Friday, October 21, 2011

Pro Work: 3M Unitek Teens

It's been a year since I did these illustrations for use within the 3M Unitek: Teens site for braces website...

Now since it's finally online & published, I can share them with you all!  I've highlighted the illustrations, and described what I drew in the captions since most of the final images are a blend of my work, and my colleagues' work: layout, stock illustrations, studio photos, and text.  Credit has to be given to the art director, Tina Heller, whose vision was really clear and fun.  She was an awesome director to work with!



nature tree, mouse
tree, mice, magnifying glass, mouse with hat
vector skateboard collage, graffiti arrow, "smile" text

About the project: these illustrations were for use on a site for the orthodontics branch of 3M, and the target audience was teens & kids.  There were concepts emphasizing the size of the brackets, style, and types of brackets.  Other illustrations were for the FAQ section and Help sections including the diagrams on how to care for your teeth with braces.  It helped that I had to wear braces for nearly five years.


3 vector illustrations on braces  hygiene, nature tree

Oh yeah!  And panda guy...
panda with braces, question marks, lips

If you'd like to see more, they're on my flickr page here.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Tutorial: Centered double decrease

I love this centered double decrease because it pops the center stitch.  It's great for use as the center "V" stitch in V-necks, mitered cornered edgings, and lace...

Complete Instructions: Work to 1 stitch before marked stitch.  Slip the next 2 stitches together as if to work a K2tog.  Knit the next stitch on the working needle.  Pass the 2 slipped stitches over the knit stitch.


Step 1: Work to 1 st before marked stitch. 
(If working in lace, or as a regular decrease, skip to step 2.)




Step 2: Slip next stitch plus center stitch as if to knit them together (K2tog), but don't actually knit them together.




Step 3: Knit the next stitch available on the working needle.



Step 4: Slip the 2 slipped stitches over the just-knitted stitch.




Step 5:  VoilĂ ! You have a centered double decrease (also abbreviated as CDD)!


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Academia Projects

Lately I've seen a few variants of the published version of Academia, and I'm so chuffed about them I just had to share.  These knitters had a really keen eye for color and even substituted yarn gauge in one case.  The end results are really beautiful. Bravo, knitters!

In Foxfire Fiber & Designs Cormo/Silk/Alpaca:

(c) Buddhasocks, via Ravelry (used with permission)
(c) Buddhasocks, via Ravelry (used with permission)

 Here's one in Wollmeise Twin:

(c) HollieS, via Ravelry (used with permission)

(c) HollieS, via Ravelry (used with permission)


And this one is in Quince & Co. Chickadee

(c) Manduh, via Ravelry (used with permission)
(c) Manduh, via Ravelry (used with permission)
Nicely done!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Limited Time Discount: Hopi Mittens

There are a lot of things in the making as I type and hopefully my next posts will be about just-published designs, but in the meantime...  Hopi Mittens is just $3 for a limited time.



Discount on one of my self-published designs: Hopi Mittens is on sale throughout October!

Photo of Prototype #2