Weekend WIPs – Sweaters

This weekend I was actually more productive than usual. I finished up not one but TWO long standing works-in-progress. Two sweaters, both Doris Chan designs.

The first is a light, lacy cotton sweater that I started way back in early August. In fact, it was mostly finished some time in September but I procrastinated on weaving in the ends and sewing on buttons. And, ok, I still didn’t sew on any buttons but I probably wouldn’t button it anyway. Plus, it’s summery so I have time ;)

IMG_2876.JPGIMG_2877.JPGIMG_2875.JPG

The second sweater is one I started in mid-September with the intention of it being a comfy everyday cardigan that I could wear all winter. It’s crocheted with a burgundy tweed yarn, a blend of wool, alpaca, cashmere, rayon and acrylic. It was a little scratchy and dense as I worked with it but after blocking the stitches opened up and the fibers became softer and squishier. It turned out to be exactly the cozy daily sweater I hoped it would be.

IMG_2873.JPGIMG_2870.JPG

A Scarf and A Solution

After reviewing my options and deliberating for a while about my camera issues I decided to go ahead and check out the Eye-Fi wireless memory card. It really is amazing, It will upload your photos directly from your camera to your computer and/or the internet. I’m still learning the ins and outs of it (it only just arrived on my doorstep a few hours ago) but I’ve figured out how to get selected photos uploaded to Flickr directly from our Canon Rebel. It’s a great solution because:

  • I didn’t have to buy a new camera or phone
  • I won’t have to pay for any kind of data plan
  • It allows me to not only use a camera we already have but to really learn how to take amazing photos with a nice DSLR
  • I can use it without any hassle of cables or editing software (unless I want to)

And so, here is my initial experiment: Photos of my latest finished object, a knit ripple scarf in Chroma.

IMG_2867.JPGIMG_2869.JPG

This was a really easy pattern, originally designed to be a cowl but I decided to make it a longer scarf. I used three skeins of Chroma Worsted and it is a truly dreamy yarn. It’s so very fluffy and soft and gets even softer as you work with it.

WiFi Camera Search 2012

In addition to what I listed earlier, I’ve found these options:

Sony Bloggie Touch/Sony Bloggie Live – this is pretty cool but more suited for video than photos. Plugs directly into your computer with a flip out USB attachment (no cable). 3″ touchscreen, 12MP. Touch goes for $130 and Live for $250.

Flip – No longer sold

ViviCam T132 – Can’t find any info on where/how to buy this one

Or maybe I should just go the cell phone route. Many of them have 8MP cameras now and of course have wifi and 4G/3G. I haven’t done this yet because switching to a smartphone will about double our monthly phone bill. Sure, we can probably find room in the budget for it but we have wifi pretty much everywhere we go so don’t really need 4G and could use that money elsewhere. BUT, if it will keep me blogging enough to make a valid business out of this, MAYBE it will pay for itself…

iPhone 4s - 8MP, iCloud (which I love), 3G, pretty sweet all around

Samsung Galaxy S II, Epic - 8MP, Allshare (sounds basically like iCloud), 4G, has some really nice photo features (white balance, focus, ISO settings, metering, etc.) Not sure if iPhone does this.

OR… ok, my brother just let me in on this secret and OMG this may just be the answer!

Eye-Fi - WiFi SD cards! Stick one into a compatible camera (which includes our nice DSLR, though not my cheap old point and shoots) and it will send your photos to your computer, ipad, ipod, iphone or android. Runs around $40-$90 on Amazon depending on what model you need. Has anyone tried this?

I may just have to try this since it’s definitely the cheapest option and I can use the camera we already have. I will read/think more about it and report back :)

I swear I’ll get back to regularly scheduled crochet and knit content ASAP.

iPod Photos – Not So Great

So my neat-o device that I was hoping would streamline my blogging is the latest iPod Touch. Turns out it’s not so great. It seems as if it’s an iPhone without the phone but that’s just not true. The iPhone has an amazing camera (8mp if I’m not mistaken) but the iPod has nothing close to that. It’s basically a webcam so, paired with the sub par lighting in my house,  the photos are not really satisfactory for blogging purposes.

For example, here is the crochet sweater that I’m working on. You can see that I unraveled the ribbing on one of the sleeves. I need to add a little length and I think it will work out as is. I don’t think I’ll have to unravel to above the elbow to change the decreases. But the photo is pretty crappy:

Sweater

So, the iPod might be going back and I’m looking into digital cameras with built-in wifi. It’s amazing how far behind camera manufacturers are with this technology. They really need to step it up if they want to compete with everyone’s phones. I’ve only been able to find 3 compact digital cameras with wifi capabilities. I will share my research here and maybe it will help some of you as well.

Nikon Coolpix S610c: I’m not sure this is even available to buy. On the website it is listed as “archived” with no pricing or availability information. It is 10Mp with a 3″ touchscreen. Amazon is selling it for $305 (but why isn’t Nikon selling it?)

Samsung SH100: The only one I actually found reviews on. It seems it’s a nice little camera that takes decent photos but some people complained that the touch interface was cludgy. I think I could deal with that though. It is a 14MP cam with a 3″ touchscreen. Sells for $180 on Samsung’s website but Amazon sells it for as little as $99.

Kodak Easyshare M750: Looks pretty nice but will not be on the market until March or April. Kodak has been doing “Easyshare” for a while but this will be their first wifi version. It is a 16MP cam with a 3″ touchscreen and will sell for $170 at Kodak or Amazon.

All of these charge through USB or a regular outlet (no AA batteries!) I believe. They all take HD video too. I’m going to continue to read about these and see if there are any other options. If you know of any, or have any other advice, please share!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Older posts «