Wanna see what getting the pattern pictures looks like? I kinda love showing off the behind the scenes stuff (it can feel a tiny bit strange and lonely doing all this all by myself, showing you some of the odder bits helps somehow). Plus you seem to like to see it, so let’s do it!

For the snowmen, I got up early, got my kit together (snowmen, hats/scarves, twigs for arms, museum putty for posing, tiny repair kit for field surgery, camera, spare battery, reflector, step stool for my butt, other step stool for the knitting/camera, and something to tote it all), got bundled up, and headed out the door about 45 minutes before sunrise.⁠

I drove to the secret beach and found a spot that seemed firm enough to park on. The beach was covered in frosty, leaf-strewn seaweed, which always feels like magic. I lugged everything a few hundred yards down the shore to my favorite log (it’s, um, it’s not a very summery beach).⁠

I spent a solitary hour taking pictures as the sun came up and the tide came in and the birds gossiped about me behind my back. I didn’t see a single other person, and I got to focus on absolutely nothing beyond “does that look cuter with the scarf wrapped this way? or that way? should I turn him a little to the left? what happens if I twist the twig this way instead? is the light prettier over here on this side?” which I swear resets something in my head in a very enjoyable way.

Once the sun was fully up, the light changed, and time was up. I sat for a few minutes and enjoyed the view (no really, the chair height step stool is so handy), then packed up and trudged back up the beach and home for breakfast.

And it’s always a little odd, because photos are both the hardest part of this job (really, I’m not an outdoorsy type, getting photos like this is shockingly outdoorsy and um kinda grimy sometimes) and kind of my favorite part (because oh, oh when they look the way I want them to look it is magic).

So thanks for liking this nonsense enough that I get to keep doing it, and thanks for coming along on my adventures!