A Christmas Movie Update

Remember last month when I posted my favourite Christmas movies? Well, I have been amassing a nice collection of them on dvd and here is what I have so far and what I still need to complete what I consider the perfect assortment of Christmas nostalgia.

First, these are the ones I own that I have watched so far:
White Christmas
Miracle on 34th Street (in black/white, hooray!)
Charlie Brown Christmas
Muppet Christmas Carol (twice, so far)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (twice, also - and this is the original one)

I own, but haven't watched:

It's a Wonderful Life
The Hogfather

I already know this is going to be arriving from Santa (aka Darth Stevious):
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas

So that leaves only The Christmas Toy, which is probably going to have to be ordered. Not bad, considering I started the season with only White Christmas, Muppet Christmas Carol, and The Hogfather.

And, for those of you with inquiring minds, Terry Pratchett (the awesome British fantasy writer) wrote The Hogfather and it is, as are all his books, fabulously entertaining, funny in a lovely warped way, and features my favourite character, DEATH (who speaks all in CAPS). If you haven't read anything by him, please run out and buy The Colour of Magic (it's the first in the series) and quickly read it. Then post your review here.

Today's knitting went much better than the previous debacle. I had no problem with the shortie fingerless gloves I'm making for Lynn. One is finished and I'm at the thumb on the second one. I anticipate finishing before I go to bed. Giuli helped me pick out yarn for a couple more projects which must remain hush-hush and I hope to start on them as soon as I finish the gloves. Especially since one is a Christmas gift.

I had fun today with Giuli as we tackled the yarn closet of DOOM over at my dad's house. My mom had a closet that I filled with boxes of yarn from various and sundry stash places around her house. There are, no kidding, hundreds of skeins of yarn - all acrylic - and I'll be making good use of it for charity projects now that I've found Pine Ridge Reservation to donate warm knitted things. Giuli and I actually organized the Red Heart Super Savers, dividing them up pretty much by colour and reboxing them, stacking them in front of the 3 foot high stack of those giant pound skeins of Red Heart. And then there are the boxes of miscellaneous brand yarns that comprise maybe another 6 or 7 boxes, at least. When everything is packed into the closet, which is probably 3 feet deep and 3 feet wide, the boxed and bagged yarn comes up about 5 feet high. Oh yes, and that doesn't include the two boxes of yarn that we took to my house today. When we had it all out on the floor, Giuli wonderered if Grandma has pulled a heist at the local Wally World.

Well, I'm off to knit again so I will leave you with Happy Hannukah wishes this week. I dropped off some Hannukah chocolates at my chiropractor's office today. My dad had bought a bunch of stocking stuffer candy for the kids and he handed us 4 little bags of the foil covered chocolates that look like coins. Upon close inspection, I found that, instead of coin markings stamped on the foil, there were dreidels and menorrahs. So I thought I'd pop over to Captain Chiro's office to share them with him. He was appreciative - tomorrow I have to run back over there and take something to Joanie for Christmas since I don't want to discriminate. :-) Also, I need to have him take care of my achey back, so I'll be killing two birds with one stone.

No pictures today but tomorrow I should have another pair of finished gloves to share.

Houseguests and the Hazards of Knitting

Disclaimer: Lest anyone get the wrong impression, the houseguests were not the cause of the hazardous knitting episode. I just wanted to show y'all the two little furballs who have been staying with me whilst their mama moves to her new apartment. On the left is Captain Jack (who would not cooperate and the first couple of pictures were just of his butt) and on the right, Commodore Norrington aka The Guinea Pigs of DOOM...at least that's what they are known as while they visit. I love to spoil them by giving them fun food like apples, parsley, cucumbers, and peppers. Some things go over well and others just get the cold shoulder. But there's always the old standby romaine lettuce and carrots should their palates not be tempted by the new menu. At least now Norrington will come and sniff my fingers, which is a major accomplishment on the guinea pig social scale. Jack is a little friendlier and I have even let him watch me read blogs and Plurk whilst sitting in my lap. It's fun to have them visit and, yes, for the cynical people out there, I would still have them over even if Heather didn't bring me the XBox 360 as a perk. So, there!

Onto the knitting front -

Another pair of fingerless gloves heading for Texas will fly out of here Monday evening. A second pair, same colour but a different design, is completed and spoken for. Some denim blue shorties are on the needles and I have to buy yarn for a men's pair which was ordered earlier this evening. Whew!

For some reason, this last pair proved to be a temporary thorn in my side. I messed up the pattern twice so I took out first about 3 inches and then 1 inch. Frustrated, I decided to start over. Okay, I also thought I'd change my knitting method from dpn's to using 2 circular needles. It's not a method I'm unfamiliar with, so I thought I'd see if it was faster than using 4 or 5 dpn's. (For the record, the dpn's I've been using are bamboo and I enjoy working with them. I don't want any dpn's out there to feel that I'm prejudiced against them.)

Okay, so I went through my two pencil pouches full of circulars, sizing everything, trying to find two size 7's for the project. One 16-inch Addi Turbo - great! Then there were a couple others that were various brands and lengths. I grabbed one that was much longer and hoped the length wouldn't annoy me too greatly.

For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this glove. (cue Star Wars music) Something wasn't quite right. Some little voice (my Inner Knitter, most likely) was trying to get my attention but I kept telling IK to shut up. Finally, with six rows to go (I kid you not), I decided to walk across the room and pick up the first glove (previously, I had been too lazy to get up. Laziness cost me dearly.) When I compared glove 1 to glove 2, I discovered that the one on the needles was smaller! WTF? I grabbed the needle gauge and discovered the culprit. One of my circs was a size 6. So, I had knitted the entire palm in stockinette stitch on a smaller needle. And it ended up making a difference which, in my "perfectionista" brain was egregious.

--An aside to the knitting audience: Some knitters, who shall remain nameless, might even consider it truly odious if I dared pass off this flawed garment as first-rate. Therefore, a monumental decision hung over my head or (to use another visual) the glove was like an albatross around my neck.

The way I saw it, I had two options. I could either knit two more gloves - a left one to match Thing One (dpn glove) and a right one to match Thing Two (circ size 6/7 glove). Or, I could frog the one on the needles and start over...again.

My decision? Well, I really didn't care for the size 6 needle because it was long and unwieldy and actually slowed down my knitting, so I didn't relish the thought of spending a couple more hours knitting with it. I opted to frog the nearly-finished glove.

Then, after the yarn had resumed its unknit form, I had a brainstorm. Actually, I call it a Scarlett O'Hara moment. "As God is my witness, I'll never use the wrong size circulars again!" And an idea burst forth (I wish it had emerged fully-formed from my head, but I actually had to mosey downstairs to the sewing nook to implement my devious plan). I would make a slap-dash, quickie circular needle holder that I could hang on the wall and store all my needles by size.

I remembered a refashioning that I had seen somewhere on the Net, using a pair of jeans to make a holder, so I grabbed an old pair that are now too big and have a hole in one knee. They were destined to become a skirt or who-knows-what, anyway. I borrowed about 30 minutes from my knitting self, loaned it to my sewing self, and ended up with this.


It's not visually exciting or aesthetic but we're going for function here, folks. Now I can easily find the right needles without spending about fifteen minutes sizing them all. And, whilst arranging all the needles in their proper slots, I discovered the reason why I ultimately ended up with two different sized needles for the glove fiasco. Lo and behold, I only have one number 7 circular needle. Duh!

(Since this unfortunate incident, Heather graciously picked up another size 7 for me - a 16-inch Balene. We'll see how I like working with this brand as I've only used straights and crochet hooks by them before. Thank you bunches to Heather!)

So, on Sunday evening after our regular Chili's dinner, I camped out in Borders' cafe and made a lovely left glove which is happy warming my hand as I write this (not as I enter it into the computer. I actually wrote this entire blog after I finished said glove and was waiting for Ded to get off work at 10pm)

(Note to Syler: Yes, Sis, I wear each pair for a while to see how they fit and assess if I want to make any future design adjustments. So you could say I "broke in" your gloves. I wore Seguin's too, if you recall. The way I look at it, if I'm not happy with the way they fit, you probably won't be either, so I have to take each pair for a test drive.)

So, that's about it on the knitting front. Elsewhere, I've been playing Sims2 because it runs so well now that there's nothing else installed on the compy. Giuli got the 24-hour flu early in the week, followed a couple of days later by Michael and Mary. Heather moved to a new apartment. And the Lost Boys had a cd release gig last night which I missed because I was having way too much fun knitting, frogging, sewing, and wishing Mary wasn't sick or I would have grabbed her and Giuli and enjoyed an evening of "Heroes and Scoundrels". One last picture here - the other pair of fingerless gloves...aka the ones that didn't drive me over the edge.

;-)

Yes, I Have Been Knitting

Lest anyone think I had just fallen off the face of the earth, this is what I've been up to. The Giuli Slouch Hat is a design of my own which I think turned out pretty nicely. It's a tad smaller than the other two and I found a nice eyelet pattern in one of my Barbara Walker Treasuries to play with. I haven't blocked it yet, but I kind of like the effect that you get the way it is. Giuli called it a mushroom hat so I think it shall remain so.



The fingerless gloves were made for my pseudo-niece in Texas. She likes purples and I had this plum-coloured yarn which I think will pass for a reasonable fascimile of purple in a pinch. Once again, I rambled around through my many knitting books and found a fun pattern stitch to play with. She received her gloves today and, I'm happy to say, she loves them. :-) Now, I'm working on a pair for her mom.


I forgot to take pics of the black pair of gloves I made in a more manly style. Perhaps I can get a shot of them on their new owner and I'll post them. I did just a 2x2 ribbing on the top and the plain stockinette palm. The latest ones I made, which I need to put up in the Etsy shoppe as soon as I figure out how, are pictured here in a gray and creamy ragg colour. I think I found the pattern stitch in a sock pattern book.


Somehow I am thinking this is probably not the picture I'm going to put up on Etsy, although I'm sure Mary would disagree. If you look closely, you can see a smidge of the sewing nook in the background which Dad and I have been working on for the past couple of weeks.

I can't believe how close it is getting to Christmas. You would think that this is a movable holiday the way it always seems to sneak up on us. I have been getting a bit in the Christmas spirit by watching my seasonal DVDs. Ded bought me two the other day to help fill out my collection - yea! He got the original Grinch (which I watched last night) and Miracle on 34th Street (which comes on two DVDs - the second one has the black-and-white version, thank the gods). I'm pacing myself on the movies with two down and four to go. In Borders tonight, I saw the Charlie Brown Christmas DVD and nearly hyperventilated over it. I don't have it and I NEED it. Yes, yes, I do.

Okay, enough of that. Ded and I inherited a hi-def television last week so we played musical tv fun and games. We hauled my big ol' set up to Gainesville for Heather (which she now has to move in about a week when she relocates to her new digs) and Michael inherited her set. I'm still getting used to the screen - it is awesomely clear but just a tad smaller than mine. Playing San Andreas on it is a whole new experience, according to Ded, and I really enjoyed watching the Sarah Connor Chronicles on it last night. But the best was Prince Caspian. OMG It was truly wonderful! We kept commenting on how unbelievably clear the picture was. I'm sure this will eventually get old but for now, it just rocks.


On the school front, I ordered the entire set of the Key To... math series workbooks for Michael and Mary which arrived today. Better than words, I'll let the pictures describe the unspeakable joy of the kids when they saw all this mathematical fun awaiting them.





And then Mary unearthed the catalog that came with the math books...
So I leave you with this final look at all that Algebraic and Geometric fun that looms ahead of us.

Oh, yeah, I'm up to a Level 19 Barbarian in Knit Wars, too.

Just to update you on my projects for the week, here are pictures - look, I'm actually finishing things these days. What a difference from years past.


First up, a slouch hat for Mary. As Mary is sick, it is being modeled by Giuli. This is the Gretel pattern by Ysolda Teague. I made it from a wool blend and absolutely love this pattern. I had issues with the cast-on because it was something new and different and, yes, I frogged it several times before it finally sank in. The cable pattern was actually not as hard as I thought it would be, but it does take concentration so this is not a mindless pattern by a long shot. I'm pleased with the result and will be casting on today for another one, this time for Caitlin. Although it is a Christmas present, I am going to give it to her next week so she can wear it when she and The Lost Boys go to Louisiana for the Louisiana Renaissance Festival in Hammond, LA.


Next on the FO list, more shorty fingerless gloves (also being modeled by the lovely Giuli). My own pattern, incorporating a Barbara Walker Shetland Eyelet stitch from my new set of BW Tresuries (cue angel choir here ) and made from a wool blend. And may I add how much fun I am having designing these? Whee! (Also, I was neglectful when first posting about this wonderful book collection, aka the Holy Grail of Knitting, as I should have given a much-deserved plug to Schoolhouse Press. I have bought several things from them over the past few years and they are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.)

Lest you think that all I do is knit, I finally finished reading Trojan Gold by Elizabeth Peters, started Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, and am reading aloud Inkheart by Cornelia Funke to Giuli. In the past two weeks, I think I have listened to about two dozen LimeNViolet podcasts, also. I live to multitask. :-)

Where did Giuli go? (And, yes, that is a Jayne hat that Mr. Teddy Bear is wearing in the background.)

So how did you spend your election day?

I thought I would go visit Captain Chiropractor today since it's the beginning of the month and I need a tune-up and realignment. After I called and left a message, I decided I would get a nice hot shower, go vote, and then stop to get my adjustment. Ah, how plans do go awry.

In said nice, hot shower where you think that your muscles are going to say "Aaahhh! Thank you" instead my muscles in my left shoulder said, "AHA! Gotcha!" and I yelled out in pain everytime I moved my left arm. This did not bode well for the rest of the day. After somehow managing to get myself dried, dressed, and caffeinated, Joanie called me from Capt. Chiro's office and said to come on in.

Blessed relief! First the ice treatment, then the fun rolling table, and some bone crunchy crackly goodness. My lower back feels better and the pain in my shoulder is gone with just some residual achiness. I got a stern look when I admitted I'm not drinking as much water as I should but I shall try to do better. I love that Capt. Chiro wants to be a superhero because every time that he is about to crunch down on me, he hums the Superman theme. I have the best doctors in the world. (My neurologist is a roller coaster addict. Does that tell you anything about the kind of specialists I have in my life? Funtime.)

So, then we tooled over to the park to vote. Now, this is the first time I've had to vote at this location and I was a little skeptical when I saw that I had to go to the park. Hmm...do we have voting booths spread out amongst the trees? Should be interesting. I originally had a book and my knitting with me but, after seeing the average-sized amount of cars there, I decided just to take my book with me. All the volunteers there were so nice. I can't believe they get there at 6am and were still happy (punchy?) when I got there after 4:30ish. I ended up having to wait in just one of the lines and I read all of one page in my book (and I read fast). We had touch screens which are pretty cool. I guess I was in there for maybe ten minutes.

Then we went to the other park (the nice park farther down the road a piece) and I knitted by the lake and enjoyed just hanging out with the ducks and geese. Ded walked around a bit since he likes to let the ideas for his writing come together whilst walking but I wanted to sit and knit so I worked on a washcloth that I started earlier at the chiro's office. It started getting cool and I didn't have a jacket on, so we headed out around 6ish.

So, now I'm back home and I plan to knit on the second fingerless glove, probably listen to a LimeNViolet podcast or two, drink water!, and put some pictures on the blog later this evening. That's about it for now.

On a somber note, I found out today that Everything is Not Just Smooty. My daughter posted that "the artistic director of the theatre I used to work at commited suicide yesterday?!?!" I just want to send my condolences to everyone who is affected by this. I don't think I met Robin when I was up there, but I know that this had to come as a shock to all those great folks who worked with him.

UPDATE ---

Fingerless gloves are finished and here are pictures. This style is my own design and made into a shorty glove for people with shorty hands. :-) The top of the glove uses a pattern from The Harmony Guides and the palm is in stockinette stitch. There is about a 3/4 inch ribbing at the top and bottom. I am really pleased with the way they turned out.



I will definitely be making some of these for my Etsy shop and there will be a longer version (aka the director's cut) which will probably come up about an inch further on the fingers and an inch or two up the arm.



Yes, I am available for hand modeling. :-)

One Finished Fingerless Glove!

Apparently, getting that bad chi out of here did finally make a difference...that and the fact that I changed yarn to something that was more suitable to the project. Duh. I also changed the pattern a bit and will post a picture sometime during the day since it's 3am and I think I'm ready to call it a long but productive day. But, suffice it to say that I am pleased with the result and should be able to make its mate tomorrow (if I just remember that I am now going to be making the right one and the thumb goes on the opposite side for the other one). Perhaps I should wear this one whilst knitting as a constant reminder.