Review Monday

Movies

The latest Netflix: Latter Days (2003).
Plot from the sleeve: This controversial film explores the consequences of a young Mormon missionary, Aaron (Steve Sandovoss), recognizing his homosexuality and falling in love with another man. Aaron's first sexual encounter with gay "party boy" Christian (Wesley A Ramsey) leads to a passionate romance that gets Aaron excommuniated from his church and risks destroying both their lives. Charming and sexy, Latter Days offers a heady mix of romantic comedy and powerful drama.

Notes:
I remember when this movie came out, because it got a lot of great press, and I'd really wanted to see it, but as these things go, I never actually got to. It's part of my quest to see all the gay movies out there. I don't know why--a lot of them are terrible. But I like the idea of alternate (love) stories. Anyway, this one is not terrible. It is actually pretty well-acted, and the love feels real. In fact, I am definitely going to recommend that my brother watch it. He was just telling me he thought that gay men were not meant to be married, since he lives in L.A. and can't meet a decent guy. The character of Christian is supposed to represent shallow, club-going, gym-busting male gay culture, where "sex is as casual as a handshake", and the movie is about how he learns to love someone for who he is inside, not just what he looks like on the outside. It doesn't hurt that the other guy is totally perfect too, but I guess that's the movies for you. Anyway, the movie was much more dramatic than I thought it would be, and I was rooting for the characters (Including Amber Benson from Buffy, who has a small role here as an out of work actress) more than I thought I would, so all in all, I give it a solid NOT BAD. I shouldn't have watched the featurette though. I really hate it when actors have to go on and on about how they are or are not gay for real. Who freaking cares? Just shut up and be the character, y'all. sheesh.

Also up for review, the 25th anniversary edition of Vogue Knitting. That link should be to their preview, but don't go from that alone. I subscribe because I got a good deal (I'm sure everyone who subscribes does), but I've never really knit anything from a VK before. Most of their designs are pretty way out there, or not interesting to me. This one actually has a few sweaters I really really love, and of course that gorgeous Nikki Epstein scarf from the cover. Boy, I'd really love to work that up in a cashmere yarn with the same crystal beads. I love it so much.

Anyway, the issue has so many many great things inside. That preview doesn't show you the half of them. The only thing I was disappointed in was the 10 best VK patterns of all time spread. Those patterns are NOT the best from the magazine. At all. They're all boxy and huge and pretty ugly. And I don't think changing the color palette of something really constitutes 'remaking' it for the modern age.

Hm. I'll have to add the details from the mag to this post tomorrow. It's in the bedroom, and Spanky's in kind of a snit, so I can't drag this out. When you work late, you have only a set amount of things you can finish in between walking the dog and bed. I'm lucky I got this much done! At least that's two days in a row. I'm going to see if I can find something to say all week! YAY.

update sunday

It has been a while since I could update, what with work travel, Harry Potter, and general life stuff getting in the way. I was listening to the Fairie_Knits podcast today and she was talking about how she has different days for different types of updates, so I'm going to try to update every day this week with something a bit different. This obviously also goes along the lines of Saturday Sky etc., but I've never tried this before. I think it might help.

Sundays I thought I would leave for a general wrap-up on what has been going on with me generally, to start off the week, so to speak.

Went to Worcester, MA last weekend, to attend a conference for work. I go to a lot of academic conferences during the year but I had never been to this one before, so I didn't know what to expect, or whether I'd know anyone there or not. Also, Worcester (another annoying name that doesn't sound like it's spelled--you say "wooster", but can they spell it that way? no, that would be too easy...) is not all that easily reached from NYC because of the erratic train schedules. I took the train to Providence, and got a car from there to drive the 35 miles or so after that. Some scenes from the train:


I liked how the train went along right next to the water. The route was through coastal Connecticut and it was very interesting to see the way the water seemed to be much more a part of the lives of the people who lived there-both for business and pleasure. Once I got to Providence, I picked up a rental car. I got lost several times, and finally called Spanky in a panic. How come when you get lost in a strange city it is never in the good part of town?
This is how Providence looked to me:


I don't know if you can see in this next photo because I took it quickly as I was inching along the highway ramp, but this is the Dunkin Donuts Center! I'm not sure what that is, but it seems to be a stadium of some sort. If anyone knows, please do let me know. I wonder if they serve Dunkin's coffee and donuts inside for games.



In between getting lost in Providence, I did manage to find Fresh Purls, a really great yarn store. It was after this visit that I got really, really lost. Anyway the women in the store were really friendly and they carried everything you could ever want. Bags, all kinds of great yarn, patterns and books and it was so well laid out. I really wish we had a store like that near me. Neat, tidy, but inviting.

Anyway, by the time I got to Worcester it was raining, and I got lost AGAIN. Spanky helped me (again) find my hotel, the process of which was just insane. It was totally hidden, and hello? New England? You may want to revisit that annoying policy of only putting street signs on ONE STREET of an intersection. That was half the reason I was so lost. I could either never figure out what street I was on, or what street was coming up, depending on how the signs were. When I finally made it to the hotel, I had missed the opening reception and the registration, my nerves were completely shattered, and I ended up just eating a lousy dinner at the hotel restaurant with a glass of wine and going right to bed. The rest of the weekend went pretty smoothly though, and Worcester is actually kind of nice in the daytime.


I brought the Lombard Street socks with me to start on the train and after knitting them there and back, some during the week at work, and a lot today, I've turned the heel on the first one. Pictures should come later this week. I'm also working on the log cabin pet blanket and the back of Spanky's sweater.

I took last Friday off to recuperate from the conference, and my assistant had lent me Harry Potter, so I basically spent all day Friday and half the day Saturday reading it. I think I was pretty satisfied with how it all wrapped up, although reading the book was hard. I didn't want to start it because I knew it would be eat up all my time, and I didn't want it to end either.

Last night Spanky and I went to see "La Vie" at Spiegelworld, which is a one-ring circus down at the South Street Seaport. It was ok, but I'd never been to the seaport before, and it really reminds me of Downtown Disney--just this outdoor shopping mall masquerading as a legitimate spot to hang out rather than a totally artificial environment. I don't feel the need to ever go back, really. The show wasn't that great. It started at 11:30pm, and it was about 3am when I finally got to sleep so today, rainy day that it was, all I've done is do laundry, work on my sock, and listen to podcasts.

Work is going to be crazy the next few weeks, as we're starting to gear up for the fall. And my sister has just informed me that the only possible date that she can get married next January, is the same freaking weekend as the biggest conference of the year in my subfield, where I have a huge book premiering and where I was counting on meeting tons of people. CHRIST, I hope she can move it. I don't want to have to fly down there for the ceremony and then turn back around and book it back to the conference. I want to enjoy being with her. Not feeling like I should be somewhere else.

FO-Lace Leaf Pullover

Ha ha. You thought I was done with this one, but I wanted to have a final FO post so I can let it rest.


Pattern: as if anyone has any doubt, Leaf Lace/Lace Leaf Pullover (I can never remember which way its "official" name goes)from Loop-d-Loop. I used the directions in the book not Interweave Knits, which also ran the pattern.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky
Needles: US 11 circulars



Notes: The pattern was well written--I have no beef with any of the directions. I loved this sweater as soon as I saw it, and bought the Debbie Bliss yarn soon afterward to make it, but then the yarn sat in my stash for years until I finally decided to knit it up this spring. All the various pieces went very quickly because of the bulky yarn and were interesting to make. I think the yarn contributed a lot to that. It was such a great yarn to use--very sproingy and soft. It also has this sheen to it, I think. I love it, and was sad to see that it was discontinued. I just found out that Seaport Yarns has a lot of it on clearance now, because they had just put in a big order before it was discontinued, so I may have to buy some of it up for later projects. I did like it that much.

My problem with this sweater was of course the Kitchener nightmare across the middle, which you can clearly see in the first picture. Luckily, everything else is so great--the fit, the details, etc. that I consider the sweater still a success, and plan to wear it a lot in the fall and winter this year. I'm glad I persevered, because I think it was a great lesson in Kitchenering, and fixing problems in your sweaters, and I do feel like I got better at it the THIRD TIME I tried it. And this is really my first well-fitting sweater so I love it for that alone.

Really, the details are the best part:


That button is from my grandma's button box. I decided to go with the pearly button rather than a wooden one because I love how it lightens up the color of the sweater a bit. Plus, it's fancy!

Anyway, thanks to Spanky for taking all the dorky pictures of me, even though it was hot. Now I can put it away for the fall. YAY!!

Also, I finally started Spanky's wedding sweater. It is knit out of Cascade 220, and is going to be plain, plain, plain, which is what she likes. I'm using The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and the Mason-Dixon Perfect Sweater pattern to create a very plain, crew neck pullover, with a little intarsia something on the front bottom corner, as yet to be determined. I'm going to start with the back and the sleeves, so I will have some time to play around with swatching the picture for a while before I have to decide which one to use. I'm excited to finally be starting on it.

I'm also swatching for a new pair of socks:


This is Aussi Sock sock yarn that I got at Seaport Yarns when I went to get tickets for Stitch & Pitch. I can't wait to go see the Mets play Atlanta, since I've never been to a NYC baseball game, and it will be fun to go with other knitters. The tickets were pretty cheap too. Anyway, the woman who runs that store is very solicitous, and I felt like I couldn't leave without buying something. She talked me into trying the Aussi sock because it was new and handpainted and very reasonably priced for 400 yds. I was going to buy Louet Gems, but since I already have some of that, I decided to try this one. I think it is thinner, but it is still really soft, and I love the bright red color. This will be my first pair of lace socks, so I'm going to take it slowly and see how it goes.

Im still working on the log cabin as well, but I think most of my time is going to be taken up with Spanky's sweater.

my waterloo

Happy 4th of July everyone! Ours has been pretty slow and relaxed, which is just the way I like it, especially since it fell in the middle of the week this year, you know? We slept in, went to brunch, and then took a nap. I'm reading His Dark Materials, and I'm in the middle of the third book, so I read while Spanky slept. Then we got up, had ice cream, and watched the fireworks on TV. Somewhere in there, I also blocked the sweater.

It has been so long since I've been able to post anything! At first I just put it off because Spanky came back from Florida (YAY!!!) and lots of other things happened, which I'll go into below, but mostly, it's been because I've been blocked. I haven't been able to knit anything, or write anything, or plan anything, all because of one project--the lace leaf pullover.

A while ago I mentioned that I'd sewn it together twisted and had to pull it apart and do the grafting again. Well, I did that. 107 stitches, unraveled, put back on needles, and grafted together again. Except that I dropped a stitch, and didn't figure out what I was doing wrong with the grafting until half way through. So it looked worse than it did the first time and I had to pull it all out and do it AGAIN. Oh. My. God. THREE TIMES I did the grafting. three times. And it still isn't perfect. There are parts that of the grafting are too tight, and parts that are too loose, but at least I can wear it now.

You can kind of see it on the right in the sweater. That's the tight bit. I don't care though--I can wear it this way, and as far as I'm concerned it's done! (plus if I had to do it again, I think I would probably just burn the whole thing and pretend it never happened!) It is happily blocking on my kitchen counter, and I'm ready to move on. My only other project has been a log cabin that I started with some of the vintage acrylic in my stash. One of the main perks of going through my stash and cataloging it for Ravelry is that I was able to sort through all the colors that I had and organize them into batches. I have two batches that are going to become log cabin blankets that I'm going to donate to our local animal shelter. One is in browns, the other in purples...



I've been taking the first one to my knitting group and working on it at home, in lieu of a more challenging project, since I couldn't start anything until I finished that $)%*)#& sweater. Here's how it looks so far:

It isn't beautiful, but it will be nice and squishy on the bottom of a dog's lonely cage, and that's what I'm after. My cat seems to like it so far...

That's all I've been working on. I did make an unfortunate trip to Patricia's Yarns in Hoboken, which resulted in a small haul:


I was so eager to get that Knitscene that I asked Spanky to go with me on the light rail last Friday up to Hoboken just so I could get it.

The Fixation and the Cat Bordhi book were just extras. They gave me a deal on the sock yarn--the blue one was free, since they were all leftovers. I'm going to make my mom some socks at some point. She lives in FL, so I don't think wool socks will be very practical. I've never used Cascade Fixation, but I understand it is kind of stretchy. Should be fun...

Anyway, I guess I should start at the beginning:


1. Spanky came back about two weeks ago, and the day after she got back, we went to the True Colors show. This is the only pic, because she told me not to bring my camera. WHY did I listen??? ARGH.
Anyway, this had to be one of the BEST concerts I have EVER SEEN. Erasure was amazing. The Gossip was AMAZING. They just keep getting better and better. Everyone else was really great too, but I was there to see Erasure (and Cyndi Lauper, who played the Goonies song, to my delight). Perhaps I will also buy tickets to see them in Brooklyn later this summer...

2. Pride was the weekend after Spanky got home. I didn't take any pictures of that either, because we only stayed about 20 min. The parade gets harder and harder to watch, and this year, they didn't even have the street fair because of what basically amounts to a turf war. Lame. But after the dyke march, we did this:


Spanky's idea, not mine. She's much cooler than I am. But Team Dresch--they were great! The crowd loved them, as you can see. There were a bunch of other bands too. I haven't been to a show like that in a while, but it was fun.

3. Finally, we are also getting a new bed soon, which means we're sleeping on the floor right now.


This pic is actually of our old mattress. We have the new mattress now (queen rather than full size) and we're sleeping on that, and the old one is in our living room, waiting to go out with the trash.

So, all in all, it's been a very full two weeks. Now that the sweater is done, my list going forward looks like this:

1. finish/fix sock
2. continue log cabins
3. spanky's sweater
4. swatches for master knitter program
5. start another pair of socks
6. baby present for Debbie

I'm back, baby!