Look at me I’m stranding hats!

I did not post the hat I finished on Friday night. It is Lillehammer from Cider Moon.
So here it is now.


It was a great pattern and I really liked how it came out. I knit this for a friend’s birthday. It is tomorrow, same as mine. Of course, I did not mail it out in time, because, well I was too lazy to go Saturday before the movies or to the airport post office on Sunday. He is only one state over, so he will probably get it on Wednesday. However, who knows, maybe the mail gods are looking over me and he will get it tomorrow. I really like this stranding business and I think I am doing a pretty good job. Who woulda thunk it? Maybe I will make a wooly vest. I have started working on a design for a hat. Just need to do the gauge swatch and figure it all out. It is times like this that I like knitting best of all… when the creative ideas start pouring out of my little brain. So many projects, so little time.

Other knitting news, I ripped out the partial arm on the Sweater of Doom and have started turning it into a vest. I am almost done with the arm holes and then will just have the neck to do. Possibly could finish it tonight. It is very exciting. I have been thinking I should look over all of my WIPs and figure out what I will finish and what I should frog. I feel like I have started stuff I will never finish and maybe I could use the yarn for something else. Well, whatever I decide, I am going to try to alternate between projects that I have started and new projects so I get some stuff completed, but I do not feel like I can not be creative. I usually am doing more than one thing at a time anyway. I get bored easily.

Oscar Movie reviews

Yesterday the hubby and I went to see all 5 Best Picture nominees. We did this last year as well. I enjoy it, although it is a long time in the theatre and I do not drink enough water, so by the end of the evening I am feeling a little off. I will say this year’s nominees are not as strong as last year’s movies.
I will review them in the order we saw them, not in the order of which I like best.

1) “Michael Clayton” This is a solid film. It is not wondrous, but it is enjoyable. It is about Michael Clayton, who is a “fixer” for gigantic law firm. He is sent to fix a lawyer who has gone off his meds. However, they mess around with the timeline at the beginning. So the stuff at the beginning actually happens in the middle of the narrative. There did not seem to be a reason for this. I do not mind messing with time if it matters to the story, like in “Memento”, but I did not see the point of it in “Michael Clayton”. It is a good movie, but not a phenomenal movie. I will be the first to admit I am not a huge George Clooney fan. He does a good job in the movie. However, Tom Wilkinson does a great job as a lawyer gone rouge. There were no really nice knits in which of course also knocks it down a bit. I am giving it 2 ½ knitting needles out of 4.

2) “There Will Be Blood” This is old school drama. It is a period piece that takes place in the western US at the turn of the last century. It tells the story of Daniel Plainview, Oil Man. It is based on the book “Oil!” by Upton Sinclair. I have not read this book but I have read other Sinclair novels. Sinclair was a socialist so the character of Daniel Plainview is a villain because all he cares about is money. This movie is great because of Daniel Day-Lewis. He puts in a phenomenal performance. I liked this movie a lot. It is well made and the acting superb. There were people who complained about the ending, but I am sure that was the ending in the book. I am also sure there was a lot more stuff in the book which no doubt contributed to the ending. However, the movie was 2 ½ hours long as it was and I think whatever they did not put in did not take away from the film a great deal. There were no nice knits, but there some great lamps so it sort of evens out. I am giving it 3 ½ knitting needles.

3) “Atonement” I am not sure why this movie made it to the top 5, I know I saw better movies than this last year, “3:10 to Yuma”, “Waitress”, and “Lars and The Real Girl” to name a few. It is about a girl who lies and what damage it causes. They also mess with the time line. Why? I assume so at the end we can be shocked and stunned, but I reality it was just sort of irritating. The movie was okay, it is watchable, but there are parts which seem to drag and other parts that seem to be missing. It is trying too hard to be arty and beautiful and meaningful and it really does succeed as a movie. Although Keira Knightly and James McAvoy are very pretty. Plus there are very few knits, which is wrong since this is England in the 30’s and 40’s and there would have been a lot of people wear hand knits. I give it 2 knitting needles.

4) “Juno” This was the only film I had seen before so it has already been rated and I am sticking to that rating. It is a good film, funny, touching etc. However, seeing it again, I noticed a couple of things. Juno is wearing some really cute fair isle vests at the start of the movie. Also, there is a driving scene and you can see mountains in the background. Now this movie is supposedly taking place in MN, there are no mountains any where near MN. I have lived here all my life, it is pretty flat, there are some parts of the state which have rolling hills, but nothing that you could mistake for mountains. This is something that bothers me, just because I think it can be avoided by being careful with the shots.

5) “No Country for Old Men” This is a great film about a guy who stumbles across a crime scene and gets himself involved. It is a tight film, has great acting and it is wonderfully shot. I love the Coen brothers movies and this one does not disappoint. Javier Bardem is amazing as a hired gun. As is Tommy Lee Jones as the sheriff who has seen more than he cares to of humanity. This is my pick for the academy award. It is excellent and I give it 4 knitting needles.

I also discovered that I can knit in the movies, but I can not tink in the dark.

Two Fisted Knitting

Okay, I love stranded knitting. I was able to cruise through all the color work on my hat in under a 24 hr period. That includes sleeping and reading the Sunday paper and playing some solitaire on the computer. Woohoo! I finished my hat for class and cast on for another one last night. I am hoping I can whip it out in the next couple of days and send it to a friend of mine who has a birthday coming up. Of course, the class hat was actually too big for me. I do not think I am very good at reading swatches. It does not matter though, as it fit my hubby to a tee and he looks marvelous in it. I only had one major screw up with the pattern, totally my fault as I charted it wrong, but no one will probably notice anyway. So I am very pleased with myself.
Here is the photo of it. Isn’t swell?

Land of TV shows

I watched both “Lost’ and “Supernatural” last night. They were both stressful. When did TV become so stressful? When I was a kid, there were not shows that caused me to worry or think what will happen next. Well, except Robotech, which I watched when I was in junior high and was really an animated soap opera. But it did not make me wonder what was really going on. There were alien robots trying to invade Earth and we were trying to fight them off. Not exactly overwhelming in possibilities, either we won or not.
I remember reading some article about how “Law and Order” was causing TV shows to become episodic rather than linear since there is little background of the characters and the crimes could happen any time. This was portrayed as a bad thing; however, this is how I remember most of the shows in my youth being like. I do not recall there being much substance to “Beretta” or “Kojak”, I did not have much supervision as a child. Or even something like “All in the Family” or “M*A*S*H” which would deal with some really serious issues, but it would be in one or two episodes. Of course, you did know stuff about the characters so perhaps that is the issue the author had with “Law and Order”.
Regardless, “Lost” was very good. Sayid IS one of the Oceanic 6. Yeah for me in guessing correctly. And there is a time anomaly on The Island. So, I am doing pretty well on my guessing. Sayid is too beautiful. And last night we got to see him in almost no clothes… mmm. However, seeing him being a hired gun is not a great feeling. Although it not like he really was a great humanitarian to start with and since we do not really know who he is eliminating, so it is possible that he is doing the world a favor.
So far, being off the Island seems a lot worse than being on it. As Sawyer pointed out last night it is not such a bad place. There is food and water and electricity and books and you do not get sick. So really, if you did not have any family or friends in the Real World why would you leave? I find it interesting that it is getting to the point on the show where a person watching would start to think that way. I would assume that it is written that way so viewers will not feel so bad for those who get left behind. I have a feeling that in the end, the Oceanic 6 will end up back on the Island. I think it is how it works. The Island keeps what is it considers its own.
In Supernatural, Sam lived the same day over and over again and every day Dean died. It was a trick by a Loki or Coyote like trickster god. Not sure what name they are giving him. However, it did give a glimpse into what Sam will be like when Dean does really die and it was just so depressing. I wonder if they are planning on ending the show this season. I hope not as it is what The Girl and I watch together. It would be nice to have it last a little longer. It is good bonding time.

Ennui

Yesterday I was feeling a little down, as you could probably tell from my blog posting. Sorry. I left work a little early because I just could not concentrate. I decided I would take a walk when I got home, I thought it might improve my mood. I went walking in the nature preserve next to my house. I do not go there very often because they do not let dogs in and when I go out for a walk, it seems like I should take the dogs with, or at least the crazy one. However, I felt like going alone. It was a balmy 16 degrees so it was not very crowded. I took some pictures to share.

About 50 years ago, this area was a lake. Apparently it was several miles wide. It was drained to put in the interstate next to it and now it is just a swamp, although it is still a “lake” in name.


I did not see much Nature. Well, I mean, there was trees and cattails and snow, which I know are technically “nature”, but I saw no animals. I saw evidence of animals. I think these are rabbit tracks, but I do not know for sure, Nature is not my specialty.


Towards the end of my walk I heard birds, but I could not see them. The only birds I saw were the big metal kind with red tails.
Here is a picture of the old people condos they built a few years ago. This used to be a cute little single family home and the VFW. They torn those down and put in these condos and after much fighting, the VFW was made smaller and added to the side of the condo building. Behind these condos are more old people condos which they torn down the local hardware store to put in. Richfield is a 1st ring suburb so it is an aging suburb. We have a lot of old people condos and just a block away from these is an assisted living center which replaced several blocks of single family houses. I always worry that our house will be next on the chopping block of progress.


Anyway, the walk wore me out, but I do not know that it made me feel better. I went home and worked on the Kick Ass-cot from Vikki Howell’s website. I am knitting it with Twize in Twack. I had knit up almost one whole side per her instructions and I did not like it with the fingerling weight yarn in it so I ripped it out and redid using different size needles instead of changing the yarn and I like I a lot better. I practiced knitting with my left hand while watching the Westminster Dog show, which I watch every year. I still do not like knitting with my left hand and my tension is not as even. However, I can do it I guess and that is what my goal was for the class. By the by, the Beagle won the show. It is the 1st time a beagle won at Westminster and he was very happy. He barked and jumped around. It always good to see the dogs excited.
I still did not feel great, especially since during every commercial they played these sad ads about dog in animal shelters. I can not adopt any more pets right now and I just felt bad that I could not bring these ones home too. I know I could end up being one of those crazy people you see on TV with like 100 cats in their house if I am not careful. Only I would have dogs. I know if I lived some where with more room I would have at least 4 dogs, maybe 5. I know, it is a sickness, I just love dogs. I am a responsible pet owner though and all of my pets are spade and neuter, except the littlest one because she has not been old enough until now to get it done. We just need to make an appointment. I take them to the vet every year to get checked out and they really have a pretty good life. I would never leave them behind if I had to move or whatever, not even my crazy dog Strider who has ADD.

The thing that made my night though was an ad I saw while watching the 10:00 news. Here in the fine state of Minnesota we have a “professional” basketball team. They are called the Timberwolves. They have a mascot called Crunch, who is a wolf, presumably one of the timber variety. Well, apparently Crunch’s birthday is fast approaching. Who knew that fictional mascot had birthdays? But the Timberwolves organization does not want to over look the birthday of their most valuable team member and they are having a special event to honor him. That’s right, if you come to February 24th game and are one of the 1st 5000 guests, you get a special gift to honor the birthday boy, A CRUNCH PUNCHING BAG. Who doesn’t celebrate their birthday by giving out images of themselves for others to beat upon? I know I am having a bunch made up of myself for my friends and family! LOL. Sports teams make me laugh. This has got to be the lamest promotion since the turkey drop on WKRP in Cincinnati. As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

A wandering mind

I can not concentrate today. First off, I have thought it was Wednesday all day and then when I remember it is only Tuesday I become sad. I don’t know why exactly, but I really am sick of work this week.
I have tons of stuff to do at home.
I need to get my taxes off to my sister; she is a CPA and does my taxes for almost nothing. Normally, I drive down there, but I do not know that I am up to that task this year. One never knows what the weather will bring and I have been crazy busy on the weekends lately. Plus, I must face the fact that her 3 kids are getting to the point that they drive me absolutely nuts.
I have knitting to do. I am taking a class for a Fair Isle hat so I can learn to knit with both hands. I am a thrower, but I am quicker at it than most. Mainly, because I hold my knitting “incorrectly”. It works for me, but it is making learning picking difficult. Our homework this week is to practice knitting with the other hand. Bleah. I can do it, but I am no where near as fast and it hurts my hands. I need to learn how to do it though because I would like to make a Fair Isle tam and I think in the end it would be quicker to use two hands.
I finished up a pair of wristers for The Girl. It is the Little Green Wristers pattern from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders. Of course, she wanted them longer so I repeated the cuff pattern so it is 6 repeats long and they are red, not green. She did like them and she said she would wear them today. I did not take a picture because I was not thinking, so hopefully I will be able to corner her tonight and get picture.
I have been thinking that I should try to finish up the Sweater of Doom. The more I think about, the more I think I should just rip up the sleeve and make into a vest. I would like a vest and I think the sleeve being at the wrong gauge is going to bother me more than I care to admit. I think the bigger problem is that I would have to knit the other sleeve at the same gauge and it took way to stinking long to knit a ¾ sleeve at that gauge.
I have a ton of stuff I have started and never finished. Why do I do that? I know that I should be able finish some of them. So I think before I cast on anything new, I am going to have to finish up at least a couple projects. Some I think I might just rip up. If I haven’t worked on it in a year, will I ever? I doubt it.
Over the weekend, one of the cords on my Knitpicks Options set came out of the metal ends. I was so bummed out. I have asked my husband to give them a holler and get a replacement, but part of me thinks I could just shove some glue in the metal end and stick it back in. Would that work or would it cause problems? I am very disappointed that it does not seem to have any adhesive on it all. It is just stuff in the tube. That does not seem like a quality product in my opinion.
I have to work on The Girl’s rainbow socks. I am worried that they are too small and I will have to rip them up. The sensible thing to do would be to have her try them on so I know, but I am filled with dread at the prospect of being correct.
I also have been working on a vest that I have the entire front and back panels all knit, but I need to stitch them together to finish it up and I have been too lazy to do that. Here it is almost half way through February and I have not finished anything for me to wear for winter. I had better hurry.

Here is a photo of a boat off the coast of Bonaire. I wish I was there right now. Knitting in the sun.

“Lost” in thought

I thought I would spend a little time discussing “Lost”. I am so happy it is back on the air. Although I find each episode leads to more questions. So I am going to put down some of my theories. I will not stand by these if things are revealed to counter them. They are just random thoughts.

1. The Island is in a parallel universe, sort of like Bizarro world in Superman. The electro-magnetic property is what controls the “gates” as it were, to get in and out. Perhaps in this world all of the Oceanic 815 passengers are dead and in the other one they are not. Or perhaps it was supposed to be the other way around and they switched places.

2. The Oceanic Six – Jack, Kate, Hurley and who else? I am guessing Sayid, Sun and Claire. Why? Because I think it is too cruel to abandon a pregnant lady and a baby on the Island. And Sayid because I love him and I want him to survive, plus he can fly a helicopter. My thought process is this: They leave the Island with the intention of going back to get the rest and can not return due to the electro-magnetic “gate” issue. Hence, Charlie telling Hurley that he has to go back to help the others.

3. Who the Hell is Ben? Why does he know so much about everyone? Did he really come to The Island when he was 10? Okay, I am not sure who he is, but I have always thought he had something to do with the Hanso family. Don’t know why, just a gut feeling. Perhaps he is psychic. It would explain why he knows about things that seem to be very private, not just names and crap. Does he have a contact on the “rescue” ship? I doubt it. I think he states what he thinks will help him survive. Why do the guys on the “rescue” ship what to get at him? Because he is a trouble maker, of course. LOL.

4. Time / space continuum – the time that occurs on The Island does not seem to jive with the time line in real life. The plane crashed in September 2004 and Oceanic air just started to fly again in December 2007. And it seems to be after that, that plane is “discovered” at the bottom of the ocean. So, why have the survivors only been on the island for 90 days or whatever it is? Hmmm, perhaps time is slower in The Island universe, which would help to explain why people do not seem to age much. Of course, this could be incorrect.

5. Why has Jack become so irritating? I used to like him, but he really has become such an ass. Maybe it is the whole “I am a doctor” attitude has finally become more than I can bear. Why can’t he listen to anyone? Arrrgh!

6. Can the dead come back to life on the island? Is Jack’s dad still alive? Is he one of the Oceanic 6? This seems like a stretch since I thought Jack’s mom was alive when Jack went to go get his dad’s body. I would think it would cause a scandal for him to come back from the dead in the “real” world. When Jack is ranting for the hospital staff to go get his dad in last season’s finale I think it is just drug induced confusion. However, wouldn’t that be a kick in the head if he was alive? Or perhaps, the Oceanic 6 do not come back to their world, but the parallel one and in that world; Jack’s dad is still alive. Hmmm. That would explain why they would not want to talk about what happened and who was left on the island.

Power to the People

Last night the Hub and I went to caucus. This is the 1st time I have ever done it, so it was quite exciting. There were TONS of people there. 293 people voted for a DFL presidential nominee in our little precinct. I do not know how many voted in the district, but the place was packed. I think we were in line just to get our ballot for about 30 – 40 minutes. I brought some knitting so I was content. We were going to caucus so we placed our vote for the presidential nominee and sat down. The room itself was packed too. I think it may have discouraged some from staying to actually caucus, but it was really heartwarming to see so many people doing their civic duty. There were high school kids there and a lot of other 1st timers like us. We did caucus and we were there until about 9:30. DH got a resolution past on to the next level and we both signed up to be delegates. Plus, I got a lot of knitting done. It was win / win.

If you had not yet had your primary / caucus in your state, I highly recommend you do it when it comes up. It is very empowering.

Major Award and other news

A couple of weeks ago I was sent an e-mail stating that I had won a contest. I was one of 101 people who won a skein a month contest hosted by Storey Publishing and WEBS. This week I received my January prize. It is a skein of Sheep 3 yarn and a new pattern (not yet released to the general public) from Sheep Shop Yarn. It is a wool / silk blend; it is too awesome: 325 yards of soft DK beauty. I love the tangerine color too. The pattern is for a scarf which is very nice, but I am not a huge scarf knitter so I do not know if I will make it or not. I probably will eventually because I think it would be a nice present, but I think it would look good in green or brown or maybe a golden brown, something leafy.
Here is a picture of my Major Award.

I have been very busy. Last Sunday, DH announced that he had lost his scarf and would like another one. Luckily, we were in the Needlework Unlimited Outlet store so he picked out some nice bulky yarn and I have been working on it this week because it has been colder than a mother in law’s kiss here I have put aside my other projects in order to finish it. I had him pick a pattern out of Barbara Walker’s Treasury of Knitting Patterns volume 1 and have been plugging away. I hope to have it done by the end of the week. I will post a photo when I am done.

“Lost” is on tonight at the same time as “Supernatural”, which really sucks. “Supernatural” is what The Girl and I watch together to bond. The whole family watches “Lost” together. DH is going to see if we can tape, yes tape, Supernatural upstairs while we watch “Lost” downstairs. Perhaps it is time to invest in a DVR, sigh.

I thought I would include a picture of a moment of peace in our chaotic household. Here is The Girl’s kitten and our crazy dog sleeping on Sunday morning.

Movie Review 1-24-08

Last night we went to the movies. The Girl called and said she wanted to go see “Cloverfield” as a family. So my DH gave up going to improv and off we all went to the movies. On Wednesday nights at the AMC theaters here, you get a free small popcorn if you are a movie card member, so all we bought at the concession stand was a large pop for The Girl. Plus the tickets were only $6 a piece. So overall it was a cheap night at the movies. As I am want to do, I will now review the movie.
“Cloverfield” is a monster movie all shot with a hand held video camera. It is a good film over all. However, if your stomach is not feeling 100% or you suffer from motion sickness, it can make you ill. As you know from my previous blogs, I have not been feeling well AND I have suffered from motion sickness since I was a child, so there were parts in which I shut my eyes just to keep from throwing up. Since I still enjoyed the film with these problems, I must recommend it. There are NO good knits though and that of course reduces it score. I am giving it 2 ½ knitting needles.
Just another note... you will want to stay until the very end of the credits as there is a thing at the end. We did not stay for it, but my husband went on-line after and said we missed this thing. Also, there is a ton of background stuff about the movie on-line if you are interested in that kind of thing. I am not, but DH is, so I know about it anyway.

Where have all the spoons gone?

Why don’t restaurants have spoons any more? I like to partake of an iced tea when I dine out and no longer do I get a spoon with it. They give me a straw and then put so much ice in the glass that I can not actually stir the sugar in to the liquid. Instead, there is a layer of sugar sediment at the bottom waiting to form into limestone. I hate it. However, if my husband orders coffee, they will bring him a spoon, even though he ALWAYS orders it black. So spoons do exist in the restaurant, I just do not get one. If I ask for one, they look at me like I just ask if they could go out and wash my car while I dine. I want the freaking spoons back! I realize that some study was done and some restaurateur discovered he could save a couple of bucks by not just handing out spoons, but I don’t care. I want a spoon at my place setting when I sit down. I want to stir sugar in my tea. I want to be able to pick up saucy foods without drips falling from my utensil. Is that asking too much?

Sorry for the rant. I have been ill. Again. On Friday night I was violently ill. I have never been that sick ever. So I am not sure what ails me, but I have narrowed it down to food poisoning, e coli, colon cancer or those aliens from Stephen King’s “Dreamcatcher”. I am feeling better today, but still just eating bland food.
The Girl is sick too, she puked in her bed in the middle of the night. And it is her 16th birthday. Poor little tot.
My knitting has suffered from all this illness. So I do not know how much more I can take.

Winter of my discontent

January has been very cruel. I have had in-laws visit, I was sick and an old friend (who I have discovered is crazy) has contacted me and The Girl was sick for a week. And The Girl will be 16 next week. I am completely discombobulated.

It is going to be very cold here this weekend (highs below zero F), so I knitted my oldest dog the Cables & Bits Shrug from Knitty. It was very easy and quite quick, plus she actually likes it. Normally, when forced into a sweater or jacket, she simply freezes up and refuses to move, but in this little shrug, she walked around and even lay down and slept in it. Hooray! Here she is modeling it.


Yes, it is done in Vikings colors. The Girl thought I should have done it all in yellow, but I had the purple and I wanted to use up both. Which I didn’t, but now I have a more even amount.

I am not done with The Girl’s rainbow socks and as her birthday is on Tuesday, it seems very unlikely they will get done. I should have one done by then and she can try it on so I know it fits and she will actually wear them before I start on sock # 2.

I also have been working on a vest for myself. I need to put the back together and attach the back and front at the shoulder and then I can finish up the trim etc. I will post a picture when I get one.

Illness abounds

I have been sick, miserably sick, to sick to knit sick. I have felt like crap since Tuesday afternoon. I did not come in to work yesterday. I spent the day sleeping, reading and going to the bathroom. I did finish “The Ruins”. It is a good book, but not exactly an upbeat story. It is a horror book about tourist in Mexico. I will not say anymore since it would give away a major plot element. Hollywood has made a movie about it, I saw a preview for it. I must say, I can’t image that it is going to be good. Just from what I saw of the preview, I could tell they had changed it. Plus there is a lot of internalizing in the book which almost never come across well on the big screen. I would recommend the book. It is well written and very interesting.
Here is a picture of my cat Buttercup. Isn’t she regal?

Why I am not a movie critic …

I had recommend “Sweeny Todd” to some people here at work. Since I loved it, I figured others would too. Apparently not. They both declared it too bloody. I guess all the years of horror films have distorted my view of what is grim. Of course, I had seen it in play versions and perhaps that skewed my views since I knew when the bloody bits would be coming up. I still loved it. So if you are queasy at the sight of blood, do not go see it.


It has been a few days since I checked in because I had all the in-laws in town. It was exhausting. Hopefully I will be able to have a full blog entry tomorrow.

So This is New Year's

Happy New Year.
It is that time of year when we tend towards looking backwards and forwards. In ancient times, the new year was celebrated in the spring, when the world was renewed. This to me makes a great deal of sense. Why do I want to change in the middle of winter? Why would the darkness bring forth a renewal in my life? I have decided this year that I will follow the ancient calendar and come up with resolutions in the spring. For now, I will continue to exist. I will think about the future, but I will reserve the right to not change until March. This seems fair to me. Of course, it is probably just me procrastinating, but it is the course I am sticking with this year.
As far as looking back at the last year, I have never seen the point of it. In reality the last 12 months of your life is still too close to look at objectively and actually learn from it. Really, it is best to look at how your life was, say 5 years ago. Look how far you have come... I know that 5 years ago, I was not in as good a place as I am now. I hope to be even better off 5 years from now. That is not to say bad things haven’t happened, they have, some of the quite bad, but over all, things today are better now. I think I like to solve a problem when I occurs and revisit years later as to whether or not it was the correct solution. So there will be no yearly highlights here.
So, just a wish for a safe and happy new year. I hope 2008 brings peace to the world. And be careful out there.

Happy Boxing Day

It is snowing here today. I have to work, so no after Christmas sales for me. It is quiet at work, of course, because a lot of people took the rest of the week off.
I figured I would do a quick update.

1st off: FOs
Here is the elephant I made for my littlest niece for Christmas. It is from Debbie Bliss’ Knit Toys. I think it turned out pretty darn cute.


Here are some Angels
These are from my 2005 Knitting calendar. One is made from Sugar and Cream cotton and the other from crochet cotton. Note the size difference. I sent the little one to a former co-worker as a gift.


2nd order of business: Movie reviews
We went and saw 2 movies yesterday. It is our tradition to go to the movies on Christmas Day. We had planned on seeing only one, but decided we had plenty of time, so why not 2. We saw “Juno” & “Sweeny Todd”. Both were very good.

“Juno”: It is well written and very funny. Parts are sad as well, so you may cry. Not a complete tear jerker, but tears may occur. Don’t say I did warn you. If you do not know what it is about, in a nutshell: Juno, 16, gets pregnant after having sex with her best friend and she decides to give it up for adoption. It has potential for melodrama, but does not ever reach that point. It has a very good soundtrack as well. I give 3 ½ out of 4 knitting needles

“Sweeny Todd”: I have seen this in the play form so I knew the story and the music ahead of time. Not sure everyone in the audience did. Sweeny Todd is a barber who was wronged and has come back for revenge. He is helped by the meat pie maker, Mrs. Lovett. It is a musical. There is a lot of singing in it. I say this, because there were some people behind us who did not seem to know it was a musical. There is also a lot of blood. However, most of it occurs during a singing montage, so if it bothers you, you could just close your eyes and listen to the incredible score.
This movie is a stunning adaptation of the Sondheim musical. Everyone sings beautifully and the scenery is incredible. You do feel like you are in Victorian London. Johnny Depp does a magnificent job in the role of Sweeny. This is probably one of the best films I have seen this year. I give it 4 out of 4 knitting needles.

3rd order of business: Christmas
My mom did seem to like the tank top I made her and it fit. I was very relieved. She is going to wear it like a vest, which I think will be nice.
The Girl liked all of her gifts, I did not finish her socks, but I showed them to her and told her they should be done by her birthday. She said she had seen them already and knew I was working on them. She was very happy.
My DH gave me a set of Knitpicks Options and “A Gathering of Lace” so I scored big time. Overall a good Christmas.

another day, another dollar

I hate work
I hate work
I hate work
I hate work
I hate work

Today is a bad day at work. I actually like my job most days, but today not so much. I really don’t know that I like working in an office any more. It just seems to me that there must be more to life than worrying about shipments and deliveries of parts.

Yesterday I left work with no energy and so I did not take a picture of my elephant. I did almost no knitting. Well, I did teach myself to do mosaic knitting out of Barbara Walker’s book of the same name. So I guess technically I did knit. I watched the Vikings beat the Bears. It was not a pretty game, but they won and that is honestly all I care about.

I am supposed to go the Knitting Guild Holiday party tonight, but I can not remember if we are supposed to bring something or not. I do not want to show with out the proper food or drink so I think I might just skip it. I have a ton of other stuff I need to do tonight anyway. I have yet to actually attend a Guild party in the almost two years I have been a member. I am not good at going to social events. I never have been. I take after my father. I have been trying to get better, I attended the company holiday party last Saturday for example, but it is hard for me.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a brighter day.

Movie review and knitting news

The family went to see “I am Legend” on Saturday morning. It was very good, 3 out of 4 knitting needles. It was very psychological. Will Smith was fantastic and he is the main reason to see the film. I love him. There were no hand knits in the film, which oddly makes sense as he is the last living person in NYC; not like you can’t find clothes there. It is not very gory so if that sort of thing bothers you, you might still enjoy this film. There are some jumpy bits, like well, I am not sure what to call the infected people, but sometimes they jump out. You know, it is sort of a horror film, for lack of a better word. However, I think of it as a more thought provoking and questioning film, in the vein of “28 Days Later” and “The Mist”. It brings up the ever present question of what if we are messing with stuff that we really don’t know how to control? The premise of the movie is that a miracle cure for cancer mutates into something deadly to humans. Think of all the drug ads we are subject to every day. They all look alike, regardless of what they are “curing”. They all show people outside biking, gardening and crap. This is the case for almost everything from allergy medicine (which makes sense) to erectile dysfunction and herpes (which really doesn’t). I do not have either one of the last two listed, but I am pretty sure neither one impedes one’s ability to garden or ride bike. Could all of these drugs really be good for us as a nation or as a world? Could the cure be worse than the disease? I know sometimes I read or listen to the side effects of some prescription drugs and think that it really doesn’t seem that the drug is any better, like the drug for the toe fungus where one of the side affects can be liver damage. Maybe it’s just me, but I think I would rather have my liver intact than beautiful toes.
Just a few things that the movie made me think about. You can take it or leave, it matters not to me.

On to knitting news. I finished the elephant I was making for my littlest niece. I will take a picture tonight before I send it off. It was from Debbie Bliss’ Knit Toys book. I like the book. The patterns are fairly clear and straight forward. One complaint I do have, is that sometimes they say how many stitches are at the end of a decrease or increase row and sometime they don’t. I personally like to have them there, but I feel it is better to choose one way or the other.
I have been working on The Girl’s socks, they are going well, but I really do not think they will be done for X- mas. I think they will have to be for her birthday (it is in January). I will keep plugging away at them though. I also have to do a few more things for the in-laws. I think it will be fine.

FOs

Here it is. The infamous tank top…I hope my mom likes it.


Here is a close up of the collar. As you can see it is a little wonky. The other side is worse. I am not sure what happened.


Plus a bonus FO: the hat and neck warmer for my co-worker’s husband. I brought it in today and she is not even in the office, so no paycheck today.


Next up, I am going to finish up the elephant I have started. That should only take a couple of days since I have already started it.

Weekend update

The tank top is done. The collar is a little hinky, but it will have to do. If my mom does not like it, she can send it back and I will fix it. I have pictures in my camera. I forgot to download them so I will have to wait to post them.
I am almost done with the neck warmer for my co-worker’s husband. I should finish it up today. Tomorrow I should get my 1st payment for a knitted garment. Pretty exciting. I had hoped to finish it over the weekend, but I went shopping on Saturday and I fell asleep during the Vikings game yesterday. So that was valuable knitting time lost. The shopping was pretty fruitless. I really have not been in the buying mood. I picked up one thing for my husband, which I can not reveal here as he does actually read my blog. HI HONEY!
The Vikings are on their way to the play-offs. I just know it. I realize they will not probably win a playoff game, but a month ago I was getting worried they would not actually win any more regular season games. Skol Vikings!
The Girl was late coming home last night and we were getting ready to ground her when she finally arrived and told us she had lost her cell phone. She noticed it on her way home and went back to look for. She did not find it, of course, because it was 10 at night and dark out. She also was on her way to a nice case of frostbite when she finally did get home. She will be the death of me. DH went out to look for it this morning, but also no luck.
We have 30 days to get her a new phone or else the line will be cancelled and I will have to pay a cancellation fee. This is very disheartening. I think I will wait a little while and let her stew a bit.
Last night I watched the 1938 version of “A Christmas Carol”. I think I have mentioned before my strange obsession with Dickens’ tale. The 1938 version is fairly condensed as far as the story goes. It does not have Scrooge’s fiancée or going abroad on Christmas Ever. It does however have the sickliest looking Tiny Tim. I think sometimes the boy playing Tim must grow between the casting and the actual film and they really don’t look like they might die in less than a year, but this Tiny Tim does not disappoint. He looks very ill and he seems a bit addled in the brain. So I can recommend this “Christmas Carol” mainly for that. Reginald Owen does a fine job, but he is no Alistair Sim, who is hands down the best Scrooge ever. Normally, seeing “A Christmas Carol” puts me right in the Christmas mood, but not this year. I am not sure what is going on this year. I do feel stressed out or anything, in fact, sort of the opposite, I feel very lazy. I know I have a ton of stuff to do, mainly knitting and buying the DH some more stocking stuffers.