Losing Light?

Though the hours of daylight have been increasing as we march to the Summer Solstice, here in the workshop of Planet Nice, there has been a loss of ambient light. How? Is this evidence that the workshop is truly on another planet? No, the workshop is not on a different planet but now that the trees have budded out and the leaves are nearly full size, the great Southern windows are shaded. Though ambient light is now more strongly filtered, the advantage is that temperatures are almost always comfortable no matter how hot it gets outside…humidity is another story. 😉

An update to the cashmere neck warmer or scarfette is well – here goes. It made it to 8 inches:

Then it made it to the previous goal of 15 inches with plenty of yarn left:

The FINAL length is 24.5”, which is a wonderful length for a scarfette. So, I am very very pleased because at this length, it can be a useful item for someone. The knitting did become familiar but because of the multi-ply nature of the yarn, I could not get too distracted as it was important to keep all those plys together. I photographed the final piece flat in its intended configuration for wear:

I am happy with all of these photos but it seems like Photoshop has made the scarfette too blue. Luckily while I was still in picture taking mode, I wanted to take a photo that shows the depth of the scarfette. I do not have a mannequin so I wrapped the towel around a hanger – it came out pretty good I think! The color is much more representative. I will need to start experimenting with different backgrounds and perhaps moving outside for better light.

So, what’s next? More knitting of course – this is only the first of four bits of yarn. The next item will be a hat and I will be following the Craftsy course more closely to pick up any techniques. So far I have found the Craftsy videos more entertaining than educational but that is probably because I have only done the scarfette which was not even part of the intended course.

Credit: PBS

Another update at Planet Nice is the PBS series Civilizations (not to be confused with the other PBS series FIRST Civilizations) continuing to be an inspiration. Favorite parts of the last few episodes include globalization or encounters between cultures going back a very long time, the Japanese concept of “Wabi” where objects with imperfection are still considered beautiful (we have the Ancient Greeks to thank for the obsession with perfection), and the ambitions of some artisans or craftsmen (including women) to be superstar artists, with the focus on the individual, during the Renaissance. At Planet Nice, we are just happy to work on crafts.

In addition to the next knitting project, there will also be some work explored on how to expand the Planet Nice "brand". Unfortunately, this month’s needlework night was cancelled and the next one I am able to go to is in August. There may be some pencil and Illustrator sketches of a potential logo or mascot posted. Also, social media exploration is always on the to-do list.

Finally, in the spirit of social media and interaction – I would like to encourage the devout subscribers to visit the website www.planetnicecrafts.blogspot.com to read the posts. After some discussion between Planet Nice and a subscriber, it was tossed around that the experience is richer on the website. And of course, comments are always welcome. Planet Nice aspires to moderate comments quickly.

planetnicecrafts@gmail.com