Pinspiration

I discovered Pinterest a little while ago, and I'm kinda addicted.  I've found all sorts of lovely ideas there and I'm using one or two for Christmas presents.  Today I've finished some gingerbread biscuit kits for for my prayer triplet (which is now 4 of us).

So that gave me an excuse to play with A's camera to see if I can get some better pictures than I've managed before...

I followed the tips on the recipe website and used extra flour (about 250g).  The test biscuits I made beforehand were yummy!  I may well make another batch to take to work.

I've enjoyed the idea of making a present for someone which they can then use to make something nice.  These 3 friends are all good in the kitchen and I think they'll appreciate something they can just throw together quite easily. And it means they can choose when to make and eat these treats - perhaps in January when they're ready for something nice in the long nights.

Capturing the creativity (or not!)

Still knitting the scarves...

and pleased that I'm making some progress.  I've started on the 2nd half of the Red Leafy Scarf, which means I'm on the lace part again (concentration required!) and I think I'm over half-way on the Any Yarn Scarf.  I'm not sure how long to make it yet, but I guess the straight part will be somewhere between a third and half of the total length.  So far so good anyway.

But my musing this week is around how to get good pictures of my projects...  I took this photo with an iPhone4, which has sometimes given me spectacular photos and sometimes just doesn't know how to focus. And on other projects it's worked well, but for these two I don't think I've managed a sharp image yet.  I've tried different backdrops and different flash conditions or focal points, but I can't get a clear picture to show the stitch pattern.  It's a shame, because the enjoyment of these scarves is partly in the detail of the patterns.

I don't have a "proper" camera to play with (maybe I should ask Santa!) but I've had success with my phone before.  So I've got some ideas to try...

- wait for daylight (weekends only at the moment, and sometimes not even then!)

- try creating a plain backdrop with a sheet of material to give a clear contrast

- wait until the scarves are finished and blocked so the definition is more obvious

- borrow my husband's camera so I can put it on a small tripod (I'm not always confident I've kept the phone steady)

- spend more time browsing other blogs to see what clever tricks other people have used

- I'd like to be able to get a good close-up as well... 

I'll just have to keep practising.