Sunday, June 24, 2012

164, 165, 166; Grow Your Blog Party; Welcome Sri Lanka and Switzerland


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165

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I started this blog as a way to chart my progress as I keep working at my 366 granny squares in a year.  I find that posting each square challenges me to learn new techniques, research relentlessly, and try yarns that might be new to me (you never know what you will get at a garage sale ).

Along the way, this means that I've picked up the camera more frequently, and am seldom without it as I ramble around.  Each week I try to find a couple of parks or just very cool places to go and explore with the camera.  While the economy has turned down for us (although we're getting along), this keeps me looking for the beauty around me, and having this space to put up photos makes me happy, as well as stretching myself in a new way.

My biggest Photographic problem is that I prefer to take pictures in natural light...but I live in Seattle where we have had very little sun so far.  Oh, the transit of Venus, or a partial eclipse?  Good thing we have websites from which to view these marvels, because we were clouded over here.  I'd rather not have to invest in more gear (must not exceed the budget), but I'd love to take better indoor photos of the grannies and of course, other things.  Any advice?

You know what I love?  Visiting all the blogs around the world and see how much alike we all are, regardless of our differences.  I've picked up bits and pieces of Portuguese, Spanish (ok I already knew some Spanish), French (ok, I took French in High School so many years ago), Dutch and German.  It's another thing that stretches the mind.  I've read that learning a new language, or to play a musical instrument stimulates the growth of new dendrites in the brain, and speaking as a person of a certain age, this is a very good thing.  Blogging has provided opportunities in many and varied ways.

With that in mind, Vicki, in her blog Two Bags Full, is hosting a 'Grow Your Blog Party, and we are all invited to get involved.  Go on over to her blog and sign up!  Who doesn't want more readers?  I know I value the followers that come to my blog, and follow quite a few myself.  We'll all grow together!

Today's squares are all from 200 Crochet Blocks.  Starting tomorrow, bring out the red white and blue!  My goal is to have enough squares for an afghan, by July Fourth, the US Independence Day.  Who thinks I can do it?

And last, welcome to Switzerland and Sri Lanka, recent first time visitors.  I look forward to your return, and hope to learn more about your countries and cultures.

5 comments:

  1. Wow I love your squares! They are awesome!!

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  2. Your squares are awesome

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  3. Thank you SOOO much for posting about my Grow your Blog Party -- Im excited that you are going to participate and look forward to meeting you and YOUR friends. Your blog is lovely -- you know I love all things yarn!!! -- and I promise that we will get some more followers for your wonderful blog!

    Vicki

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  4. What kind of camera are you using? If it's something expandable, craig's list is a great place for finding low cost options. I've seen a few things there for really decent prices, though we're also dealing with a restricted budget at the moment, so I've put off buying any new toys like that.

    If you're using a point & shoot, I'd say to first experiment with the settings, especially the ISO options, and see what you've got. Also, if I'm shooting something movable, I try to put it as close to a natural light source as possible. Even if you aren't getting bright sunshine, often the ambient daytime light is better than light bulbs. And, lastly, long ago, I picked up some fabric remnants in light colors that I could use as photo backdrops and create some brightness in the pics that way. Now, for shooting your squares, you'd probably want to stay with something fairly neutral to minimize the clash factor, but you could still use something a little bit brighter to see what you ended up with that way.

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