Friday, June 28, 2013

FO Friday - 6/28/2013

Remember those socks that I wanted to show y'all today?  Well, last night, I dropped a stitch.  I thought I had fixed it, but then realized that I had not.  It is dark yarn, and knitting with dark yarn at night is risky business.  Very risky, because I realized that the stitch was in gusset decrease territory.

I waited until this morning to assess the situation:



Once I got my bearings, I knitted those few stitches back to where they became one - minding those decreases every other row:



Then I laddered back up to the top:



And I was once again ready to motor to the finish line:



I guess I won't finish them until tomorrow, since I am technically a day behind schedule now...

Since y'all didn't get finished socks today, here's the glamour shot of the Lazy Katy shawl that I have plastered allover Ravelry...you know, just in case one of the three of you who read my blog haven't already seen it:



So, the first session of Camp Loopy is drawing to a close.  I enjoyed making this shawl.  I think I will wear it to church Sunday with a bright pink dress that I have.

For Camp Loopy 2, our challenge is to knit one of the popular patterns in the knitosphere.  I've picked out my yarn and pattern, but I am not revealing my choices here yet.  Of course, if you are on Ravelry, you already know - so, don't spill the beans, (in case - you know - I might get a non-knitting reader....It could happen)!!!

MK out.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

WIP Wednesday - 6-26-2013

I am still working on the May Socks.  I have finished the gusset decreases and will be motoring along on the foot now.  I hope to show them off in a finished state on Friday...



The reason I am not further along is because I started a top-down sweater on Saturday, the Equinox:



I've had the yarn for over a year...maybe over two years...

It was screaming at me to get it going; so, I just had to start it.

And since Sunday was Start Something Sunday:



Yep, it's another cowl/infinity scarf.

I don't want to discuss the June Socks or the Gaia cardi.

MK out.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

So...There are Bunnies...

We have bunnies.

Two weeks ago, I came home from running around and saw a bunny near my doorstep:



A couple of days later, there it was again:



I parked the car and examined the situation:



It hopped away and I took a look where it had been sitting - there was a hole...as in, a burrow.  I didn't take a picture.

The next day, I checked out the burrow again, but it had been covered up somewhat.  Interestingly, about the same time, The Kid was wondering why there were so many hawks in our cul de saq...

Yesterday, The Kid mowed the lawn, since it had been a few weeks while waiting for the lawn mower to come home from the shop.  I told him to look out for the bunnies, and he did.  He later said that he saw a big bunny and four baby bunnies hop away down the stairs...

Last night, I was returning from a visit with one of my besties, and I saw the bunny family by my knock out roses.  I parked the car to get a closer look. (Momma had hopped away):



Today, I went out to get the mail, and Momma Bunny hopped over to the neighbor's garden:



I looked around for the babies and even checked the burrow. (It's hard to see the depth of the hole, but there is one):



 

I sure hope the hawks don't catch wind of the situation, because the grass is much shorter and there are less places to hide.  Of course, it's a long way up those steps for baby bunnies to get back into their burrow.  I wanted to put them up there myself, but I didn't think it was a good idea.  Does anyone know anything about that? I wonder if Momma can carry them up (like cats do) one at a time and deposit them safely into their home?  

MK out.
 

Monday, June 24, 2013

Movie Monday - 6/24/2013

I only watched three videos in the past week, but they were all good.

Entre Nos is about a family from Columbia who came to the United States in search of a better life.  The film was co-written and co-directed by Paola Mendoza, and it is based on a true story.  Mendoza also stars in the film as Mariana who, along with her two children, joins her husband Antonio in New York City.  One day, Antonio announces that he has found work in Miami and will be relocating there, while Mariana and the kids were to stay in New York until he calls for them.  Soon, it becomes apparent that he has abandoned his family.  Mariana is left to scrape together a living.  The movie is in Spanish, with English subtitles.  I really liked it.

Spike Lee's documentary, 4 Little Girls, is about four children that were murdered in the 1968 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.  Family members of the victims were interviewed.  There was also footage of civil rights demonstrations and events of the time.  The Ku Klux Klan was implicated in the bombing. Robert Edward Chambliss was tried and convicted for his direct involvement.  It was a very moving film.  I really liked it.

In The Intouchables, Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy play a rich quadriplegic (Phillippe) and his conman-turned-helpful-person caregiver (Driss).  It is in French with English subtitles.  Driss has just been released from prison after serving time for robbery.  He needs a signature to prove that he came looking for work and was rejected in order to keep getting welfare.  Phillippe instead hires him to be his caregiver.  Over time, the two become good friends.  The film is based on a true story.  I really liked this one too.

Until next week...

MK out.

Friday, June 21, 2013

FO Friday - 6/21/2013

It's Friday!  I have an FO!!!



OK, it's still blocking, but it is finished.  Yay.

The pattern is Lazy Katy by Birgit Freyer. I liked making it. I used Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball. It is a single-ply wool and nylon blend...I don't really like single-ply yarns, except for Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light, because it is over-twisted and it behaves to my liking.  Anyway, the Zauberball has a little thick and thin quality to it, and for a cute, little, princess-type shawlette, I thought it was too crunchy granola.  However, the block has helped smooth it out quite a bit.  All in all, I am quite pleased with this project.

I did go down to a size 4.00mm needle, instead of the suggested 8.00, as I may have mentioned in a previous post.  I thought the fabric was too loose with the larger needle.  In going down a needle size, I did what a few other Ravelers did and worked more rows of the body (130 instead of the prescribed 100). . I think it all worked out just fine.

Now, I am on to trying to finish the May and the June socks before the end of the month.

MK out.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

WIP Wednesday - 6/12/2013

The Lazy Katy is giving me fits!

The knitting part of this shawl has been no trouble.  I used a 4.00mm needle for the body and am now on the lace part - where I have gone up to a 4.50mm needle as some Ravellers have done.  I'm not really sure why using bigger needles on the lace part is beneficial, but...I'm a follower that way.

So, what is giving me fits is that I have four and a half rows to go before I bind off, and I think I might run out of yarn before I get to the end:



Oh my.

MK out.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Movie Monday - 6/10/2013

I actually went to the movie theatre recently. I'm so excited because I've been feeling a little like a hermit lately...

I don't remember reading The Great Gatsby in high school but I did watch the Robert Redford, Mia Farrow version many years ago and I knew the gist of the story. Nick Carraway (Tobey McGuire) lives next door to the rich and popular Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). Gatsby enlists his help in reuniting with his true love Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), who happens to be Nick's cousin. There's romance, there's intrigue, there's tragedy...It's a great story and the movie was well acted. I did not watch the 3-D version and I still thought the cinematography was a bit over the top. All in all, I liked it.

And then, I watched two very different movies from my Netflix queue:

Janet Evanovich has written several novels. One For The Money is based the first book in the Plum series, in which we first meet the heroine Stephanie Plum. Stephanie, played by Katherine Hiegl, is divorced and recently without a job. She coerces her bail bondsman cousin into letting her try working for him as an apprehensions agent. It was pretty cute. I thought Heigl was a little too dainty to play a New Jersey tough broad, but she did alright. Jason O'Mara, Sherri Shepherd and Debbie Reynolds were also in the movie. I liked it.

I can sum up The Paperboy in one word - sleazy. The characters and their actions are sleazy and the story is sleazy. There are many good actors in it - John Cusack, Nicole Kidman, Macy Gray, Zach Efron and Matthew McCaughnahay - and they all played their characters well, but ick! The movie is about a guy (Cusack) who is in jail having been accused of murdering the town sheriff. His prison pen pal (Kidman) contacts a newspaper man (McCaughnahay) to write about the fact that he was wrongly accused and he deserves to be set free. I was so skeeved out that I felt I needed a shower after watching the movie...Ick!

That's all folks.

MK out.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

WIP Wednesday - 6/5/2013

Chez Merry Karma is in turmoil these days...Thankfully, I have my knitting.  (What do people do who don't knit or crochet?)

I currently have four things on the needles (OTN).  See, sometimes, I'm nice and I spell out those acronyms for you.  Today is one of those times.

The little spring cardi is stalled.  I won't show you a picture, because it looks exactly like the last time you saw it.

May's socks (Katniss) are coming along:



I am just starting the heel flaps on them.  I like the color of this yarn, although it is not a good project for night knitting.  (I need to get an Ott light for my den.  It would help tremendously.) I also like the cable:



June's socks have been started:



I am knitting Snow Queen for SKA's Literary Challenge this month.  The yarn is Tosh Sock in Betty Drapers Blue.  The four row repeat for the cuff is a little fiddly and slow-going, but once I finish that - look out!

I am also participating in Camp Loopy this summer.  For June, we have to make something out of one ball of yarn.  I chose Lazy Katy and I am using this ball of Zauberball out of my own stash. (Imagine that I would have some fun yarn like this one in my stash...)



Sadly, the longer I look at this project, the more I do not like the fabric I am making.  I think I need to go down one or two needle sizes.  Oy!

That's the list.

MK out.