Prick up Your Ears

I do want to make film posts part of my blog, because nothing quite goes with knitting the way DVDs do. Even TV. And I say that as a HUGE fan of TV. Seriously. I actually had a pang because I chose to watch a quality film rather than sit through the re-premiere of 7th Heaven. I shamefully confess here, in this semi-public forum, my enthrallment with that stupid, stupid show. When it finally went off the air I breathed a huge sigh of relief. My chance for liberty is at hand! And yet... they went and brought it back, and I could see YEARS of me shackled to this painfully bad show. So rather than give in at the start of this new, undeserved season, I chose to watch a movie that Spanky recommended a while ago as an aside, and I LOVED IT. What a good choice!

Film: Prick up Your Ears
Starring: Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, Vanessa Redgrave, and everyone's favorite, Wallace Shawn.
Year: 1987

Synopsis: I went through a spell on Netflix where I wanted to watch every gay movie ever made. I've watched quite a few, although I still have a long way to go. I originally rented Withnail and I, which Spanky got confused with Prick up Your Ears, which is what led me to this one.

Anyway, This is a film about the playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman), who I didn't know anything about originally. Joe Orton was a gay, working class rube from the midlands, who won a scholarship to go to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, where he met another student, Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina), who was older than him and also gay. It is a film about swinging London in the 1960s, and Vanessa Redgrave is HOT in those backcombed big hairdos and minidresses as Orton's literary agent. OH man. Anyway, Orton and Halliwell are both trying to be famous as novelists or actors or playwrights or basically whatever they can succeed at. Orton eventually succeeds, and Halliwell spends the rest of his life living in the shadow of his formerly subservient lover. It has to gall one to help bring out a young buck, who then proceeds to take everything you've taught him and run with it, thus leaving you spinning in your rut.

The writing is SUPERB and really funny, even though the story is ultimately morbid. My favorite lines included (I started writing them down after a while but I missed a lot):

1. Joe and Kenneth are picking up a third guy for the first time and Joe wants them both to assume fake identities. He picks a name, and Kenneth picks Patrick, causing Joe to say, "What, are you Irish then?", but when they get inside, Joe says his fake name, and then the pickup says his name is Ken, and Kenneth goes "My name is Kenneth too (Groan from Joe) but my friends call me Patrick" which was hilarious, but doesn't translate well into text i guess.

2. Joe: I could have been an orphan. The only thing standing in the way were my parents.

3. When the chauffer shows up to ferry Joe to his meeting with the Beatles: "Can we break down this door?" The landlord says "NO! If there's damage to be done, call the police. That's their job."

Of course, they break down the door, and find the two men both dead, and the rest of the film basically recounts their obsessively co-dependent relationship.

Joe was originally the country boy with no book learning, who used Kenneth to bone up on the classics and literature and anything else that would make him more cultured, and Kenneth was attracted to Joe's outgoing, rough nature, but they also were competitors, and I do wonder if all relationships (or maybe just all gay relationships?) share a bit of this bitterness and claustrophobia. What do you do when your previously shared goals become realized, but only by one of you? Do you continue on as you were? Do you look elsewhere for success? OR do you keep hounding your lover because you can't STAND the fact that they got what you wanted most with what seems (to you) like very little effort and very little deservedness? Part of you is happy for them but most of the time you wish it had been you. Why don't they leave each other? Why CAN'T they leave each other? What is love so strong that it outlives its usefulness?

And that is really the horror of the lives of Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell. They could never escape each other. Scary.

and i'm updating too!

1. Stella is sick. $265 later and she's apparently allergic to the GRASS. And that's mighty inconvenient seeing as she's a) a DOG, and b) not much higher than the grass itself. She's on an antibiotic and an antihistimine that makes her sleepy.

I just gave her a bath tonight with the special allergy shampoo I got at the vet's. The rash on her belly seems to be healing now. She's only been on the medication for about five days and has two weeks to go, so we'll see. Hopefully it will clear completely up, but that's a total bummer because she loves the grass.

2. I finished my oldest UFO ever. I had a wubby growing up (and yes this is totally TMI), and that somehow morphed into this pillow when my mother made me give up the blankie at around 13 or so. Actually, in a fit of insanity i probably ASKED to give it up, to prove i was mature or some shit. Oh, how I wish I could TAKE IT BACK NOW. Anyway, my mom made us each this weird grey pillow case from some sort of fun fur type fabric, with our names stitched on the front, and over the years, my name came off and the animals stitched to the front came off, but boy, was that grey fur soft! By the time I moved to NY, and definitely by the time Spanky and I moved into our 3rd JC apt., the fur was in shreds, so one of my first knitting tasks was to recreate the softness, and since the pillow was sort of falling apart, replace that too. Well, mission accomplished. Sort of.


Of course when I first knit this last year, I didn't know from button holes, so I just tied some extra yarn on there to hold the buttons closed. They are also hap-hazardly sewn on with some thread, so I assume that shortly they will start to fall off. But no matter. The last two days of sleep have been HEAVENLY. The chenille isn't as soft as that old pillow case, but it does in a pinch. Not to mention that now that I'm an ADULT, I'm not quite as reliant on my wubby as I was before. Plus, I have Spanky, and she is much better than the wubby because she holds me back.*

3. Also, I wanted to pay homage to my MOM's first FO in like, YEARS:


It is FAB. And even though my fridge handle is way too low to make hanging the towel here a practical solution for the every day, it still looks fantastic. And I'll just have to eventually find somewhere else to put it. She hid her messy bind off by the sewn top, but isn't it cute? And the button was one I was admiring while I was down there, so KUDOS, MOM. I love her.

4. Finally just some gratuitous shots. I have actual Anouk content, but I want to save that for maybe tomorrow or wed, cause it deserves its own post.

Here's my sister and my neice from my recent trip to FL (and I don't want to hear ONE WORD about my shitty camera skills):


And here's the view from our back balcony looking out at JC:


I think that one is kind of neat, because it's like you're drunk when you're looking at it. Anyway, that's it for the bits and bobs. I have one more post to do on the film I just finished, and then I'm calling it a night. I think Spanky's on her way home soon too. Hopefully.

*although according to the third definition of 'wubby' in that urban dictionary, she might actually be my wubby! Sweet!

The 2,304,391st post about Knit Out NY

Picture, if you will, a hot, sunny day in Manhattan. The usual shenannigans in Union Square. Suddenly, you turn the corner, on the way to Barnes & Noble or Petco and are faced with--what? It takes a bit of figuring out. Lots of moms and grannies and young girls, all with shopping bags, crowded around booths. Is that YARN you see?

Sunday, Sept. 17 was Knit Out NY, and I was excited! I missed the Knit Out last year, so was determined to go this time. I was supposed to see people from my knitting group there, but after I saw the crowd, I realized THAT wasn't going to happen. Spanky walked me down there, but left shortly thereafter, and I was on my own. Some observations:

1. It's amazing that 82 degrees can feel so BURNING HOT when you're standing in the direct sun in jeans. Gah. Should have gone with the cropped pants.

Also, please excuse the hair. Humidity does that to it. After Spanky left me there to fend for myself, I put it up in a bun because HELLO, HOT.

2. Spanky was so great--I started the day out badly by forgetting not only my PATH card for the subway but also my camera. You can tell Ive only been blogging a short time by that fact alone. Anyway, she gave me hers for the day and calmed me down, and then went the extra chivalrous mile and pushed her way into the Bernat booth to get me a free shopping bag with a ball of crappy novelty yarn that I am going to promptly knit into a boa for her 6 year old niece to get it back out of the house.

3. So. Many. Knitters. SO MANY!!


4. Celebrities Spotted:

Amy Singer, who was at the booth for The Point, and who I was too shy to talk to.

Carrie, who was walking with Amy Singer later,and I assume Thumper, in his sling, but I didn't see him. I recognized Carrie from her hair, and found myself staring like I'd seen a real celebrity, instead of someone normal, and it was so disconcerting that I turned around and went the other way before I could be noticed staring. How does one say hello to a total stranger that one knows only from reading their blog? I don't comment--she doesn't know me, in other words. It's all weird, and a whole new world in social relations, at least for me.

The Yarn Harlot, whose voice is nothing like I thought it would be. She was at her publisher's booth [can I just interject to add that as a publishing professional, it was VERY annoying that you couldnt just buy the book at the publisher's table rather than having to go into B&N? Seriously, what's with the retail ban?] and again, I just observed. Maybe next year, I'll be more confident. Stephanie also helped with the fashion show, and hearing her commentary was really the highlight of the whole day for me. She's really great, and I did go into the evil evil bookstore to get her book. I also bought Louisa Harding's new baby book, which is AWESOME. I think it's the first knitting book where I'm in love with every single pattern and the whole aesthetic of it, with the natural yarns and stuff. Very pretty, classic designs.

5. The swag: one ball of free Bernat novelty yarn. The Clover people were giving away free bamboo needles, but I didn't feel like fighting the crowd again to snag some. I had a seat by that point. I also picked up the free patterns that the various tables had, because I figured the ones I couldn't use (most of them), I could still give to my friends at work who knit. The Point and Knit New York gave away fliers for 20% off their yarn, and I did sign up for everyone's email lists. I didn't go to The Point, because I've been there before, and wasn't very impressed. I think you have to BE somebody to get any respect there. When I went in last time, I was looking for something very specific, and I wandered around for 15 minutes or so before anyone even came over to ask if I needed help. It was also impossible to tell who was a customer and who was an employee, so I was afraid to ask anyone for anything. So this time I went to Knit New York, because I hadn't been there before. All in all, I liked it better than any other Manhattan yarn store I've been to (admittedly not very many). It's bigger, for one thing, and has a good selection. Three people asked me in a very non-pushy way if I was finding everything, and they were all wearing aprons and tshirts. The patterns and books were all out on tables too, which I appreciated. I bought some Koigu for socks for myself as a treat, since it was 20% off. I also liked that they were donating part of the money from that day to a NYC art program.

I was surprised by the absence of some of the yarn stores though. Where was Purl? I would have expected them to be there. I am really excited by that new store, Knitty City. It seems like it is a friendly, happy place. I have obviously never been there because it's on 79th street, but I bet I could get someone to go up there with me sometime. They look like they have good classes.

Anyway, by the time Spanky picked me up, I was exhausted and happy. I had such a good day, even if I didn't really talk to anyone but the guy next to me, who was completely freaked out by the weird clothes in the fashion show. His (wife? girlfriend? sister?) was a knitter, and he was just there to support her. He said things like "Who ARE these people?" and "I've had enough. I've done my best, but I can't take this anymore. I don't know anything about this knitting!" He was adorable, and I don't blame him for being cranky. She parked him on a chair in the blazing sun while she did her stuff, and he was getting really bored. I wish I'd taken his picture.

By 3pm, I was ready to go. It's amazing how fast the hot sun puts a damper on my ardor for anything. Next... Anouk.

Labor Day weekend wrap-up

Sorry this is so late! My weekend extended to Wednesday last week, and then Thursday and Friday were hellish getting caught up at work. This weekend past I finished up the last bits of knitting that needed to be done on the stuff I'd done in Florida, and I started uploading the pictures to Flickr, but the site was having problems, so they wouldn't load. And that brings us to now.

First, let me just show you this crappy picture of my mom. I snapped it when she wasn't paying attention. Part of the backstory is that Mom and I did a lot of shopping for crafty things while I was down in Florida. She's very crafty, and I needed help lining my bags, but when we were at Wal-Mart, she bought a CONE of Peaches & Cream, and I bought her some knitting needles because she said that she wanted to make placemats. So anyway, I had just gotten out of the shower, and was going to my room across the hall, looked out at the living room, and there she was, happily working away all on her own, without being prompted! So I snuck in to my room and grabbed the camera and snapped a picture real quickly. The flash went off, and that startled her, so she started laughing, but put down her needles. We haven't gotten to purling yet and I'm a bit worried about the casting off, since we didn't cover that either, but hopefully I can talk her through that on the phone, because remember, she doesn't have the internet. YET. We're working on it.

Ok, on to the FINISHED OBJECTS:

Number ONE:


My mom helped me line my tote. I bought this fabric at Purl Patchwork, and wasnt sure it would be the right shade of brown, but it looks SO CUTE! We even cut one of those plastic sheets that people use for crafts so that it would fit into the bottom of the tote, to help give it a flat bottom and then my mom sewed the lining to be the right size on her sewing machine, and then hand stitched it around the top. I didn't mean for her to do so much of the work, but she was really excited about it. I guess she doesnt get the chance to do too much sewing these days, so it was extra fun for her. Plus, it was better for me, because my stitches suck. The only thing I didn't get a picture of yet was the sushi wallet, which I also finished, but it wasn't nearly as nicely done because I worked on it.

Number TWO:

Yarn: Reynolds' Utopia, 100% "Courtelle" Acrylic

Pattern: Cargo from Knitty, Medium size (can I just say, as one who doesn't have kids, that it would be much easier for this knitter if designers would refer to the patterns in terms of age, like small = 6-8 mo., medium = 8 to 12 mo., etc.? Because I have NO IDEA what size kid these pants will fit. I just know they're really too large for a small baby.)

Needles: US #7 DPNs. I did the whole thing on double pointed needles. I couldn't get the circular to behave, and it was stretching out my stitches, so i switched back to the DPNs, and it was fine. I just had to be really vigilant about dropping stitches off, since they were pretty short DPNs.

Notes: The yarn softened up a lot after washing and machine drying, which was a relief, because when I was working on them, the legs were so stiff that they could stand up on their own! I got the buttons from my grandma's button box, which I inherited when she died. They are perfect, and I was happy I didn't have to wait to buy new ones. I used one ply of the yarn to sew them on, and I made sure they were on there really good so that the baby won't be able to get them off. I think the pattern could have been a little clearer in the details for those of us who aren't natural experts, but I figured it out as I went along, and although I did worry about it a lot because it was a present, it did work out ok. I don't think I will EVER make these again, but they were a fun challenge, and I think the recipients will like them. I have almost a whole ball left of the Utopia, which is a little annoying. I bought two balls at my LYS when I saw it because I didn't have the pattern with me, and didn't know the yardage, but did know that I'd wanted to make them for someone possibly. The color was just this PERFECT shade of khaki (they just call it color 112) that I knew I had to take a chance that the acrylic would soften up. Yes, I would've prefered cotton, but I was there, the yarn was there, and they're only going to fit for a few months anyway, right? Sheesh.

Number THREE:

I called Continental before my flight to ask about knitting needles, since the terror alert was raised to orange, and I'd had such a miserable time in London that I wanted to make sure, and she told me that I could take them as long as they were "wooden or plastic and not too long." I don't know if that's technically true, but I wasn't going to test it. This yarn is Nashua Hand Knits Equinox Stripe. I got one ball for my birthday from a friend, and later I found a second ball from the same dye lot on sale at my LYS so I bought that too. I figured I'd eventually make it into a scarf. It's super bulky, but I used size 11 bamboo needles and knit this on the plane down and just a bit going back. I finished weaving in the ends last weekend. Here's a detail of the yarn colors. They fade from black, grey and tan to shades of brown to something that can almost be called light blue...so pretty.


Number FOUR:

I started this down at my mom's so that I wouldn't finish the scarf before the plane ride home. It's Sugar & Cream, "shades of green" colorway in the "Simple Ridge Dishcloth" pattern from the ball band. I also bought about five more balls of the Peaches & Cream and Sugar & Cream down in FL, since they are so cheap there (I don't have a car so I have no ready access to big box craft stores for basics like that.).
Spanky said, "How many dishcloths are you planning to knit?" She doesn't think that's a good use of my knitting time, but it's very relaxing and a good place holder between bigger projects.

Number FIVE would be the Sushi wallet, but I need to take a picture of the finished lining on that one. Maybe I'll take a picture of Salwa holding it, when I give it to her next Monday. I'm so glad that is done, but there is enough yarn left that I might attempt to try to squeeze out a stripy version of the same pattern for myself. I bought some velcro down in FL in case the zipper didn't fit (it was a smidge too big), so I can use that on my own wallet, whenever I get around to knitting it up. I have to start the Anouk now for the next baby.

But as it was, I had a very relaxing, happy visit with my mom. We have a contentious relationship sometimes, because she refuses to treat me like an adult, but except for a couple of times when I just lost my temper and then apologized, we had a great time. I miss her bunches living so far away. When I left Florida all I could think about was getting away and trying something different, but now all I think about is the precious people I left behind. Too bad that the state refuses to move with the times and recognize my people or I'd probably move back. Well, ok, MAYBE I'd move back. There's still the matter of the hideous weather. :)

list making

1. I'm waiting for Spanky to get home from work already! It's 10pm and she's just now on the train. That sucks!!!

2. You know why? I'm headed down to Florida tomorrow to visit my mom for Labor Day weekend, and I'm going to miss my sweetie while I'm gone. I'm staying in FL until Wednesday, so Spanky couldn't come with me, since she's working right now. She works on feature films, so when she's on a movie, she's not able to do a lot of other things, and I get really lonely. She was supposed to get home early tonight so we could hang out, but NO DICE. Something always comes up.

3. I'm listening to a new podcast, and I dont really care for it. I don't like it when podcasters are smug. I prefer it when the people are earnest and honest and not trying too hard. Sometimes it takes me a while to warm to people's shows though, but I'm up to episode 3 of this one (obviously I'm not going to name names because it's not bad, it's just not my style, I think), and I still don't like this lady. My real test is whether I'd want to be friends with her in real life, and I think I would find her insufferable. At least this episode has a decent audio level.

4. Can I just say MY MOTHER DOESN'T HAVE THE INTERNET. I may die.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

OK, I wanted to do a LYS review, since I have been thinking about doing one since I went there, but didn't have the blog then. A few months ago (in May), I had to travel to Kansas State University for work. Thank GOD I rented a car, because let me tell you, Manhattan, KS, where K-State is, is in the middle of NOWHERE. That part of Kansas was really beautiful though. Much prettier than I expected. Anyway, the town of Manhattan is a typical college town--when the students are gone, it's pretty quiet.

There was this quaint downtown, which included a LYS called Wildflower Yarns and Knitwear. The website has a great picture of the front of the store, so you can see how cute it is. I thought it was great that she was open on the weekend, although I think I went during the week. They have exclusive patterns, which I think are available on the website, but I was really there for a sock pattern. I hadn't yet knit a sock, and had no idea how to start, so I went looking for some help. The woman who worked there was very, very nice, and she helped me pick out a really basic pattern. I think it was a Pure & Simple pattern--oh I see it was the Beginner's Lightweight Sock here (#216). And she helped me get needles and the right kind of yarn. I really liked her selection of other yarn too. She had lots of Lamb's Pride, which is hard to find in NYC in large quantities. I like it for scarves and hats (and I guess felting, although I've not used it for that yet), but she had tons of colors, and lots of other yarns that I'd only read about on blogs. And she let me wander around in there for a long time looking at everything. She also had a huge selection of books and magazines, and single patterns, and they were out in the open where you could thumb through them instead of being in a dank corner like they are in some places. It was just a nice, friendly store. If I lived there, I'm sure I'd be in there all the time. Anyway, it was a nice diversion in Manhattan, KS.

I guess I should go pack now... :(

Hopefully though, I'll come back and have lots of FOs to show the world.