I love tracking numbers. It's almost as good as driving the package cross-country myself, leaving it on the doorstep, ringing the bell, and running away.
(This is the Secret Project. As soon as it arrives, I can post the finished photos! *waits anxiously*)
(Okay, that was probably mean. But I'm very excited to have finished so quickly. I'm hoping to mail it next week, so a real photo will be posted sometime in January.)
Not much to talk about this week. All of my finals were on Monday, with my final project for one class being due at midnight on the previous Sunday, so the week was spent in frantic cramming and then recovery. You'd think I'd have learned better study habits by now, but obviously I haven't.
I did finish 2 knitting projects, and I've started another one:
The last of the Potato Chip socks for the Warm Woolies 10 for 10 campaign, which ended on November 30. Yes, I missed the deadline with these, so no yarn prize for me, but at least they're done and sent, and some kid will have warm(er) feet.
My scarf for the OFA'sRed Scarf Project. This is actually the second one that I've started this year, because the first one has some fairly intricate cabling, and I didn't think I'd be able to finish it before the deadline. I'll keep working on that one after Christmas, and it can be one of my scarves for 2010.
I'm pretty pleased with how this scarf turned out, although if I make another one I may go down a size or two on the needles, because the fabric is a little loose. Then again, it's also made of Cotton Ease (cotton and acrylic -- Yay for free yarn!), so I included a note suggesting that it be sent to someone who doesn't have terribly cold winters.
I knit this lengthwise, circularly...
...and then steeked it, unraveled the edges, and knotted the fringe. It sure seemed to go a lot faster than the more traditional method of knitting back-and-forth across the width of the scarf! The stitch pattern is diagonal rib, and I changed direction halfway through, to eliminate potential bias stretching.
And here's the project that I cast on yesterday. Can't tell what it is? Good! Then the recipient of this gift, if he or she reads this, won't be able to either. I'll post a picture of the final item once it's been delivered.
Carp, it was Friday yesterday, wasn't it? This weekend has been consumed by flailing and studying for finals, so I didn't notice. Regular blogging will resume next Tuesday.
(Smiley snagged from TSR.)
Late addition: A friend Tweeted this link, and I thought it was a very interesting e-mail discussion between two guys who have been friends for years. They're talking about gay marriage: why one guy has a problem with it, and why the other one thinks that he shouldn't. (Shouldn't have a problem with it. Was that clear? My brain is dead from studying.) Both of them remain calm and respectful of the other throughout the whole thing, which is amazing to me, given how my discussions with my sister have gone. Maybe she just needs to get an e-mail address so we can communicate that way?
*... or at least, some of you should see. If you want to. And know what you're getting into. But it's really, really good, and I love it! You should absolutely all see it. Every one of you. Unless, well,... [repeat from *, ad nauseam]
The movie? Shortbus (Warning: Wiki link. Contains SPOILERS.)
So, why am I hedging my recommendation? Well, there's a lot of sex in the movie. A Lot. If you have a problem watching sex, you're not going to like this movie. Also, for my readers with kids, you're going to want to watch it when they're not around. It's all reasonably vanilla. Even the scenes with the character who's a professional dominatrix are pretty tame.
The interesting thing is that, when I first watched it, the sex right at the beginning of the movie was... startling. A bit shocking even. However, as the movie went on, I wasn't startled or shocked at all. When I watched the commentary track, the director talks about how he actually showed less and less of the sex and more of the human interaction/connection aspect of it as the story progressed. So it wasn't just my skewed perception.
Another reason I'm hedging is because of a friend & reader who I think wouldn't have a problem with the sex, but might be bothered by the character who (SPOILER ALERT!!) attempts suicide.
I got the movie from Netflix and watched it probably at least a dozen times before I sent it back. And I've now requested it for Christmas -- from my Christian fundamentalist sister. (Hopefully she doesn't look too closely at it when she's shopping.) The commentary and documentary in the Special Features are also excellent and quite interesting. And if you want another, somewhat more coherent, review, here's what The Other Andrew has to say. (He's so much more articulate than I am.)
But really, how can you not love a movie that has one song that asks "How can I repay you for saving me and my hardwood floors?" (just ignore the weird video) and ends with a scene where a marching band shows up during a singer's performance and the whole thing becomes a raucous singalong?
Also? The film offers a different and interesting reason for the northeast blackout. Just thinking about it makes me giggle.
In Knitting News:
These are the items I managed to complete for Warm Woolies' 10 for 10 Challenge. Notice that there are only 9 of them. Rats.
You've seen the purple socks and the red sweater before, but the other three socks and two sweaters were all completed after my last knitting blog post (11/13/09). Here are individual shots for those of you who may be interested:
Potato Chip Socks in 3 yarns/yarn combos
Warm Woolies Mystery Knitalong Sweater II (aka Calda Lana at Ravelry) I had to learn how to seam for this pattern. A good skill to have, I'm sure, but not my favorite at this point.
This is the striped version of the Warm Woolies Mystery Knitalong Sweater III. (You may remember that the red sweater was the solid version of this pattern.) And yes, the third pair of socks above were made with leftovers from this sweater.
Now, on to the scarf (scarves? We'll see how fast I am.) for the OFA's Red Scarf Project.
(Okay, that was probably mean. But I'm very excited to have finished so quickly. I'm hoping to mail it next week, so a real photo will be posted sometime in January.)
The last of the Potato Chip socks for the Warm Woolies 10 for 10 campaign, which ended on November 30. Yes, I missed the deadline with these, so no yarn prize for me, but at least they're done and sent, and some kid will have warm(er) feet.
My scarf for the OFA's Red Scarf Project. This is actually the second one that I've started this year, because the first one has some fairly intricate cabling, and I didn't think I'd be able to finish it before the deadline. I'll keep working on that one after Christmas, and it can be one of my scarves for 2010.
I'm pretty pleased with how this scarf turned out, although if I make another one I may go down a size or two on the needles, because the fabric is a little loose. Then again, it's also made of Cotton Ease (cotton and acrylic -- Yay for free yarn!), so I included a note suggesting that it be sent to someone who doesn't have terribly cold winters.
I knit this lengthwise, circularly...
...and then steeked it, unraveled the edges, and knotted the fringe. It sure seemed to go a lot faster than the more traditional method of knitting back-and-forth across the width of the scarf! The stitch pattern is diagonal rib, and I changed direction halfway through, to eliminate potential bias stretching.
and studying for finals, so I didn't notice. Regular blogging will resume next Tuesday.
These are the items I managed to complete for Warm Woolies' 10 for 10 Challenge. Notice that there are only 9 of them. Rats.
Potato Chip Socks in 3 yarns/yarn combos
Warm Woolies Mystery Knitalong Sweater II (aka Calda Lana at Ravelry)
This is the striped version of the Warm Woolies Mystery Knitalong Sweater III. (You may remember that the red sweater was the solid version of this pattern.) And yes, the third pair of socks above were made with leftovers from this sweater.