Lenses

I love taking photos.  I've just bought a new phone and the photo quality is really amazing! But you can't really do anything except take exactly what you see in front of you.  So when I saw this set of phone lenses on the Photojojo! website, I couldn't resist.  To be honest they had a lot of things I really liked, but I settled just for these guys.

Super fisheye lens

Telephoto lens

The set includes a fisheye lens, super fisheye lens, telephoto x2 lens, polarzier lens, and a wideangle/macro lens.  Basically you stick a metal ring to your phone, round its camera, and the lenses use magnets to stick to the ring.  It uses the same magnet to stick a cover to the back of the lens (when not in use), while the front of the lens has a rubber cover, keeping it nice and safe.  

They do look a bit funny stuck to you phone, like a huge growth (in the case of the super fisheye).  But how did they get on when I tried them out?

Normal photo using my phone

Photo using new macro lens

The macro lens was pretty impressive.  But you do have to get really close to the thing you're taking a photo of and it is really hard to keep it steady.

Normal photo using my phone

Photo using new super fisheye lens

Photo using new fisheye lens

I love the fisheye lenses.  I can imagine on a lovely sunny day or in the right place they will really come into their own.

Photo using new telephoto 2x lens

I was really impressed with the zoom on the telephoto lens.  Might be pretty good if I want to take photos of birds and animals without getting too close.

Photo using new wideangle lens

I think the wideangle needs a landscape for it to really do its stuff.  I'd like to see what it does at the beach.

Photo using new polarzier lens

The polarzier lens is maybe the one I'm most excited about.  Of course February isn't going to help this lens do it's best.  Need to wait for a really sunny day and see what it can do.

I really can't wait for it to warm up a bit so I can get out and have a proper play.  And I'm already thinking about making them a case of some sort to keep them safe.  Something that can keep them as a set, but allow them to be used individually if needed too.

Knitted Heart

I took a short break from my woolly mammoth (thanks Katie) of a project to knit a simple heart.  It's for the man I love and was a really easy pattern to follow, found on the Julie and the Knits site.  She suggests you use them as coasters, which gives you an idea of how big it is but I have a different use for it in mind.

The woolly mammoth is coming on, but it's a slow business.  I've never knitted anything so big!  It's getting quite unwieldily now.  I hope it is worth the effort.

Sketching

I've been trying to draw more for a while now and while my massive wooly project continues and I only have a small amount of time for other creative things it seems the perfect time to do some sketching.  Small drawings that only take a couple of minutes, inspired by things I've seen - like the sharks on TV seen from underneath, or a sunrise on the way to work.  I'm not trying to make works of art, just get in the habit of drawing and seeing more.  What do you see?

UX Blog

Apparently I've been writing this blog for something like 8 years. Over that time I have used it as a way to keep motivated on my creative journey and I have to say I love writing these little posts.
I'm aware though that in recent months my interest in UX Design has been creeping in and while it is a creative endeavour, that's not what this blog is supposed to be about.
So over the Christmas holidays I created a new blog which is linked to my portfolio purely for posts about UX, leaving this one free for the wonderful world of wool, or paper or whatever I happen to be working on this week.
So if you are only here because of the UX or you are interested in reading my thoughts on UX please visit my new UX blog.
Normal service will commence here next week...

A strange Christmas present

Any ideas what this is?  No me either when I opened it on Christmas Day.  It came in a plain white box and everyone looked at me in expectation as I opened the lid.  Luckily they took pity on me and explained - it's a 'Wool Ball Holder'.  Of course!

As the instructions say, "This support rotates on the base and allows the ball to unwind by itself.  Simply slide the ball on the edge and knit quietly, without fear of knots."

I wasn't sure what I thought, but I've just started a big project and tried it out with my first ball of wool.  So far so good.  It sure beats having your ball of wool run off across the room, gathering all the dust and muck it can find.  Thank you Mother-in-Law!

I have several big knitting projects I'd like to work on this year so the Wool Ball Holder has come at just the right time.  To give you an idea of the first project here is all the wool I will need!  I will of course post about it once I have something to show. 

Paper Corydoras

It's been a bit wooly on here recently so lets start the new year with something paper.

I stumbled across these guys on PaperCraftSquare which seems to have a huge array of paper models to download and make.  I love tropical fish and couldn't resist the chance to make my own.

I think they came out really well and certainly look similar to the real thing, if maybe a little bigger.  Any smaller and I think they would have been very hard to put together.

So Happy New Year!  I'm hoping 2016 will be as successful as 2015 but maybe a little more creative.  What about you?

 

In their new home

Another bear

Every time my mum meets one of the bears I've made for someone else she tries to steal it.  "He's so cute," she exclaims, "I want one!"  So for Christmas I made her one of her own. 

I would have liked to make him a jumper like my first bear, seeing as I know he's going to be living on a building site for a bit (my parents are renovating their house) and I know it will be cold there but I only just had time to finish him, never mind a jumper too.  At least he is a wooly bear - that should help.  Hopefully any more bears I make will be safe from her clutches now!

If you know a charity which could do with some friendly knitted bears please let me know.  I love knitting them, but want them to have a purpose.  If they can go out into the world and help make someone's life a little better I think that would be a pretty good purpose.

Lester the Lion

I've been knitting again (mostly as a stress buster while studying).  It's another pattern from HuggableBears called Lester the Lion, and while I've been wanting to try this pattern out for a while this particular Lester will be going to another set of friends who have just had a baby.

Except for his nose seeming to be a little wonky I think he came out really well.  I've never tried knitting the the eye lash wool before (his mane and tail) but it wasn't that bad - the hardest part was finding lion coloured wool!  

He's about the same size as the bear's I've been making, but with much bigger paws and a nice long tail.  I hope William Leonard Ashley likes him.