Knit Nation - 15-17 July 2011

I am so excited!  I managed to snag myself a place on a specific class at this year's Knit Nation taking place 15 - 17 July at Imperial College.

I liked the description of many classes but didn't feel that I would get lots out of them.  I am happy enough to look for info about things I don't know yet, either online or by asking others.  But there is one class that I would give my eye tooth for!  (Whatever that might be)

I registered to do the 'Photographing your Fibre' class on Sunday given by Franklin Habit.  I immediately wanted to do this class because it would be very useful (I'd love to take better pictures for my Ravelry projects page) - and the description of the class convinced me further: I really, really, really want to do this! Badly.

The course info includes:
"...learn the basics of lighting, depth of field, styling and common fiber-photography problems like capturing true color, capturing stitch definition, and photographing lace. We will also learn how to make a light tent at home, cheap! You don’t need fancy equipment to make good photographs–the emphasis will be on getting the best possible images using your camera."

Tips on making a light tent at home!!  How completely, absolutely, totally fabulous is that?  I am over the moon!

I like the fact that students are to bring their own camera (so there must be some practice involved! And you learn with the camera you'll be using) and a project or two (boy, I can think of loads! It'll definitely have to be one black one, very difficult, and a funny colour like pink: for the trueness).  I am very keen on any tips to do with capturing stitch definition too - my favourite method of taking pictures involves taking lots of pics at as many angles as I can think of, in preferably day light, keep fingers tightly crossed and hope for the best!  Things have improved somewhat since I discovered the 'macro' setting on my camera, oops...

So I was already very excited about getting a place, about going to Knit Nation for the first time, and about what I was going to learn.  And then I finally got round to investigating the website a bit more, and my little beady eyes fell on some more information on Franklin Habit himself:

"Franklin is a writer, illustrator, photographer and author of It Itches: A Stash of Knitting Cartoons (Interweave Press, 2008). You can read his musings, essays, cartoons, and the adventures of Dolores the Sheep on his blog www.the-panopticon.blogspot.com Franklin has contributed to Yarn Market News, Interweave Knits, Interweave Crochet, PieceWork, Cast On: A Podcast for Knitters, Twist Collective, and writes a regular column on historic knitting patterns for Knitty.com."

Oh my gosh, I'm about to faint!  I've only been subscribed to The Panopticon's blog for utterly ages!  Love that blog.  I can't believe it's the same person!  (I still remember the blog post about 'fingering weight', look it up if you want a full-throated belly laugh, too funy for words...)
How do I luck into things like that?

I am just so excited, I literally can't contain myself!

Hurrah for a 'Tier 5 Creative Worker Sponsorship Certificate' whatever that might be, which makes it possible for him to teach in the UK.  Blog post on his Upcoming Events here.

- - -

I just looked at the list of vendors as well:

Artisan Yarns, Atomic Knitting, Blacker Designs & Yarns, Brownberry Yarns, Cocoknits, Debonnaire, Easyknits, GMC Publishing, Great British Yarns, Habu Textiles, Jeanette Sloan, John Arbon Textiles, Juno Fibre Arts, Knitting Magazine, Krafty Koala, Loop Knitting, NicsKnots, Nimu, Old Maiden Aunt, Purl Alpaca Designs, Renaissance Dyeing, Skein Queen, Sparkleduck, StitchMastery Knitting Software, Susan Crawford Vintage, Sweet Clement, Tall Yarns'n'Tales, The Bothered Owl, The Little Knitting Company, The Natural Dye Studio, The Yarn Yard, Twisted Angle, Well Manor Farm, Woolly Wormhead, Yarn Box, Ysolda

Some of these sound fascinating and I'm looking forward to checking them out!  I know Sweet Clement, Skein Queen, Artisan Yarns, The Bothered Owl and some other better known ones, - they do great stuff!  They really do.  There are some others that I heard of and I am very curious to check them out.  It'll be great!

- - -

The one project photo that I like best, is this one.  It is, of course, a complete fluke that it came out like that:

It was taken outside in day light, during a break in the rain - those bricks that I placed my project on were still pretty wet!  It was taken quite close up and I am not sure if the light wasn't a bit odd or not (what with the rain only just letting up a bit).  I was very surprised that the background came out as dark as it is.  The true colour of those bricks isn't like that at all, they are much lighter.  The yarn in real life is bright white - there is a hint of a creamy tinge in this.

I am so happy that I managed to get a place!  At 19:59 today I was sat hitting the refresh button to get to the registration page as quickly as possible and I was flying through the registration process - and it worked!  I have my confirmation email (I am still pinching myself to be honest!).
I am so very pleased, it's going to be very, very good!

I can't wait!