August 10, 2008

Here are some updates:

1. I've been watching a lot of Netflix in the effort to make this sweater go faster. I may be in the minority here, but give me stockinette anytime. This BS patterning looks good but it's a PAIN IN THE A** to work quickly. And no, I'm not enjoying the process. At first I was, but now that I think of having to finish two front halves of this monster, I just want to cast on for something easier. Sigh. But then I think if I did, I'd want to work on that all the time and this sweater would never get done.

ANYWAY, that was a long-winded way of saying I've watched a few things that are definitely worth recommending, in case you're looking for something different:

a. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: This is a goofy murder mystery involving a screw-up, a struggling actress, and Val Kilmer playing a gay PI named Gay Perry. It was very funny, and made me love Robert Downey Jr. all over again. Spanky did not think it was very good, but she wasn't really watching it anyway.

b. Maurice: An E.M. Forster novel about two college boys falling in love at Cambridge and how their lives developed after they left the protected environment of university. This was also an early Merchant-Ivory film, starring a very young Hugh Grant and Rupert Graves, who is adorable and does a full frontal. It was ok, but I definitely think it could be remade now with more money and better pacing. A lot of the dialog was just a bunch of chitter-chatter in Brit-speak, and then some gay sex (or not!).

c. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Another oldie but goodie. This has been on my queue forever. At first I thought I would read the novel, back when it came out, but I never did. Then I thought I would see the movie, and never did. I finally ended up watching it on the Netflix instant feature, whereby you can watch some movies instantly (streaming) on your computer. I really enjoyed it. It was directed by Clint Eastwood, and stars of course John Cusack, but also a young Jude Law, and Kevin Spacey, playing a posh Savannah business man, who happens to be gay and on trial for killing his rough-trade lover. It is pretty interesting to look back at the way this was filmed, and the totally 80s styles and characters, even though it was released in 1997. I guess a lot of that stuff was still relevant then. Hell, it probably still is in some areas of the South.

2. I've also been reading a lot. As I mentioned, I'm reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and now I'm interested in going back and reading some of his other work, especially Blood Meridian. His writing style takes a little getting used to, but I'm finding The Road to be very moving without being over the top. He's more of an impressionist painter of words rather than a portraitist, I guess. Plus, the premise, about the end of the human race, is really sobering. I very often feel like we are living in the end of days, and it's scary. And reading this, I've been asking myself what I would do if the scenario happened. It is an impossible choice. Live, even though there's nothing to live for, or die, hopefully by your own hand. But the reason I like it (so far--I'm about 2/3 of the way through, and things still could go awry), is because even though the things McCarthy is writing about are bleak, there's also humor and love, and some hope, although tenuous. I thought reading it would be horrifying, but it's just terribly, terribly sad.

3. Knitting update:

THE BACK, SHE IS DONE!



I went ahead and blocked it, because I think I mentioned that this pattern has no schematic or finished lengths of anything anywhere, so irritatingly, I have no idea about the measurements. And the thing is, my row gauge was off a bit, so I've been trying to just follow the pattern as well as I can, since it is phrased in terms of inches (knit until piece is 12") but I think my measurements are a bit different than those stated in the pattern, so I'm going to use the measurements from my finished back to knit the fronts. The other irritating thing about this pattern is that she specifies how many stitches you should have at certain points, but neglects to mention that THE COUNT CHANGES DEPENDING ON WHICH ROW YOU'RE ON, so if your 12" is different than hers, you may be at a different place in the pattern, which means that you'll have more stitches (or less) than she states you should have. That led to some confusion, especially regarding the shaping of the sleeve holes and finishing the shoulders. Finally, I really hate it when patterns state: do the left side same as the right, reversing shaping. Just write it out, people! Don't make me have to figure it out! I hate that! Yes, yes I am a lazy knitter! Sheesh.