Story Time

I’ve always had a hidden love for photography. There’s something about the click of a camera, looking at the screen and capturing a moment in time. I can go back and look at those pictures forever! All of that changed when I got to college however and that’s been the greatest struggle I’ve had to overcome with this Yarn Tale Collective.

Art majors aren’t photographers?

As an art major, I was required to take a intro to photography class. All art majors (including photography) are put into the same class, furthermore leading to completely different styles, levels and knowledge of each student. I always viewed photography as having basic concepts you learn and the rest is biased and completely influential based on the photographer or viewer. Where I believe there is room to grow and learn from those better than you, I also didn’t feel like standing up in front of a bunch of snob photography majors. They already knew they were better than everyone else, why did they have to critique my work just to make their’s look better? That’s the professors job right? Apparently not.

A year later, I was sitting in a room with my (now ex) boyfriend as he would scroll through his Facebook feed of other photographers. He would completely break down and make-fun of every single image he came across. They “weren’t good enough”, “they don’t know how to edit images”, “their style sucks”, “what a joke” and on and on. I sat there and mentally put up walls to NEVER post any photos I ever took. To this day, his comments play over and over in my head when in photoshop.

Photography is more than what other people see…

I find staging objects REALLY boring. Working with lighting equipment is a nightmare. Flash sucks. Editing photos in photoshop is satan’s handy-work. You know what I learned by acknowledging everything that I hated about photography? I didn’t have to do any of it! Magic right? I’ve come to be able to compromise my dislike for staging items with being able to enjoy staging them in all natural light from big windows and doors. When I upload my photos to my computer, I’ve learned that I don’t HAVE to edit anything if I don’t want to. I typically just adjust color balance, lighting and shadows a little bit and I’m done.

Through this journey, it’s not just about my crochet projects, but it’s also MY JOURNEY. By learning new things and compromising, but having fun in ways that I never would have let myself before, I was able to get back to the root of why I love photography. It’s not about what people think, but the stories the photos tell. I take pictures of my projects so that I can look back on my completed projects after they are gone or given away and instantly remember when I made it. How I made it. What was happening in my life. What I was struggling with in my life that I wove into the very stitching of every project. Each and every person I was thinking about as I sewed together body parts of amigurumi animals and teddy bears even. It’s about the story and that’s why I love photography.

My First Memory

Now, I bring you to the soul of this blog post. My first documented memory, a “Circle to Square” granny square newborn blanket. This blanket was woven together through the binge-watching goodness of Naruto: Shippuden (Season 1) and hours of stress-provoked wedding planning thoughts.

This tiny newborn blanket was made in my mind for a premie. Tiny, snuggly and warm for one small adorable baby that will probably be worrying his/her parents to death, but loved in amounts that are unfathomable. I can only hope this tiny blanket will bring some security to both those tiny little feet and those worried parents adoringly watching over that baby.

All the way around

The “Circle to Square” newborn blanket holds 20 “circle to square” granny squares – 10 in navy blue (Red Heart) and 10 in Azure (Caron) alternated, stitched together with a soft gray mix (Caron). I combined all of the granny squares using a simple Whip Stitch in the back loop. I finished off the blanket with a simple, yet beautiful sideways puff stitch and single crochet border all the way around.