FO Friday - 4/30/2021

It’s finished!

I used Berroco Remix Light in purple to make Derecho, by Allison Green. I did a slight modification with the shaping instructions. I also modified the sleeves a bit. If you wanna see the details, go here. Sorry for the silly face.

MK out.

FO Friday - 4/23/2021

I am almost finished with my top that I've been knitting for over a month. Y'all - I've been busy sewing! So, no knitting FOs. I have finished watching all the films that were nominated for Academy Awards in the five top categories. 

I don't think I'm going to pick my "want to wins" this year. I just don't have the bandwidth. I will say though, I’m really impressed with the nominations this year - especially for Best Picture.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a biopic based on the book Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari. It's about Billie Holiday being targeted by the government, mostly because of her song Strange Fruit. The song is a description of some racist practices in America's southern states. Andra Day delivers a very good performance.

I only watched the Borat film because Maria Bakalova was nominated for Actress in a Supporting Role. The movie was silly overall, but it had a few funny moments. Maria did a nice job.

I loved Promising Young Woman. Carey Mulligan plays a young woman out for revenge for the rape of her best friend. It was a delicious role. Carey Mulligan was so good.  The film was quite entertaining. 

If you were confused watching The Father, then the makers succeeded in presenting how having dementia might feel to the person who has it. Olivia Coleman plays a daughter trying to find a caretaker for her father. Anthony Hopkins was phenomenal playing the title role. It was a good movie.

Ok, I lied - I think Minari should win Best Picture, even though Nomadland won the Golden Globes, the Spirit Awards, and the BAFTA - (plus more). Minari did win the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, but I think it's so good that it deserves to be crowned best overall. It's about a South Korean family who came to the US in the 1980s, chasing the American dream. The film is loosely based on the life of the writer/director Lee Isaac Chung. 

The show is this Sunday! Happy viewing! 

FO Friday - 3/6/2021

 I finished this beautiful sweater:

Pattern: Silver White Winters by Mary Annarella

Yarn: West 7th Wool Yarn Hunters Sock in Apple Seed and Madelinetosh Impression in Fatal Attraction

Comments: Mary’s patterns are always clearly written and fun to knit. West 7th is my LYS and they started dyeing their own house line in fabulous colors. It’s really nice and of course, red is my default choice. I can’t wait to wear it, but it may not be until next year.

MK out.

Movie Monday - 3/1/2021

It’s a new month, Y’all! What do you plan to accomplish this month? I’m hoping to watch tons of movies. I think I’m off to a good start.

I Care A Lot is about a woman who defrauds old people, by being named as their guardian. She gets help from an unethical physician and an unsuspecting judge. She gets more than she bargained for with her latest mark. Rosemund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Dianne Wiest, Alicia Witt and others star in this film. It was good.

Based on a true story, The Trial of the Chicago Seven covers the arrest and trial of a group of anti Vietnam War factions who came to Chicago to protest during the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Many big names star in this film, including Sasha Barron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Michael Keaton, Mark Rylance, Frank Langella and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was very good.

Set five years after the Civil War, News of the World, features Tom Hanks as a former Confederate officer now traveling around Texas reading news stories to crowds for ten cents a person. He encounters a 10-yr-old girl who had been taken by the Kiowa Indians years prior. She is now to return to her biological aunt and uncle, and the job falls to the captain. Together, they navigate the treacherous terrain. It was really good.

Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer star in Like Father. Rachel is a busy, young executive who gets dumped on her wedding day. Unbeknownst to her at the time, her estranged father had come to her wedding. Later that night, he goes to her apartment to offer some moral (and liquid) support. In her drunken state, Rachel ends up asking him to join her on what would have been her honeymoon cruise. It was cute.

MK out.

Book Chat - 2/25/2021

I've decreased my reading goal for this year to 24. Fifty is very doable, but I haven't been traveling as much...

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Nora has just lost her job and her cat in the very same day. She wants to end it all, but ends up in a special library that allows one to try out different lives. Have you ever wondered about what would happen if one decision in life was changed? How would the resulting chain of events unfold? It was very good.

Heartless by William Boyd

A daughter finds out her mother is really Russian and was a British spy in World War II. Can she help her evade demons from her past? It was good.

MK out.

WIP Wednesday- 2/24/2021

I'm still not finished with this sweater:

I'm also a little stalled on this hat:

The main reason the knitting is on a back burner is because I've been sewing:

Island Baby has a market coming up.

MK out.

Movie Monday - 2/22/2021

Last week was a banner week for movie watching. Texas experienced a once-every-thirty-years ice storm, courtesy of an Arctic blast. Many people lost power and water - some still don't have it restored, even though it got up to 70 today. We were among the fortunate. I don't drive on that stuff, plus nothing was open; so, I had the chance to catch some flicks.

In the 1960s, Bill O'Neal is recruited by the FBI to gather information about Chicago's Black Panthers leader, Fred Hampton, in exchange for not being charged with car theft and impersonating an officer. Judas and the Black Messiah tells the story. Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Dominique Fishback and Jesse Plemons star in this film. The acting was great. It's based on true facts. It was very good.

Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto star in The Little Things. Washington plays a seasoned detective, dogged by a crime he could never solve, who joins forces with a young detective (Malek) on the hunt for a serial killer. Jared Leto delivers a strong performance as their number one suspect in the case. It was pretty good.

In Malcolm and Marie, Zendaya and John David Washington play a couple. He's a filmmaker and she's his girlfriend who has acted in the past. They come home after the premiere of his latest film and spend the night arguing. They take turns having a meltdown. The acting is great, but I got tired of the back and forth. The film is shot in black and white, which was kind of cool. Overall, it was alright.

After Emilia Clarke hung up her mother of dragons cape, she starred in Last Christmas, a little rom-com about a girl who works in a year-round Christmas shop. In her off hours, she attends auditions for singing jobs and she tries to get her stuff together. She meets a mysterious guy who inspires her to be better. Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh and Emma Thompson also star. It was cute.

I'd been waiting for Nomadland to be released on a streaming platform for many weeks.  Frances McDormand plays Fern, a woman who has lost everything when the only real employer in her town closed. She sells off possessions to buy a van and hits the road, taking seasonal jobs when she can. She meets people in similar circumstances along the way. Some people who live this lifestyle played factionalized characters of themselves. It was really, really good.

MK out.