Fiberly One

Smariek Knits asked how I get the white backgrounds on my images and as with many things in blog-land I’ve been slow to respond, but here goes.

I use Photoshop to process my images on my Mac. I’m ex-Adobe, so that’s what I have and I know, but if you use another program, perhaps you can adapt some of the steps and processes. This isn’t a tutorial on Photoshop; I’m not that good. But there are great tutorials online. Searching on Google for images and definitions for the tools, I found Photoshop Lab and SimplePhotoshop.com.

When possible try to take the digital picture against a background with sharp contrast and/or with as few similar colors as my project.

Use different tools to select either the project or the stuff around the project, then delete the background. The idea is to grab as much of the background creating an outline, without selecting too much of the content from the project. With Contiguous checked, experiment with Tolerance, choose the Magic Wand tool to select batches of color in the background. To add to the selection, hold the shift key down, click on a different section. If too much of the project is selected, reduce the Tolerance number. Once there’s a pretty good outline of the project, use the Marquee to select big sections of the background that the Magic Wand.

To select the project instead of the background under the Select Menu choose Inverse.

The arrow below points to where some of the hat has been grabbed along with the background, so the Lasso tool can be used to add the little bit back into the project. Don’t forget to hold down the shift key. If at any time, you do forget to hold down the shift key, you can Undo.*

Next Copy the project and paste. A new layer will be created. In the Layers window make the background layer invisible.

Using the Zooming in and using the Eraser tool , clean up any extra backgroud pixels or edges that you don’t like. Crop the image to remove extra white space. Depending on the original size of the image, you also may want to reduce the image size.

My last step is to add a drop shadow under Layer Style in the Layer menu, and this is the result.

This is Evelyn Clark’s Crusher Hat, crocheted from Puppy Leafy yarn on a size H hook. I needed an instant gratification project. Now what to do with the remaining 6 skeins…

*Alternatley, the Lasso tool can be used to outline the project. In my Googling, I also found another, probably more precise method of removing the background at GraphicSoft.

Sometime ago I started Mondnacht, a lace shawl from one of the many Japanese knitting and crochet books I’ve acquired. I didn’t make a lot of progress because there are no pattern repeats in the entire shawl, so it requires that I really pay attention, so I gave it up – at least for a while. So I decided to start another Japanese pattern. This time it’s a crochet shrug pattern from one Let’s Knit 15 that I picked up in Seattle last month. I started it last week and have made a fair bit of progress. It was started in the middle back and crocheted to the left sleeve, which I’ve completed. Then stitches were picked up for the right side. The yarn is another “aged” stash yarn. It’s 50/50 rayon/cotton and a bit stiff. I’m hoping it softens when it’s washed, something I won’t know till I finish, since, I did do a swatch, but didn’t think keep it and wash it.

In the meantime, I continue to work on the Alpine lace scarf. I’ve gotten a rhythm going and am mostly pleased with the progress. Notice the smaller ball? That’s about half of what I pulled out when I noticed a mistake in the border. I spent a day contemplating whether to leave it (“No one would really see it…”) but in the end it would probably nag me, so about 14 inches came out. The pulling out and picking back up wasn’t so traumatic, but the untangling and rewinding was a bit of a chore.

Then new VK arrived. What lovely lace patterns! I really need a formal event so I have an excuse to make the Mari Tobita’s skirt or the dress by Shirley Paden.
 

On the other hand, even though it’s featured as part of the wedding spread, the cardigan by Simone Merchant-Dest is definitely doable, as is the tank by Magumi Harai. And I like Kristen TenDyke’s lace top.
  

And there were some non-lace patterns that caught my eye, as well, like Mari Lynn Patrick’s colorwork top and Vladimir Terokhin’s raglan pullover.
 

I think I need longer days…

I think I really knew I was going to run out of yarn on the shrug (see below) and I’d just picked up the March 2008 issue of Crochet! so I decided to make the Ruffled Lace scarf. At least I’d be able to finish something.

Made from Interlacements Alabama yarn acquired at Stitches West 2002. It took about 235 yards.

Though she won’t see this and you can’t email her any greetings, it bears noting that today is my mom’s 81st birthday. Currently, she lives in Sun City West, AZ, but we are working hard to change that. After four years of “Absolutely not!” in August after spending a week of al fresco lunches and dinners, she seemed to soften her stance. So we set out to find a nice place for her to move not too far from us, address all possible objections and present it all to her at Christmas.

So far the words “I’m moving” haven’t been spoken, but in February we head south to help fix the little house deficiencies and, with luck, she’ll sign with the realtors, referred by Dianne and the decision will be made.

In the meantime, I’ve been single-mindedly working on her birthday gift which is more appropriate to Pacific NW winters than desert SW, but when I saw the picture in the November/December issue of Crochet Today! it screamed “Mom!” It’s my second crochet project and, as expected there was plenty of un-crocheting, but I do have to admit, even for a novice, crochet seems to grow much more quickly than knitting. Though in the end I still prefer knitting, it’s nice to be able to decipher crochet patterns now; it opens up lots of options.

This should have arrived on her doorstep yesterday and hopefully she likes it. It was crocheted using Elann Highland Wool yarn in color Redwood.

Mom and me

As I finally get back to this thing we call blogging, I took a look at what I accomplished on the fiberly front. I did so many more things in my head than I did for real, I still think I did pretty well.

Last Christmas I promised to make Tom at least one shirt each month. In part, the idea was to reduce the stash of dog fabric. Although I admit I did augment the stash, I think I did put a very small dent in it having made 26 shirts – 11 in August for our 25th Anniversary. I finished the last shirts of the year over the weekend.
 

Although I planned to sew for myself, most of the 15 sewn projects ended up being gifts, including a set of placemats for Dianne, a jacket, top and pants for my mom, and bag for Tom’s aunt Flossie. Tom’s Christmas present was a Simplicty 3890 jacket sewn from wool we picked up at the Pendleton Woolen Mills outlet in Milwaukie. And I made a jacket for one of Tom’s nieces.

McCalls 5479; Fabric Mart wool blend fabric

Mostly I knit–20 projects, in total. I started (and finished) Michelle Rose Orne’s capelet from Vogue Knitting Winter 2006, as a gift, but changed my mind about the giftee.

Instead, I put my newly learned crochet skills to the test and made the Chrysantemum lace shawl from Amazing Crochet Lace: New Fashions Inspired by Old-Fashioned Lace by Doris Chan from Muench Tahoe (stash) yarn.

Looking at the bigger picture of my fiberly pursuits, I guess I can’t complain—but I still want to do more next year! To see all the sewing, knitting, and crochet projects – except shirts – plus a couple of other endeavors click here.

Oh yes and
Happy New Year!

Don’t forget your black-eyed peas.

I really have to stay off this computer and not go to bookstores. It started with Japanese knitting and now it’s Japanese lace crochet.

We had some time to kill before going over to Flossie’s house to plan Thanksgiving so we went to Uwajamiya which houses Kinokuniya. I came home with four books–three crochet and one knit. And now I’m obsessing about crocheted lace.

 
 
ISBN: 978-4529042246

 
 
ISBN: 978-4277171885

ISBN: 978-4529024129

ISBN: 978-4277113854

And on order from YesAsia
 
ISBNs: 978-4529044431 and 978-4529044349

I have to admit some frustration with the Mom capecho and with the body finished, and the collar to go, so I decided to set the project aside for awhile. I needed something that I could finish so I pulled out the Gold Nugget Shawl and finished it. I am always amazed at the transformation lace makes after it’s been washed and blocked. As I knit the shawl and looked at the pattern, I thought, “This isn’t going to be anything like Shui’s beautiful shawl.” But lo and behold through the magic of blocking it became something entirely different and lovely. It took exactly one ball, with a yard to spare, and it measures 48″ wide and 24″ long.

 

Next, I decided to try my hand at crocheting something. Since it was my first crochet project, instead of diving into one of the lovely patterns in the Japanese knitting books, I thought it would be good to start in English, and probably something not-too-complicated. To that end, I found the Off the Grid scarf on Knitting Daily, chose stash Crystal Palace Romance yarn in a mustardy color and crocheted away.

Since the Mom capecho is a bust for now, the Dressing Gown needed to be finished. I have contacted two knitters who finished the shorter Bed Jacket version to get a handle on interpreting the very poorly written collar instructions, since the publisher/author never responded. Both admitted to having a problem with the instructions, which tell you to start the collar before sewing up the shoulders, but they did manage to finish and told me the process; in theory it was straightforward. I started the collar as written. I can read and I understand knitting instructions, but as I read the collar instructions, the short rows would make a half collar. So in frustration, I gave up and decided to knit a lace collar, but I couldn’t find a pattern.

Then I remembered the cover of the Fall 2006 Interweave Crochet I’d bought because it had combination knitting and crochet patterns. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and wing it with the Pineapple Lace. It took three tries to get the foundation pattern done right, but I did and even though I didn’t count the stitches (it’s a long way around the gown), it all worked out. I decided to stop at the eighth row in the pattern for fear of running out of yarn and the robe is pretty heavy as it is. For the cuffs I just did the first four pattern rows.

Next on the agenda involves much pointier needles—Christmas sewing.