Time to Knit!

Time to Knit!

In the last blog post I talked about how to do a slip-knot, how to cast-on, and also the basics of knitting.  In this blog post I am going to be refreshing some main points of knitting and also covering how to bind-off. 

Wait so how do you knit?

In the last blog post I did talk about the basics of knitting, but I am going to be talking about it briefly again.  There are two main techniques, the English method and the Continental method.  "Some people knit holding the yarn in their right hand, which is called the English method, while others hold it in their left hand, which is called Continental method.  Try both methods and experiment to see which suits you.  The most important thing is to be relaxed and comfortable."  (Turner 22).  I decided to go with the English method.  A few steps from the English method are the following, "Hold the needle with the cast-on stitches on it in your left hand and hold the working (empty) needle in your right hand, with the working yarn wound around the fingers of your right hand.  Holding the yarn in back of both needles, insert the right needle into the front of the first stitch on the left needle.  Your needles with form an X, with the right needle behind the left needle," (Turner 24).  I am not going to quote all of the instructions, but to summarize the rest of the English Method for knitting; you have to hold the cross needles between your fingers and then bring the needle from back to front and then down between the two needles.  After that pull the right needle toward the front and bring the new loop of yarn and wrap it around through the stitch on the needle and slip the old stitch off the left needle.  Then repeat the steps, (Turner 25).  I did those steps exactly and my progress is below.

                                             I think I'm ready to Bind-off

Ok So How do you Bind-off?

Binding-off is what you do when you are ready to finish a project.  "Binding off is what you do when you want to get your stitches off the needle permanently, without allowing them to unravel,"  (Turner 36) says the book "Knitting".  Also it says that you may bind off at the end of a project to finish it but also to finish an armhole or neck-hole in a garment.  I am going to bind-off knitwise.  The clear instructions in the book say the following, "On the bind-off row, knit until you have 2 stitches total on the right needle; then insert the left needle into the front of the first stitch knit on the right needle (that it, the rightmost stitch).  Pull the stitch over the second knit stitch and off the right needle.  You have bound off 1 stitch knitwise, and you have 1 stitch on the right needle.  Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you have bound off the desired number of stitches.  Cut the working yarn, leaving a long enough tail to weave in later, and pull it through the last loop on the needle," (Turner 36).  I did all of these instructions. 

I know it doesn't look very good, but that's because I am new to the skill and I will get better as the blog posts continue. 

So am I done?

Well let's look at my goals.  They were to continue knitting and to cast-off, which I did both.  I learned how to cast-off.  I have successfully completed my goals thanks to the book, "Knitting".  It clearly helped me master my goal of learning how to cast-off with the very clear instructions given in the book.  This will help me with this goal in my life of knitting and this hobby because learning how to cast-off (bind off) it will help me finish a project which is definitely needed if someone were wanting to knit.  Binding-off helps finish off a project.  If someone were going to give a person a knit scarf, say for a birthday, they need to know how to bind-off because they couldn't give a person a knit scarf with needles hanging on the end of the scarf.  Now that I know how to bind-off, I can successfully make a scarf for someone. 

A question for all fellow bloggers out there...

What way have you found easiest to cast-off?
What is your favorite method of knitting?
Do you think purling or knitting is easier?  (Since I need feedback before I actually start purling and/or making a scarf?

What should you take away from this?

You (the reader) should take away that knitting is fun and easy.  If  you follow an instructional book like "Knitting" by Sharon Turner, knitting becomes fun and easy.  Also binding-off is really fun and lets you complete your knitting piece. 
Also throughout these blog posts, the argument and message that I am trying to express is that you should take up a hobby that you have always wanted to do, because it may be hard at first, but the end result will be rewarding. 


MLA CITATIONTurner, Sharon. Knitting: Teach Yourself Visually. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub., 2007. Print.




Dated: 12/12/15

Drawing Expressions and Emotions

Expressions are one of the most visible things on the human body. Usually when seeing another person your eyes eventually travels to the face region, making you analyze there expressions. With their expression you can tell several things like there mood and emotions. When drawing, expressions is one thing that really pulls together a drawing. The character drawn could have a great figure and complex clothing but without a expression the drawing is incomplete. In the book, Drawing Manga, Faces, and Bodies, by Anna Southgate and Yishan Li, a section of the book is dedicated to drawing facial expressions. On page 18, Li and Southgate explain how to draw a face crying from happiness through an example. "The boy [or girl] is crying with laughter. His [or her] eyes are closed and eyebrows raised. They mirror the open-mouthed smile" (Southgate and Li, Pg. 18). I tend to forget about the crying from happiness expression, so it was good to be reminded of it again. As you can tell in the picture below to the left, I followed the advice they gave to the closest of my ability. There are small tears in the corner of the eyes, a wide opened smile and eyebrows raised. Their advice really helped me widen my library of expressions. This expression is often forgotten so it's important to be reminded of how to draw it correctly. Seeing this expression made me realize how much I like how it looks; therefor I will likely use this expression more in my personal artwork.

Considering how in the book, Drawing Manga, Faces, and Bodies, a large section of the book is dedicated to facial expression, I decided I would like to apply another expression tip to my work. The next tip was for a anguished or alarmed expression. Li and Southgate claimed that a slightly opened mouth would really help the expression out, and to top it off a furled brow pulls the expression together. (Southgate and Li, Pg. 18). In the top right photo I left the mouth slightly open, furled the brows, and to add my own touch, placed the light reflection in the eye on the same corner for a surprised affect. Using Southgate and Li's tips really helped my alarmed expression. Usually I would have a slightly curved line for the mouth, but a partly opened mouth brings out the expression. In my future drawings I'll definitely used a slightly open circle rather then a little curved line for the mouth. This also affected how I'll draw my eyebrows. I usually draw very thin eyebrows but I noticed sometimes thicker eyebrows can compliment the drawing. For example in my top right drawing I first drew the eyebrows thin, but it had a disproportioned feel to it. I then drew it thicker and furled and it seemed much more fit to the face.


Do you have a favorite expression to draw? If so, what kind of expression is it?

Southgate, Anna, and Yishan Li. Drawing Manga Faces and Bodies. New York: Rosen, 2013. Print.

Be Your Own Costume Designer

Finding your signature style only sounds like something that takes a lifetime to accomplish. It's actually pretty easy and fun! Showing off to the world through your style is entertaining and it says a lot about you. You already know that good clothes really do open all doors. Taking the time to figure out your own signature style is something most people have never considered doing, but there is way more to having a signature style than just the clothes you wear. Your style is your signature.

Freer says that, "Clothes are instant visual cues to who a person is, where they came from, and where they may be going"(50) This taught me that people can automatically tell where you're headed just by looking at your visual appearance, your outfit. People may not know the specific location but they know whether someone's ready to go to bed, messy bun + a sweater, or off on a dinner date, cute dress + red lipstick.

Finding out your own signature style is not as hard as it may seem. You want to get to the heart of who you are, what interests you, and what you really want to present to the world before you allow yourself to go forth and shop.

                                                                           
Whatever that style of yours is, it can definitely change and grow, you can even have two at once. (52) Freer says that peoples style changes over time and people have more than one style and that's okay. Everyone has two sides: their cute, fancy side and their sporty, scrub side. Your style can be as simple or as fantastical as you want it to be. Explore new things and figure out what you love. Don't be afraid to ask women on the streets whose style you admire where they got something. Having your own style means to constantly be on the lookout for what's new that actually suits you. 

Freer taught me to express myself to the world and explore new and different styles to find my signature style. 

When you are your own costume designer, you'll find that you are suddenly the very best version of yourself you've ever been. Because real style is all about enhancing who you really are, not attempting to change yourself into someone else. 

What will you do to find your signature style?

Freer, Alison. How to Get Dressed. Berkely: The Speed Press, 2015. Print.

Do You Even Lift?

By Ken Newlon

Many people think that weight lifting is a stupid hobby that requires zero brains and all bronze. That’s is not the case. Weight lifting requires constant concentration and technique. If you mess up for one second it can cause permanent damage to your body. On the squat rack, I am carrying upwards of 325lbs. on my shoulders and if I mess up, I could possibly become paralyzed. I have to focus on what I’m doing and use good technique so that I get stronger and walk out of there alive.

I have been lifting for 2 years and I have realized that technique is one of the most important aspects of what I do. On the bench press there are many different grip and weights I can use to strengthen different muscles. Typically I use the standard grip which strengthens the pectoralis major and deltoids. “Grasp bar using an overhand grip, with hands 3 to 5 inches wider than shoulder width apart, and lift the bar from the standards” (Bompa 168) Using this technique, this exercise maximizes pectoral strength. So do you even lift?

Bompa, Tudor, Mauro Di Pasquale, and Lorenzo Cornacchia. Serious Strength Training. 3rd ed. N.p.: Human Kinetics, 2013. Print.

Dependent with Diabetes

     Just starting Diabetic Living Diabetes What to Eat by Better Homes and Gardens, I could already tell I was hurting my body in ways I didn't even realize. The book talked about changes that could be made to daily activities and foods for diabetes that would help keep blood sugar at an exceptional number. As a diabetic it is crucial to keep your blood sugar at a normal number and maintain a healthy body. During our everyday lives we must be very alert about how many carbohydrates we are digesting because the smallest mistake in calculations could lead to very risky circumstances.

As a reader think of what is going on in this picture…

      For almost 4.5 years now I have been trying to get my blood sugar down to an appropriate number but I never acknowledged it properly. I always just thought to myself that I would get better on my own one day or another. This past summer I really started paying attention and stopped denying the fact that if I wanted to live a healthy life I had to put in the work and stop waiting for magic to just pop in. Better Homes and Gardens states that "Rather than shutting out people who care, invite them to support groups and give them articles to read"(28). I realized it was really important for me to not shut myself out from the world and it is okay to ask for help.

Now

     After falling sick and realizing I had to start taking care of myself, I started to read Diabetic Living Diabetes What to Eat. The first thing I did was start to tell how I felt when I had a high blood sugar or when I felt like I wasn't doing well enough. Now when I share my feelings whether it be with family or just my friends I feel more wanting to take care of myself.

     Just the itty bitty things can make a huge difference in a persons life, such as reading a book or expressing ourselves.

     Is their anything in your life you think you need to change to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

Better Homes and Gardens. Diabetic Living Diabetes What to Eat, N.p.: Natalie Chapman, 2011. Print. "Rather than shutting out people who care invite them to support groups and give them articles to read" (28)."

Photographic Lighting: Basic Lighting

I have been trying to perfect my photography skills before I am in Photo 2 class for 2^nd semester. Digital Photography is something we barely had touched on last year in Photo 1, but I was not the best at it. Before reading the book The Best of Photographic Lighting by Bill Hurter, lighting for the digital photos was not something I had really thought about a whole lot. Most of the time last year pictures were graded on the quality and the content, not the lightning. Hurter says that “Light is the key raw ingredient of Photography.” (Pg.5)

After reading the book I decided to look back at some of my previous photos of digital photography and compare them to some of the ones I did more recently after reading the book. And I got to say, from just reading the first 2 chapters, my photos improved significantly in a lot of different things.

This first photo was one I had taken last year during Photo 1, and its techniques are not greatly used. I took this photo late at night in my living room using a lamp for an extra light source. Hurter said that “Earlier and later than these hours [9AM-3PM], the color temperature dips, producing a warmer-toned image” (Pg.22)

The second photo I took recently during the daytime. It was really sunny but very cold outside but had the perfect lighting which made the picture that much better. “Daylight photos are balanced to render colors….they produce the most accurate color during the middle of the day (9AM-3PM)” (Pg.22). Hurter’s recommendation really made a huge difference in the outcome of the photo.

The way I applied hurters knowledge to my own photographs made them a lot better than they were before. I know now that I to make the photos turn out better, they need to be taken during the day, not late at night. The quality of the colors pop out better, and the light quality wont turnout as greyish.

Hurter, Bill. The Best of Photographic Lighting: Techniques and Images for Digital Photographers. 2nd ed. Buffalo, NY: Amherst Media, 2006. Print

Healthy Avocado Bruschetta

When you think of healthy food, it probably doesn't sound appetizing. But, eating healthy food has a greater impact on you than you might think. "Your health will improve, your immune system will be better, and you will feel much better overall" (Vine 20). I support his theory because I feel the same way when I eat healthy. I try to create my own healthy meals knowing it will benefit me greatly. Junk food is easy to eat and it's always around, but in the long run it's a bad choice. Like healthy food, junk food with affect your overall body, except negatively instead of positive. Food is like a medicine to the body, helping your body heal and stay healthy (Vine 15). The food you choose to eat affects you as a person. I found a classic recipe that is quick and easy to make, and very delicious:

Guacamole Bruschetta

Ingredients:

- 2 slices whole grain bread

- 1/2 ripe avocado

- 1/2 ripe tomato

- 1/4 cucumber 

- 1 table spoon lemon juice

- 2 tablespoons Feta Cheese crumbles 

- Salt and pepper to taste

How do you guys incorporate healthy foods in your day?


Vine, Jonathan. Clean Food Diet: 50 Best Recipes. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.