Men Who Knit Promoting and inspiring the art of knitting amongst men.

Norræna hættuspil, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 28th December 2009
Finish: 13th January 2010
Needles: 3 mm Addi Lace for ribbing and 4 mm Addi Turbo for the rest
Yarn: Schachenmayr Nomotta "Shetland Alpaka"; 50% new wool, 25% baby alpaca, 25% mohair; Colours #9225 (natural, lot #6535), #9211 (light brown, lot #6532), #9293 (dark brown, lot #6533), #9262 (light blue, lot #6537) - 9 skeins of the natural colour, otherwise one skein each
Pattern: "Pullover in Karisma Superwash" from Garnstudio Drops Design
Modifications: Won't be making the turtle-neck, but instead make it a round-neck, since the yarn is too scratchy for bare skin. Knitting the children's size for fit, but lengthening everything using the adult's small size.
Name: "Norræna hættuspil" is Icelandic and should mean "Nordic venture"

Smokin', originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 12th October 2009
Finish: 22nd October 2009
Needles: 6 mm / 80 cm Addi Turbos
Yarn: Schachenmayr Nomotta Extra Tweed; 95% wool, 5% viscose; colourway #0099 (Black); yarn held double; used up the totall of 18 balls (actually about 17 balls weight-wise).
Notions: 5 crescent horn buttons
Pattern: "Smokin'" by Jared Flood, aka Brooklyn Tweed; from the book "Son of Stitch 'n Bitch"
Size knitted: S
Modifications: Pockets are done by set-in pocket linings instead of just sewing the linings on to the outside of the jacket. I also replaced the leather cased buttons for crescent horn buttons instead.

Portland, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 31st January 2009
Finish: 10th October 2009
Needles: 4 mm / 80 cm Addi Lace and 4.5 mm / 60 cm Addi Turbos
Yarn: GGH "Cumba"; 42% new wool, 28% alpaca, 30% acrylic; Colour #001, dye lot #8072271; Used up 7 balls and a bit of the 8th ball in total
Pattern: "Portland" by Lisa Lloyd from the book "A Fine Fleece - Knitting with Handspun Yarns"
Modifications: Lengthened the sleeves and added back-neck shaping to the collar.

George, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 18th September 2009
Finish: 05th October 2009
Needles: 4 mm / 80 cm Addi Turbos
Yarns: GGH "Cumba"; 42% new wool, 28% alpaca, 30% acrylic; colours #014 (anthracite), #020 (turquoise)
Pattern: "George" by Jane Ellison in the Queensland Collection Book 9
Size: XS
Modifications: No turned-cuffs for the sleeves. CO less sts than required and then increased the sts. Knitted the edge band in one piece instead of dividing it. Also changed the buttonholes from the right-front to the left-front.

Alvin, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 05th August 2009
Finish: 17th September 2009
Needles: 4 mm / 80 cm Addi Turbos
Yarns: Filatura di Crosa "Zara"; 100% superwash merino; colours #1468 (grey) 4 balls, #1424 (navy blue) 3 balls and #1469 (anthracite) 1 ball
Pattern: "Alvin" by Jane Ellison in the Queensland Collection Book 9
Size: XS

Swallowtail Shawl, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

I do not consider myself a photographer. I don't have any flashy, fancy DSLR but rather just a simple handheld point-and-shoot 6 megapixel digital camera that is going in to its fourth year of service.

Ever since I have started knitting and documenting my projects with photos that I then use in my blogs, people have been commenting about my projects and how beautiful they are photographed. I'm absolutely flattered. But if you were to ask me how I do it, I would just shrug and say that I don't know, or that just try this out and try that out and something nice will come out of it. Honestly, I don't really know what I do.

Another compliment about my photography coupled with another recent comment about my photography style ("experimental" - something I have never thought about, but I reckon that it is pretty true to the point) have sparked up something in my mind and make me think about how I actually take photos, which in turns led me to write this entry.

So, I will try to explain the process that goes on in my head when I consider about "the photoshoot" and hopefully, this will eventually help and inspire other knitters out there for their photography. Please, bare in mind that I'm writing this according to my style of photography. It's not a law to take photos in the way that I do. Just consider this entry a mere guideline to how to make your lace project photography looks a bit more interesting. ;-)