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FO Friday: Collapsible Lightbox

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No knitting FOs to show off today (the green sweater’s coming along, but it still needs another sleeve). I have something else that’s almost as good, though–the husband made me a collapsible lightbox!

Big lightbox

I had been using one that he made a while back which worked (all the yarn photos I’ve posted here were taken in it), but suffered from one fatal flaw: it was really too small for my purposes.

I ended up with a lot of shots like this that needed to be cropped down (swatch is of my Kari Baby Blanket):

too small shot

Also, shots of white yarn tended to get washed out pretty severely (swatch of my Bevin Pullover):

White swatch on white background

We had trouble storing the box in our little apartment, too. We ended up having to devote a whole shelf to it in our linen closet. So when hubby offered to make me a bigger, collapsible lightbox, I jumped at the chance.

Not only does the new one use a clever placement of Velcro tabs to fold down so it can be stored at the back of a closet, but it has removable, different-colored backdrops!

Now I can get shots of white yarn that look like this:

White on green background

Much better, no? And I have SO much more room to take shots. It’s awesome.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the old and the new lightboxes:

comparison shot

I took lots of pictures as hubby was making the box, so I’ll be posting a photo tutorial here in the next few days for anyone who’s interested in making their own. Stay tuned!

Organized

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(Warning: photo-heavy post)

I have been disgruntled with my yarn storage for a while now. When we moved into our current apartment, we found these cubes at Target and hung them on the wall:

Wall cubes

There are several things to note in this photo. First, although the idea of having the yarn as decoration on the wall is a good one, everything ends up piled haphazardly in there. Second, the unattractive pieces of plastic stuck in the sides… which we found out pretty quickly were necessary to keep curious cats from jumping on the dresser and futzing with bits of yarn. And third… the top of the cubes pretty much serve as a clutter repository catch-all for random things.

And the rest of my yarny storage wasn’t much better. Here’s what my books/magazines/WIPs/needles/notions area looked like:

Junk

No, we don't live in a dorm room, but I don't blame you for thinking it.

My workspace, where I do the majority of my designing:

Junky desk

If you’re getting depressed by all this clutter, don’t worry! This post will have a happy ending, I promise.

A table covered with WIP patterns, swatches, etc:

Swatch table

So obviously I needed a new storage solution. Enter… (cue dramatic music)… IKEA!

IKEA boxes

The husband assembled it for me, assisted by the cats:

Kitty helpers

Esme's hammer

What? This is my hammer.

And here’s what my yarn storage looks like now!

new yarn cabinet

open cabinet

All my yarn fits in the cabinet with room to spare (okay, not much room–but some). WIPs (including swatches and designs-in-progress) are in the middle bin, partial balls leftover from projects in the second bin, and yarn I’m hoping to trade or sell in the bottom bin. The cubes hold all my needles, notions, and books. Magazines have been moved to the bookcase in the living room, where they stand up better anyway.

The cabinet is a Billy bookcase from IKEA, with a Billy Olsbo half-glass door. All together (including the bins), it was just under $100. A steal, if you ask me.

Although… after sorting my yarn, I’m starting to think I need more sweater-quantities. So it may not end up being quite so cheap, heh.

close-up of yarn