FO Friday - 2/28/2014

Hey, hey, hey,,,gotta an FO today...

The yarn, Abstract Fiber SuperSock, has nice twist to it and would be a good one for a textured pattern (in a solid or semi-solid color-way).  Even in this multi-colored one, the stitch definition is superb.  The yarn feels good in the hand while knitting.  The color-way, Be Mine, kept me entertained...and how apropos for February. I loved it in the skein, but when I first started knitting, I wasn't too sure.  After a few inches, I was charmed again...it looked like a dish of candy hearts - with a little chocolate mixed in.

The pattern is my usual plain vanilla, top-down with a picot edge and an eye of partridge heel.  Since it wasn't a stripey and I wasn't going to get a bullseye, I figured I needed a different way to entertain myself.

Did you finish anything this week?

MK out.

WIP Wednesday - 2/26/2014

Here's my knitting basket:

It lives on the couch.  When I have occasion to sit on the couch, I grab one of the projects from it and go to town.  I also do a little grabby of at least one of the projects as I run out the door.  I've learned the hard way that the time I don't have knitting with me is when the wait time of an appointment or event rises exponentially...

Currently, the contents of the knitting bag include the February socks:

the Ishbel shawl:

and the 22.5 Degrees shawl for The Loopy Ewe Spring Challenge:

Check out the lace portion of the Ishbel shawl:

I am putting beads about every eighth row, but they are hard to see because 1. this yarn already has sparkly and 2. they are pink, like the yarn.  I probably should have gone with silver beads or even none at all.  Too late now...I'm committed and I will go ahead and finish as I've started.

What's on your needles?

MK out.

Start Something Sunday - 2/23/2014

Just because I haven't been finishing things does not mean that I haven't considered starting other things...

The Loopy Ewe, one of my favorite yarn shops, is hosting a spring challenge! We are supposed to use yarn that has at least two cheery colors to make something to help us forget the grays of winter and look forward to spring.  I have a couple of skeins of yarn in my stash that I was planning on using...I know...big surprise.

That was before I happened to go to TLE last week and see some more cheery yarn in real life. I haven't bought yarn since October, when The Kid specifically asked me to make a scarf and hat set for him, and I didn't have the right yarn.  So, I was a little vulnerable and the yarn fumes got to me...

I bought a few skeins of year and a couple of short stacks of fat quarters for a couple of projects I have in mind:

Actually, I've been really good about using up yarn in my stash last year and so far this year.  I don't feel too guilty.  I have projects in mind for all three skeins...

...which brings me back to my point.

I am going to make a shawl/scarf/neck thing called 22.5 Degrees with this yarn:

It is a Loopy Legends color-way called Nana Ruby's Jewels. TLE will name a color-way after you if you buy a certain amount of merchandise from them in a year.  It's a dollar amount that I don't think I've ever spent on clothes for myself in an entire year, let alone yarn, but hey - more power to the people who do.  One of those people is my friend Ruby, and that color-way was named for her.  I think that will make my project even that much more special.

Did you see those cute little crocheted heart stitch markers I bought? They look so cute in my February socks:

So, pardon me...I've got to go start my new project.

MK out.

WIP Wednesday - 2/19/2014

You'd think the Phiaro would be done by now, but it's not:

The knitting was completed on Monday.  I still have to cut the widest section and braid the ends for the fringe.  I just haven't had the time to devote to that little part and for some reason, I am not putting the task on the top of my list...

I've pulled out the February Socks and have been using the available time that I do have to work on them instead:

At first, I was thinking that I liked the color combo in the skein better than knitted up, but the more I got into it, I was okay.  It kind of looks like a fish of candy hearts to me - with a little bit of chocolate thrown in...

MK out.

FO Friday - 2/14/2014

I hoped to have had Phiaro to show off today, but sorry...it is not yet finished.

I did promise you the January socks and here they are:

I like the colorway...it's a little nostalgic for me.  It reminds me of days gone by.

The pattern is my top-down, plain vanilla stockinette socks with a picot topped edge and short-row heels.  I used Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs Goth Socks Laudanum Lache.  The colorway is Nana's Tea Party.  This company is no longer in business.

Although the Laudanum Lache base is very soft, after knitting another pair of socks with it, I really am wondering how it will hold up.  The color saturation is a little on the faded side too. I have several more skeins of this yarn in my stash.

Check out this pretty skein of yarn:

It's Abstract Fiber SuperSock in the colorway Be Mine.  

What a perfect yarn to start a pair of socks on Valentine's Day.  Happy, Happy!!!

MK out.

Movie Monday - 2/10/2014

I only saw one movie in the last week, and I have to say that it was not a favorite.

The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo diCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Margot Robbie, Joanna Lumley and Rob Reiner (to name a few), is based on the memoir by Jordan Belfort.  The film is set in the 1990s and tells the story of a stockbroker who engages in stock fraud and corruption.  Martin Scorsese directed the movie and I really don't understand what Marty is trying to accomplish.  It is being billed as a black comedy.  I would call it a Greek tragedy. Is it a cautionary tale?  The characters are hardly people who deserve any kind of admiration.  They are, in fact, pretty sad.  There's drugs, sex, profanity (over 500 F-bombs were dropped) - and I don't think of myself as a prude - but I really didn't think any of it was enhancing the entertainment. I felt the narrative could have been more efficient, as the movie is about an hour and a half too long.  The film has garnered Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.  I suppose the acting is pretty good, despite the material, as none of the characters are likable.

Maybe I missed the point, but yuck...just yuck.

MK out.

The Sock Report - 2/9/2014

Hello Y'all.  I finished knitting the January 2014 Socks on Friday, but I didn't weave the toes closed until today. I'm hoping to finish the Phiaro by Friday...the knitting is done, but the bind off is going slowly.  It might need to be blocked (gasp!).  Therefore, I am saving the socks until this week's FO Friday.

Today, I have a picture a picture of all the socks I made in 2013:

I made 12 pair of socks People!  How many did you make?

MK out.

WIP Wednesday - 2/5/2014

What have I been knitting, you ask?

Well, I've gotten a little further along on the January 2014 Socks.  They might even be finished by Friday:

I had to do a little manipulation of the color repeats because I wasn't getting the usual bullseye with the short-row heel:

I like the usual bullseye:

I've also been trucking along on the Phiaro Scarf:

I think I have about three or four more inches and I can start dropping those stitches and the magic will be made.

Did I tell y'all I started an afghan?  Remember last month, I mentioned having a little bout of startitis?  Yeah, well, I've had the kit to make one of those Absolutely Fabulous Throws with the fun Colinette yarns for the longest.  So, I started one for me:

It's going to look marvy in my new bedroom:

Sorry, not the best picture.  It looks better than that currently - there's a bed with linens and the purple bench is at the foot of it -  but I don't have photographic documentation of this statement.

I also started an Ishbel shawlette:

I've got lots of fibery goodness to keep me occupied for a good while.

What's on your needles?

MK out.

Movie Monday - 2/3/2014

I saw some good movies in the last week.

Dallas Buyers Club is based on a true story.  In 1985, Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) is diagnosed with AIDS and is given one month to live.  At first, he adamantly refuses to accept the diagnosis and begins a journey that results in his smuggling unapproved medications into the US and selling them to other AIDS patients.  He meets many interesting characters along the way, one of whom is Rayon, (a transgender woman who is played brilliantly by Jared Leto).  Jennifer Garner also stars in this film that gives an interesting look at the early days of HIV and AIDS research and treatment.  It was good.

Bruce Dern plays an aging alcoholic who believes that he's won a million dollars in Nebraska.  Woody sets out to walk from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his prize.  His wife Kate (June Squibb) enlists the help of their son David (Will Forte) to try and talk some sense into the old man.  This movie is funny (especially June Squibb's performance) and quirky.  It's a must see.  I really liked it.

Will Ferrell speaks Spanish in Casa de mi Padre; so, the movie is sub-titled.  It's a cheesy movie - on purpose - about a guy who has to save his father's property after his brother gets mixed up with a drug cartel.  Gael Garcia Bernal also stars in this film.  It was alright.

Of the now three movies co-written and co-directed by Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater, I like Before Midnight the best.  The dialogue is still wordy and the characters are a little self-aware, but less so than in Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.  Also, there are more characters that help move the story along in this one. The film picks up nine years after Before Sunset leaves off.  The two are now together and are on vacation in Greece with their family.  It was pretty good.

August: Osage County is not a feel-good, happy movie, but it is an entertaining movie none-the-less.  Meryl Streep stars as Violet Weston, the matriarch of a highly dysfunctional family of strong women. Violet is undergoing treatment for mouth cancer and is hooked on drugs. Her husband, an alcoholic poet, takes off and the family gathers around her for support.  It doesn't take long until the sniping begins.  This dark comedy is a juicy story executed by a talented group of actors - including Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper and Sam Shepard - just to name a few.  I really liked it.

I've seen several movies now on the road to the Oscars and American Hustle is one of my favorites so far. Set in the late 1970s to early 1980s, the story follows two small time con artists who are busted by an FBI agent.  They soon join him to catch some bigger fish in exchange for not getting into big trouble. Their caper was nicknamed Abscam - sound familiar? The cast is phenomenal - Amy Adams (love that girl), Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner and an uncredited appearance by Robert De Niro.  It was really good.

Three more to go!

MK out.