Do not attempt to learn a new cast on method 20 minutes before you'd like to go to bed. I tried last night, and an hour later could finally do Emily Ocker's Cast On. Probably didn't help me that I've never used a crochet hook for anything other than picking up dropped stitches before. :)
Through our week-long plus Heroes marathon, I've been a pretty productive knitter! Last Thursday, I finished the Whitby socks and gifted them Friday night.
Project Details
Pattern: Whitby from "Knitting on the Road" by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Fleece Artist Sea Wool
Needles: Crystal Palace US2 DPNs
Pattern Thoughts: The cable/diamond front was very easy to memorize and even more fun to knit. The Sea Wool was nice to work with, and they knitted up very smooshy. The heel turn was a bit odd with a slipped stitch pattern, but looks very nice.
After finishing the Whitby socks, I cast on a par of Horcrux Socks Thursday night..
And finished the first last night
Yeah! My Mountain Laurel is blooming!
Sunday night, Hubs, my little sister, and I caught Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End at a late night viewing. I had high hopes for the 3rd installment as I really enjoyed the first two movies quite a lot. Keeping with my usual trend, critics mainly panned the movie, but I enjoyed it. Visual effects were superb; I bet this will be a fantastic Blu-Ray or HD DVD title. Plot lines could be a bit confusing at times, but who can complain when there's multiple Johnny Depps in one scene? The underlying love triangle plot hook with Elizabeth-Jack-Will was as thick as ever. Keith Richards as Jack Sparrow's father is absolutely hilarious. At one point, he's shown playing an acoustic guiter, but I was disappointed that a pirate-y version of"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" wasn't played. Be forewarned, this movie is quite long, over 3 hours with previews and staying for the hidden post closing credits scene.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars. Proving for a fact that pirates > ninjas :)
Knitting Rating: 1 out of 5 Skeins. I didn't bring any knitting projects with me, but I wish I had during the ending credits.
I shouldn't even bother making my bed. 10 minutes after making it on Sunday night, I was greeted by this.
Now maybe he could learn to make the bed since he has unmaking it down pat!
Finished Whitby Sock from Nancy Bush's "Knitting on the Road"
Lazy Ass Me Brought Out the Tripod for Extreme Cable-y Closeups!
Second Sock is to the Heel Flap
Um. Yeah, I know it's not Monday. I couldn't peel my eyes away from the DVRed episodes of Heroes this weekend. Last night, we sat down to finally watch Borat.
My reactions during the movie ranged amongst mild amusement at the way over the top antics, belly laughs at less forced bits (bear in the ice cream truck = hilarious!), shock at folks' reactions and answers, and wanting to drench my mind's eye with bleach. *shudder*
Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars. Rather enjoyable, but some bits are just too gross.
Knitting Rating: 5 out of 5 Skeins. Have a very engrossing, focus-intense project on hand for the more heinous scenes.
Only a week late for their hoped for Mother's Day debut, I present Fancy Silk Socks!
In repose after a long night of blocking no flash to show the lace better
Blared with flash for more true to color shot72 hours. That's how long I've had this damned migraine. Regular blogging will recommence once my brain doesn't hurt anymore.
Organizing can be addictive.
After accidentally missing a family wedding a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to try some calendaring options. Enter Google calendar. Now only can you record events and share them, you can make multiple calendar views. And, get this. You can text message your calendar from your cell phone to view scheduled events and ad new ones. I should get some type of plaque or reward for the geekiest calendar views - shared gaming view for tracking which RPG is to be played on a given night, TV view to remind me to set the DVR to record my fave shows, and an in depth view listing all our GenCon events. I'm also hooked on Ravelry. I've added add my recently finished projects and specs and my current works in progress. Now, I have to get more of my photos onto flickr to share on Ravelry.
Who knew a simple New Year's resolution to get more organized would lead to many hours being sucked into websites!
Whew, where did the weekend go? Last thing I knew, I was nice and cozy on the couch knitting away for hours watching "Bones". But, oh, what a knitting filled weekend it was!
First off, let me reveal last week's mystery knitting. It's a set of Dashing fingerless mitts from Spring '07 Knitty. They are for my pal, Zoe whose computer is in a cold room.
Project Specs
Pattern: Dashing from Knitty Spring '07
Yarn: less than one skein of undyed Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted
Needles: US 7 Crystal Palace DPNs
Project Thoughts: The Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted was so soft and wonderful to work with. Pattern was clearly written. I was able to finish both in two evenings worth of knitting. But, oh, I stink at making thumb gussets!
First Finished Fancy Silk Sock on the Sidewalk
We've finally gotten back into the Blockbuster Online groove. Just in time for beautiful outdoor weather. >.< Up for discussion this week is Eragon.
For full disclosure, I have read "Eragon" and its sequel "Eldest." I'm also a fierce believer that movies should closely follow canon and have been known not to enjoy movies that stray too far from the book. Don't even get me started on the shrunken head scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. That said, Eragon the movie did stray from canon quite a bit, including several plot lines with major characters, Brom and Arya. I was highly disappointed that my favorite butt-kickin' elven warrior chick, Arya, was so flat and damsel-in-distress-like. Feh.
Plot diversions aside, the movie was very visually interesting. Good action and fighting sequences, Saphira's gift to Brom, and an absolutely cuddly-wuddly baby dragon. Awwww.
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars. Decent enough movie, especially if you haven't read the book.
Knitting Rating: 4 out of 5 Skeins. I was able to follow a pattern and keep engrossed in the plot.
On my return home this afternoon from running errands, I was greeted by my final package from my Knitty SP8 Secret Pal,Rincaro! She pulled together an absolutely fabulous black and blue themed package.
Chocolate, gothy black nail polish, blueberry Lip Smackers, 2 skeins of Misti Alpaca lace in black (so wonderfully soft!), skein of Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille (I see this being a small scarf), Austermann Step (LOVE this yarn!), and bestest of all, a sock blocker!!
Rincaro, I want to know who your spies are in Indy because not 10 minutes before I opened your package, I was eyeballing this bag in Target! I love it so much I've all ready moved my D&D and sock knitting stuff into it!If you're a knitter, crocheter, or fiber enthusiast, get thee to Ravelry and sign up for a beta account. I received my beta invite last night and am hooked. The site's premise is to create a community with a repository of patterns, yarns, and more. As a person who has spent far too many frustrating hours googling for examples of finished products, I love the relevant, easy to use search function. Maybe I'll actually find someone who has finished the Saffron Cables afghan. :)
In local knitting community news, there's a new lace knitting group starting at Stitches N Scones in Westfield. Meets the first Saturday of the month from 11AM to 1PM. Hopefully, I can drag myself out of bed in time to attend!
*abrupt change of topic*
I had a bad realization today. Mother's Day is only 9 days away. No way in hell will I have time to knit the Fancy Silk Socks and mail them out prior to the holiday. Ah well, they'll just have to be late. :)
Mystery knitting continues. I'm well over halfway completed and hope to have them finished tonight or tomorrow!
Finished Tiger SocksThe worst possible food to leave forgotten in a refrigerator is sushi. And, no this was not in our fridge at home. *shudder*
