

5. related to this, i'd like to make this website look a little better and more useful.

6. there's the potholder swap coming up.  more info on that in the coming weeks.

7. find a new job. yeah this is a goal that i have no choice but to work on. i have to pay for all of the things some how ;)

so that's it for now.

 happy new year to all of you.

 

Rhinebeck 2012

this was my 6th year at Rhinebeck and I will come right out and say it.  OMG SO CROWDED!  the beer tent line was long.  THE BEER TENT LINE IS NEVER LONG.  well, it was also crazy warm which could have explained why the line was so long.  i'm the weirdo that likes drinking beer on sunny, cold days. i think it reminds me of being at a Fall football game. so had it not been so hot, maybe i would have had the beer tent to myself. heh.

anyway, it was super crowded which means that i didn't get to see all the things. or i did, but only once. my classic rhinebeck technique is to stroll through the barns, see everything once, and then go back and shop. but i really didn't get to shop.

i didn't come home empty handed though.  i purchased some earrings from jennie the potter (by the way, "the potter" is not her last name.  file that under "things i learn at rhinebeck.") and i got to chat with her. she is pretty fantastic even if she didn't make some of the most adorable pottery i've ever seen. i also got a copy of ann weaver's latest pattern book, White Whale, Volume II.  It's so new that she doesn't even have it posted on her website yet.  anyway, it's beautiful. I love ann's stuff.  I also picked up a couple of other books. I like books. oh and cheese. I like cheese.

of course, you'll read about this over and over again if you are following the blogs. rhinebeck is mostly about the people. and you can tell i had an awesome time because i took virtually no photos. i had my camera with me, but it never occured to me to pull it out. (heh, pull it out).

 

 

yep, that's pretty much it. trees and a couple of alpacas. but i was too busy hanging with my people, meeting new ones, chatting, eating, drinking, running around, and laughing. the laughing was good.

 

More Photos from France

here are a few more.

 

 

and a few more in flickr.

 

I'm back!

i got back last saturday night but it feels like it was ages ago.  work was busy, i had many appointments and the mini was feeling under the weather so i had to take her in for service.  as for vacation, it was crazy busy and included massive amounts of sight seeing because we showed the nephew around.

who knew that keeping an 18 year old boy amused would be so challenging? like i told his mother, he's either having a good time, or he's being tortured to death, it's hard to tell.  but overall i think he enjoyed himself and like i said in my earlier post, he really is an awesome kid so i really enjoyed spending time with him (we ganged up on his uncle a lot so that was fun).

i did take some photos and i'm editing them right now in batches.  if you are interested in seeing some, i've started posting them in flickr. i'll keep posting throughout the next few of days.

 

head crushing at the louvre

anyway, vacation is always great, but it's good to be home.

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sorry about changing the comment features. i got a shit ton of spam comments and as much as i hate having to moderate, i felt i had no choice.  damn spammers.