Monday, October 27, 2008

Baby its Cold Outside

The weather has taken a turn for the cold. On Saturday it was in the 60s and very pleasant. Yesterday, the weather became cold and wet. It even snowed some, not the kind that sticks to the ground. Today, it is about 40F and windy. I think I will have to get out my winter coat.

Last Thursday, the family went to see “Max Payne”. It was okay. It was an action movie. The dialogue was not what you call great, however, it was okay. Stuff blew up, always a good trait. However, Mark Wahlberg was not in his under-britches even once, it was very disappointing. There was no nice hand knits as well since it was a dark dismal future type of movie. If you can suspend your disbelief for an hour and a half, then this movie is a good choice. You will not remember much afterwards, but it does allow you to escape reality for a little bit. I am giving it 2 ½ knitting needles out of 4.

Knitting News – Or How I Can Not Finish a Project
Yesterday I started a new project. They are a pair of slippers for my mom for Christmas. It is the Aran slippers in the Interweave Knits Holiday issue. It is a quick knit so far. I have about ½ ways done with the 1st slipper. I would be further along, but I had to rip out the heel short rows because I miscounted the 1st round.
Now, I know I said that I was not going to start anything else until I finished my Opera Stole, but it is so tedious, just the same 4 rows and really only two of those are different. It is going far quicker than I thought and I think I will not be able to use all of the yarn. So maybe I will be able to make something else with it as well.
So at present, I currently have 3 “active” projects: the Opera Stole, My Mom’s Slipper and the L’illo baby sweater. This is a problem because it is better if I have a bus project and a home project. Oh well, I will struggle on.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

O Happy Day

My lovely husband came home yesterday. It was joyous! We were going to go out to dinner after picking him up, but The Girl threw up on the way to pick him up. So we went home and picked up some sushi for dinner. It was a nice evening.

Movie Review
The Girl insisted on seeing “W” on Sunday. She actually wanted me to miss the Vikings game, but I refused. We went after the miserable loss to the Bears.
“W” was okay. It could have used some extra editing because it was too long. It was actually really sympathetic towards The President. Sure, he looks like a doofus, but he appears to be in over his head more than anything else. There were no hand knits and like I said, it was too long so I am giving it 2 ¼ knitting needles out of 4. The Girl was bored and hungry about ½ ways through so I do not think she enjoyed it very much. It concerns me that she will not want to see “Nixon / Frost” when that comes out, because that looks awesome and good for her to see.

Knitting News
I came up with a stitch pattern for my Opera Stole. It is the vertical lace trellis pattern from Barbara Walker’s ‘Treasury of Knitting Patterns’. It is lacy and it shows off the yarn. I have several inches knit. I can knit it while I am watching TV, but not when I am tired as I tend to mess up.
This morning I cast on the left front for L’illo. I really like how the back turned out. I hope it will fit. I figure it can be the Baby’s coming home outfit. I think I will make a hat and booties to go with the sweater.

I bought Interweave Knits Holiday issue. There are several things in there that I think I will make. There is a pair of slippers (the aran ones) that I think I will make for my mom.
I do not know how much stuff I will be knitting for Christmas. I have some ideas for my husband, which I can not reveal here since he reads this blog. I think I will make The Girl a sweater from ‘Pretty in Punk’. It is knit on huge needles and really holey and has dropped stitches etc, so I think I can do it quickly. I know I will not have much time for knitting, so I will have to get moving.

Here is a random photo from my trip this summer. I do not know what this plant is. If you do, leave me a message and let me know.

Friday, October 17, 2008

All By Myself

Okay, I am not really all alone, The Girl is at home, but my husband is out of town. He is off visiting his parents. They wanted him to come down and visit them before the baby came. We were not invited, which I probably good since I intend to save as much time a possible for when the baby does come. I am going to take time off to spend with The Girl and The Baby. Regardless, I am very lonely. My husband and I are a perfect match. We really are meant for each other. I am sure many people can say the same thing about their spouses, although not everyone. So when his is gone, I feel his absence greatly. Plus, he takes care of most; okay ALL, of the household chores. So now I am faced with getting groceries (which I HATE) and doing laundry and finding something to eat for breakfast, etc. It sucks. And he can always make me laugh. I love his voice. If I am having a bad day, I can call him up at home and he makes me feel better. So it is difficult when he is away.

Otherwise, I have been driving to work so there has been no bus knitting. I did do some knitting last night and I was able to finish the back of the L’illo baby sweater. I bought “Pretty in Punk” for The Girl and she marked all the patterns she wanted me to make. She is so funny because she just sees the things in the colors in the book. I have to work on making her see the pattern in different colors. She marked about 9 of them. She did say I did not have to do them all at once. LOL. She is a funny girl! There is a holey sweater made with fingering weight mohair that I think I will make 1st. I have some Kid Silk Haze Night in red that should work. I showed it to The Girl and she declared it very nice. It doesn’t look too hard, so I should be able to do it fairly quickly.

I have cast on for my opera shawl, several times, I am not very happy. I am not sure if I am going to be able to actually get it done by 11/1 since I don’t know if I like the latest pattern I have chosen. It is frustrating when I have something in my head and I do not know how to get it out of my needles.

I have earned a $50 gift card from The 3 Kittens Yarn Shop and I am trying to decide what to get. I was very excited when I got it because, well, it is free yarn. I am trying to decide if I should go over there this weekend and spend or if I should wait. I did go to The Yarnery this week and bought $40+ worth of yarn and the Interweave Knits Holiday issue. So I really don’t need more yarn, but I like to use gift cards when I get them. This stems from when my purse was stolen and I had received a gift card from my boss and I was not able to use it because it was stolen. I live in fear of not getting free stuff. I know, it is an illness!

I do not have any really big plans for the weekend. I have to wait for my husband to come home to go see “Max Paine” and there are not any other movies I really want to see. I have to do laundry, blech. The Vikings play the Bears on Sunday. I will watch, because I am a masochist and I always hope they will play well and manage to win. Otherwise, I am going to try to knit. Something. I feel like I am behind on my knitting.

My husband comes back on Monday night. I can’t wait. He is the best man alive and I miss him terribly.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Breaking Dawn Review

I finished reading “Breaking Dawn” the fourth and last book in the Twilight series. I had heard rumblings of discontent before I read it, but I did not listen closely because I did not want to have the story spoiled. Now, I am very confused as to why anyone would complain. It seemed to be a perfectly fine end to the story arc.
Overall, it was a good book. I enjoyed it. It was not as good as the 1st one, but that is not all that uncommon in sequels. Perhaps I will have to investigate what others were complaining about. If it is worth mentioning, I will write about it right here!

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Reviews – Book and Movie

I have been very busy this week and have not had time to blog. Sorry.
I have reviews today. I will go in chronological order.

Last Saturday, The Girl and I went to see “Appaloosa”. It is a western starring Ed Harris (who The Girl declared ‘sexy”), Viggo Mortenson and Jeremy Irons, oh and Renee Zellewillger. It is a good western. There was more humor in it then I had expected and the plot moved along at a good pace. However, there did seem to be bits missing. The timeline was not always clear. There is a point when you are not sure if a week; six months, a year or 5 years have past. I am sure that it is because this is based on a book and they had to hit the high points. There was no real hand knits in it, which always makes me wonder since there had to be people knitting stuff during this time period. There was a shawl that one of the characters had, which might have been knit, but I could not tell. Regardless, the acting is really good. Both The Girl and I did not like Renee Zellewillger’s character, but it did lead to a good discussion after the movie about what one does for someone they love. I am giving the movie 3 out of 4 knitting needles.

RIP III Review
I just finished “World War Z”. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is just incredible. On the back, it says it is in like the work of Studs Terkel and I have to admit I was skeptical of such a claim because I love Terkel. However, it is very much in the vein of Terkel’s “Working”.
Of course, this book is an oral account of the Zombie Invasion, so it is fictional, but it seems real, which is a huge accomplishment. It is broken down in sections by time. There is one section about how people survived and rebuilt their communities. There is a line in which a guy states how he is wearing a sweater he knit from yarn from his sheep. I loved that. I have always thought that when someone asks a person why they are knitting a sock that she should say something about having socks after the fall of society, but now, I think they should say something about zombie survival. I have to say everyone should read “World War Z”. Go out and buy it or get it out of the library. I do not think you will be disappointed.
If you do not think you are up to zombies, go out and read some of Studs Terkel’s books. I would recommend either:
“Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do” - 1974.
“Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Reflections on Death, Rebirth and Hunger for a Faith” - 2001
Both of these are excellent books. When I read “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, I thought that it should be required reading in high school. It deals with death and dying in a wonderful way. I think people today do not understand death very well.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Eclipse Review

Last night I stayed up late (1 am) reading “Eclipse”. I finished it. So I technically have finished both my books for RIP III, however, I am going to read World War Z next so I will review that as well.

I really enjoyed this book. I discovered the Twilight series a few months ago. I really like the books, even though, I know I never would have read them when I was a teen. I was just not into such tales. Even now, it is embarrassing. I mean they really are just sort of silly books, but it doesn’t stop me from loving them. Of course, they are a quick read, so that also helps.

***There will be spoilers ahead. If you have not read the books and you want to, stop now. ****

For those who are not familiar with the Twilight series, the books revolve around a teenager who moves to a small town in Washington State to live with her father. Of course, she was not really happy moving, but she did it for her mom’s sake. Anyway, in the 1st book, “Twilight”, she falls in love with one of the local vampires, Edward. You know all small towns have a few vampires, I know mine did. They are very good vampires as they do not feed on human blood, only animals.
In the 2nd book, “Full Moon”, Edward has left her to save her from living with a vampire for the rest of her life. She is very despondent, but she finds a friend in Jacob who is a teen from a nearby tribe. Their fathers are old friends. Well, the tribe has a wolfy history and Jacob ends up being a werewolf. We find out werewolves and vampires are bitter enemies. So Bella is torn between her friend and the vampire she loves. Edward comes back and in the end his family agrees to help turn Bella into a vampire so she can spend eternity with Edward.

So we start the third book with her high school graduation approaching. She is set to become a vampire over the summer. However, Edward wants to get married 1st. Bella does not want to get married; she just wants to have sex before she becomes a vampire. However, Jacob is in love with Bella as well as wants her to stay human and be with him. Bella realizes she is in love with Jacob as well, but she needs Edward at her core and so in the end, she chooses Edward. What was funny is that at the end I just knew that I would have picked the werewolf over the vampire. I felt truly sad for Jacob having to be alone.
All of these books have a plot other than the love entanglements. In this one, a vampire bent on revenge is forming an army in order to kill Bella and the werewolves and the vampire family work together to save her.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

October… At Last

It is hard to believe that October is here. Today the weather is perfect. It is about 65 and sunny with a cool fall breeze. I love it!

Movie Review
I have blogged twice this week already and neither one contained a movie review. This would not be unusual, except that we went to the movies on Sunday. I know, it is shameful! On Sunday we went and saw “Ghost Town”. It was very funny and cute. Nothing terrible deep, but it was sweet and I enjoyed it. Plus, there was a “fair isle” sweater vest with beagles on it that was too cute! It is about an obnoxious dentist who dies and then starts seeing ghosts. If you are looking for some simple escapism and can suspend your disbelief for a couple of hours, I have to recommend you go see it. I am giving 3 knitting needles out of 4.

Knitting
Look I have photos. This proves I do actual knit!

Here are the Beer Gloves I made for my hubby. They are from “Son of Stitch n’ Bitch” they are easy and look pretty good, if I do say so myself. Although, if I made them again, I would do them in stockinet stitch instead of reverse. I just hate that I got ladders in between my needles.

Here is the market bag I am making for my MIL. The color on the picture is total crap. The yarn is actually an emerald green. I do not know why these did not come out color-wise, because the others are really close to their actual colors. Oh well. I am getting close to being done. The pattern is the Ilene Bag.


Here is the beginning of the baby sweater I have started. It is really easy so far. I have just started on the back.


RIP III
I am working on my second book for RIP III. It is “Eclipse” by Stephanie Meyer (it is the 3rd book in the Twilight series). Please don’t judge me, but I do really enjoy them. They are so much fun and easy to read. Plus I am sure is has been banned somewhere since it deals with vampires and other supernatural beings and of course teenagers wanting to have sex. So it covers both my banned book reading AND rip III. What more could you ask for in a book? I will give a review once I am finished, which should not be long.

I think that is everything for today.