Emily Quinton Make Light Photography Course

For two weeks in October I have registered to take part in Makelight Photography course for Knitting and Crotchet.  

The course I have taken part in is an online one over two weeks as opposed to a day course that Emily also offers.

The first task was to take an image of your knitting.

I have teamed this up with another course I'm doing run by Joeli Kitchen Designer Bootcamp.

For me it's an incredible opportunity to learn more about designing which is my love and incredibly the course is free. Joeli is an amazing and supportive teacher.

So my first image encompasses my sketchbook and knitting that I will be using.

Our photography workshop is teaching us to try and portray a story with our images and find a style that suits us.

The image of the flower I like as I love the vivid purple against the green and the seedheads showing the end of the flowering season.

The brickwall depicts the fact that this wall was painted with anti climb paint and yet people have tried to climb it and I love the shades of browns and blacks.

Today Day Three of the course I took an image of my current wip crotchet blanket I am making for my son.  It is a basket I use everyday and I love it.

This image is a close-up showing the lace and stitch detail along with the 10mm buttons used.  The pattern is my design called Coming Together Shawl.

Next on the lesson from Emily we are learning about composition.  I personally like images that are not too "fussy".

This image is my swatch I am working on for the next project.

Then we move onto the Rule of thirds.

Their are many helpful sites on the net but this is a quick overview.

The first of my two images were taken on a dog walk in the local park where I spot the solitary Dog Rose in amongst the berries on the bush.

The second image was me wanting to capture a close-up of my knitting against the still flowering Rose in my garden.

To finish the week I took the some images firstly on the morning dog walk of sheep's fleece blowing in the wind.

Then spurred on from seeing lovely images from fellow Instagram friends I decided to head out to my favourite local Cotswold town of Winchcombe.

Initially on my walk down to Sudley Castle I noticed a wide variety of mushrooms growing in the grass verge.  I do love mushrooms, they so make me think of Pixie's and Fairies.

I then decided to walk part of the Cotswold Way around the outskirts of the castle and came into a field to my pleasure they had four Alpaca's of varying colours.

Oh my goodness softness does not even cover it!!

I then found a perfect log and decided to sit down, get out the knitting and enjoy the amazing setting.

After half an hour I was starting to get a little chilly, but I guess it is mid October so not really surprising.

So I headed off around the town to have a look at the scenery.

Winchcombe is so so pretty, from lovely allotments to gorgeous quaint buildings.

I hope you have enjoyed my week.  Please feel free to leave any comment.

Until next time...

Joeli Kitchen Designer Bootcamp

At the beginning of October Joeli set up an online free course that is open to anyone to join.

It is an incredible opportunity for anyone who would like to be able to design their own pattern.  It can be anything you want and with her guidance each week she shows you through the process.

With the aid of an app that I had not previously used called Periscope Joeli posts a live video that you can asks questions, whilst she is broadcasting then the link stays live for 24 hours for viewers to watch.

In the initial week Joeli encourages us to Swatch and get some ideas flowing with yarn choices, needle gauge, stitch definition that we would like to use.

For me personally I have approached this Bootcamp in a different way and delved back into my past knowledge when I studied Knitwear Design at De Montfort University.

I tend to start off with an initial inspiration which this time for me was the yarn I will be using.

I have used Triskelion Yarn on many of my own projects and have a love of the colours that Caerthan produces.  His eye for colour and the blends that he uses are just amazing.

The colour I am using is called Freo.  It is a blend of 50% Blue Faced Leicester and 50% Baby Suri Alpaca.

My next plan was to start thinking of inspiration.  As we are now in full throws of Autumn here I decided to turn to the countryside whilst walking the dogs for ideas.

From just one walk I collected this amazing abundance of beautiful coloured and different shaped leaves, so this was a good starting point.

I then got out my trusty sketchbook and have started to draw out ideas and with the help of Pinterest which I use a great deal for many different reasons, be it personal storing of family images, to getting inspiration, or keeping a record of designers work I follow.  I find it such a great tool to access.

So I shall be busy now starting with my swatching and seeing what develops.