I got my new lens over a week ago, and it is wonderful! (For the camera enthusiasts out there, it's a
Canon EF 24-70mm/2.8L USM lens.) So now I have no reason to blame the equipment for the poor quality of pictures - the culprit can be found in the bathroom mirror. The 24-70mm lens is a very, very good lens, but also not a very forgiving one. You make a mistake in the settings, and it shows. This led to some serious navel-gazing and, eventually, I learned a few new tricks. (Such as, "hey, my camera has an 'M' setting - wonder what that is".) But along the way, I rediscovered some old truths.
One, burgundy is a very tricky color to photograph.
![bfl silk 2](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vNxRIDnJ523mmLTPv2qzKNyTOWqEKh86tIJmY1aaOOGYJanrlGzC14gkesotO3NB0JDwjdadWerEVL5WhazdpX4VECPVlD5-P5EkdZyC9TsGUO4MoRsgvcBRCmvJ13wA=s0-d)
Also, single-ply yarn is always very, very pretty.
![bfl silk 1](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sLzd7cvOhB55r9ttReWEtsr4Ru6yrVdTvVmsbqxmrs2mHF0HsEtYOK66uLHegBCwxc1TQPGDrNNi_gbnCBwdzbauIoWlw02oyfRGzDCP8VBILocVgRtKdJhGMAGXWq5UY=s0-d)
And fun to knit with!
![bfl silk 3](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_toeo9kxaD9xm21t6UOnIxVwfzWSBpxkUwZsoi2GhfvZaTnLfzT61cocU6DIwyyAXudhRsbVfh1xPpw3WRzcn88IhkzjWioEmkXbpFU8NVaHp8hjzl76E45S_3BTpLpUQ8=s0-d)
The fiber is 70% BFL 30% silk, and it was the February club fiber in the Little Bit of Luxury Fiber Club. I managed to squeeze out some 550 yards or 500m out of the 6 oz (150g) of fiber I had. The top was gradation dyed, one end being darker burgundy than the other. But in between there are tiny specs of burgundy, and I didn't pluck them out, which resulted in a slightly striped yarn. I like the result a lot, and hopefully this'll become a nice shawl (the pattern is
Gingko).
The second truth I learned was that dark teal is nearly impossible to photograph correctly. I managed to do it though, with serious tweaking of the settings. (These pictures are SOOC, I've only cropped them and added the copyright notice.)
![hedda 2](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v6Z_F_Q9RbFlaGvwEg9eE2P5xwFzwrcWcQnzG2nxqfXB81yk4Qg00Hi8eu4fGHe3RwZtqV55Dx0k2Xn1nBhrj1dwbpud4DuNcFmhL8NDgK5hQ3wtvR64I13vWJWmhtqvc=s0-d)
The pattern is the amazingly cute cap/beret pattern
Hedda by the incredibly talented designer, Vilma. I used some 200 yards of Aran weight yarn which will be introduced in the Lair in detail a little bit later. I wanted to test how it takes dye and what it is like to knit with, and the results are very nice. The yarn is 100% wool, has a lovely texture to it, and it's quite soft, too. I'm thinking of a cardigan in this lovely yarn (the only thing holding me back is the fact that it requires quite large needles and they make my hands hurt).
![hedda 1](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vmIgptZNDQsUAf-F_tC7iMJ3wBjIAan6dJCSGHijUKEnA516sYDeucUP4TfM_Ik_8a-N1Il59IQ_2zTdbOFF9nhtx6diMzuLCkceELF01elWA-8zyrlZNAL6nbjT-Cyuw=s0-d)
I knitted the slouchy version of Hedda, but didn't block it too vigorously and thus got a snug cap. But I don't mind at all, I think it looks quite lovely!
![hedda 3](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sFqGpnOG627wCQHtIg1dPaSt7u8iOP7OPwoVkONspGCiAhmwol4zvmUGI0DKHIiemleBCN9IB1XiWsNHg14OsH0c0s9hxeJzxlbvSwSPiwOEUS1vchjnmgzNe8rLKTXg=s0-d)
That's all for now! Stay tuned, the etsy shop update is coming up next.