Collage

Collage

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Catching up

This is a hodgepodge of a post, so I'm apologizing now. The family that was visiting me has left and I'm working furiously to finish 2 knitting projects before I leave for Maine! One of the projects is the Hydra Multnomah shawl. I'm so close! Two more rows, a cast of and some blocking and that baby's done. My other project, Snape's Socks, is a little more daunting. I'm a very slow sock knitter. I'm about halfway done with the heel of the first sock. I'm only doing a mini sock to complete the pair, so once I get the regular sock done it wont be but another hour until its mate is completed. I'm thinking I'm going to have to take it to Maine with me to try and finish on time! I'm torn between knitting like a mad woman and trying to finish the sock or just casting on a really quick project to turn in before I leave. I'm also getting tight finishing the current dish towel and knitting another by the end of August. Oh, and I need to do a ton of laundry and pack and hopefully bake something to take with me to eat in the car. Stay tuned to see if I finish it all!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

VIP Movie Review

Things have been a little busy around here because we've had family staying with us, but I wanted to get out a little post about the movie we went to go see on Monday night. Its was exciting, but also a bittersweet goodbye to a series (both books and movies) that I have grown up with. Of course I'm referring to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt 2. I was very impressed, I didn't cry at all the whole night. (I'll admit, I'm not much of a crier anyway). Before pt 1 last year I listened to the audiobook right before I went to see the movie, but this time I decided I wanted to judge the movie solely on its own, so I didn't reread the last half of the book. Its been probably four years or so since I read it, so I don't remember specific details, which worked out well I think.

I think the movie was great. What a bland statement, eh?  Lets see, the parts I loved: McGonagall's "I've always wanted to use that spell" line, Neville, Lune yelling at Harry for his attention, Ron charging the boys for attacking Hermione, Ron knowing parseltounge because Harry talks in his sleep,and Snape. I have never been a fan of Snape, not even the first time I read through the book and discovered his secret. But Mr. Rickman played the character so well, and those flashbacks were so emotional that you couldn't help but feel for his character. Some of the things I wasn't overly impressed with: Ginny's character. After the last movie I felt they were (and rightly so) leading up toher  almost be on the same level as the trio, but while Neville shined, she sort of faded. As one of my favorite characters I was disappointed she didn't have a bigger role. Also I would have liked to see the duel between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix emphasized more. Really though, I thought the movie was great and will rewatch several times over the next months.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

WIP update

I finally got to take some pictures of the projects I've been working on. First up: my finished Boneyard shawl. I really loved knitting this shawl and I think it might be made for a few people as gifts soon! It worked up fairly quickly and I really loved the yarn I chose as well.




Boneyard shawl by Stephen West, knit in Knit Picks Gloss DK

Next up is a project that I've been working on a lot lately. Its the last shawl for my OWL for the HPKCHC. Its my least favorite shawl of the three, but I still like it ok. I think part of it is the fingering weight yarn. I have discovered I really like the thicker yarns! Still, this is a nice pattern and I'm coming along on it.

Sorry for the blurry picture. I didn't realize how bad it was until I pasted it in here! But you get the picture. I'm almost ready to start the feather and fan repeats.

Last but not least, the most recent project I have started. This is just a pair of plain vanilla socks using the Sunshine Yarns Twist yarn in the Snape colorway. I have loved Dani's yarns for a while, and I'm really excited to be making socks out of it!

These are some of my favorite colors, so that doesn't hurt either! I realize that I am a very slow knitter (especially socks!) so I might have a plan to make sure I can turn these in for homework. More on that as the end of the month gets closer :)

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Yarn fail, journaling fail, but movie review!

So the past two days have been a lot of ups and downs for me. First, the ups: I started riding my bike to work, my Multnomah shawl is going well, I have a wonderful husband, we gave the dog a bath yesterday, my trip to Maine is getting planned :) The downs: I managed to tangle about half a skein of fingering weight sock yarn and is took us (yes, hubby was nice enough to help) a good hour or two to get it all untangled, I had all these great ideas about journaling and haven't written at all, I'm behind on laundry, I almost dumped it of my bike on the way home today, and I spent Monday picking up two different kinds of bodily fluids from the cat.

Anyway, I'm hoping that I can rectify the journaling situation. We've already untangled the yarn and I started a pair of plain socks. Those will probably be the only thing I cast on this month, except maybe a washcloth.

Tron: Legacy (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version) [+Digital Booklet]Hubby and I got Tron from Netflix and finally watched it last night. I would have to give it 3.5 stars. It was pretty entertaining, but hubby and I both agreed that there were a couple of things that didn't fully make sense. We thought that maybe if we had seen the original Tron that we would have understood the movie a little better. It was also a little predictable. I would watch it again, but it's not a buyer.