I'm Such a Joiner...

...and I am so glad to have been a part of this endeavor:
























MK out.

Now That Oscar Season is Over...

...there hasn't been that crazy determination to watch movies, but that doesn't really stop me.  I tend to watch more DVDs...

I had never seen A River Runs Through It, starring Brad Pitt, Brenda Blethyn, Tom Skerritt and Craig Sheffer and directed by Robert Redford. It came out in 1992, but I was a mother of a young toddler; so, my movie watching was a little sporadic. The movie is an adaptation of a memoir by Norman MacLean. It is set in Montana and is about two brothers whose father was a preacher, and whose lives take different turns. It is very good.



In Noelle, writer/director/star David Wall plays a “hitman” priest who goes around closing parishes that have been deemed financially ineffective. He goes from a callous, cold appearing individual, to one who may make it afterall…It was good.


American Teen is a documentary that follows five Indiana high school seniors living their lives. It was interesting.


Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear star in Ghost Town. Gervais plays a dentist who arrested and was resuscitated during a procedure, and woke up with the ability to see and communicate with ghosts with unresolved issues still walking the in between. It was cute fluff – a good movie for a rainy Saturday.


The ensemble film, In the Loop is a political satire set in England. James Gandolfini, Steve Coogan, Tom Hollander and Peter Capaldi starred in it. It was pretty funny.


Couples Retreat stars Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and others. It’s about a couple who is having marital problems. They talk three couples to join them on a marriage encounter weekend on a tropical island. It was cute.


Audrey Tautou starts as Coco in Coco Before Chanel. The movie deals with the years before Chanel became famous. It was good.

Wool 100% is a Japanese art film that is very difficult to follow, aside from the fact that it is subtitled. Two elderly sisters have filled their house with a copious amount of junk that they have collected over the years. One day, they find several balls of red wool yarn. They bring it home, only to find that they’ve brought home more than they had originally thought. In comes an obsessive girl who wants to knit the perfect sweater. She drives them a little crazy, but ends up helping them come to terms with the losses in their lives. There are many layers to the story, but my take on it is that they had lost their mother and a lover in the past, and tried to fill the holes in their hearts with their bizarre hoarding behavior. It was different.

MK out.

What I Did on My Bloggy Hiatus...

Since I have last posted, we (the board of directors and many volunteers) hosted the FIFTH DFW Fiber Fest.  It was a blast!  We always have a weekend of classes with nationally-known and local teachers, as well as many vendors to tempt your yarn and tool budgets.

One of our vendors, Brooks Farm Yarns, donated this wonderful gift that we offered as a raffle prize:

There were four skeins (two in each of two colorways) of a new yummy yarn they are developing, and two bottles of wine.  Me - if I'm sipping...there's not much knitting, and the knitting I do manage to do...well, most likely, it will have to be tinked out.  The Knitting Doctor would definitely have an opinion about mixing knitting and alcohol, too.  You will have to ask her why...

We decided to have a meet up for Ravelry members at Fiber Fest this year.  It was fun.  I think it might become a tradition!  Here's a shot of the cake we served:

So, there's been more stuff going on besides two weeks of preparing for Fiber Fest, having Fiber Fest and the week it took for me to recover from Fiber Fest...but those are stories for other days...

MK out.

Nature in My Own Backyard

When looking out of the window this morning, I thought something looked a little weird.  I saw a bird, and it seemed huge.  I took a closer look, and in my Mrs. Kravitz voice, I croaked, "Honey, come look...there's a hawk in our backyard."

Apparently, we have a hawk nest nearby, because The Husb spied one flying right over his car one night when he was driving into the garage.

We have a lot of squirrels in backyard because we have big trees that are full of acorns for most of the year.

Unfortunately for our squirrel friends, hawks are hunters.

 

I opened the back door to see what would happen and the hawk took it's prey to the retaining wall.

MK out.

If Yesterday Was the First Day of Spring...

...Why did I wake up to snow covering the trees, bushes and grass?  My mistake, I guess...Just because it is spring doesn't mean it can't snow.  It's just that it is an oddity here in the Big D area.  I think it started snowing lightly yesterday in the late afternoon, and it kept up the rest of the night.  Well, it was pretty anyway.  It was gone before lunchtime.

This time of year means Spring Break, and The Kid was home for the week.  We didn't go anywhere...just hung around and went to eat at favorite restaurants and went to a few games.  It's kind of sad, because he left this morning to go back to school.  I miss him already.

Spring also means Easter time.  My mom decided that since it is almost Easter - it's two weeks away, you know - it was time to make some Easter cookies.  She always has been one to plan and execute her plans ahead of time.  Even at this age, she is very disciplined.  I did not inherit this trait from her.  I struggle daily to keep it together.

I love mixing the butter and sugar together until it gets nice and creamy.

The dough is ready.

Here's the end result.  Yum!

MK out.

The January 2010 FOs*

Getting closer to being caught up with my project postings...

I made a hat for my youngest DGD at her request.  I adapted my stella hat pattern.  I used a skein of Encore DK that I had in the stash.

I had one ball of this discontinued yarn called Devotion by Reynolds.  It really is yummy feeling; so, I thought I would make a little cowl that would feel nice against my neck.  I couldn't find a pattern that didn't require more yarn than I had; so, I made one up.  The result is probably v.5 or v.6 - I reknitted this thing many times to get it just right and having enough yarn to do so.  I call it Holey Cowl!!!

This little orange sweater was made with a particular little girl in mind.  She is still incubating - don't remember her actual due date.  I used Berroco Comfort DK.  I enjoyed knitting with it, and it is easy care...a must for busy moms.  The fabric underneath will be used to make a little dress to go with the sweater. 

I don't really like the rose flowers on it, since the flowers on the fabric are different.  I found another flower I like, and I can use a little hot pink to pull out the hot pink in the fabric.

All the grandkids have a blanky made by Kay Kay.  Jackson got his for his first birthday this year.  I used two colors of the very durable Red Heart Super Saver Solids held together.  It's a great yarn for a mom with young kids...It wears like iron and washes well.

The Kid told me that the four other boys on the cheerleading squad liked the hat that I made him for graduation.  I made them all a hat in the CSU colors in Berroco Comfort - even another one for The Kid so the yarn would match on all.

I have two February FOs for which I don't have any pics.  One has already been gifted, but I'll see what I can do to chase that one down.  That post to follow...

MK out.

 

*FO = Finished Object

It's Springing!

I went for a walk earlier today and snapped a little picture.  It's a little chilly, but aside for a few days of clouds here and there, it has been beautiful!

In an effort to stay more caught up with my blogging, I am putting together a knitting post that will show the things I finished in January. 

In the meantime, here's a picture of some yummy yarn.  The colorway is Moorland and it is Madelinetosh Tosh DK.  I am almost finished with a sweater to wear to STARS games out of this lovely stuff.

I started a top out of this turquoise Cotton Ease yesterday.  I am a member of a Yahoo group that is currently reading the Maggie Sefton murder mystery knitting series.  We just started the second book and the pattern for the top is included in the book.

Talk soon...

MK out.