And It Is Done

I am knitting slower this year.  This is only Finished Object #2 for 2017 but it is done and delivered.  With the movies that have been on, I was able to make a push and got it done.

   

The second sleeve went well, although I kept having to think back when my mind absolutely would not purl in the first garter stitch round.  But eventually it all worked out.

 

Do you remember the dilemma about weather to knit the pocket in place or separately?  I sort of did both.  I fused the bottom by picking up stitches just above the garter stitch and knitting away.  I still had to sew them down but at least I knew the positioning was even.

And did my favorite teenage granddaughter like it?

 

I think so, complete with the contrasting pockets she requested.  

And so ends the Christmas knitting for 2016.  Now back to baby blankets.  And (oops) I may have cast on a thing or two.

And I Cook

Today was Fellowship day at Community Bible Study.  Once again, with the girls starting to lay more eggs I took an egg dish using the group for my guinea pigs. After my previous hits, this wasn't so great.  I guess I'll write off that recipe as a dud and have unmarked it as a favorite.

 

Maybe it would have been better with more cheddar, more egg/milk and less Swiss.  But I'll go back to the other recipes next time.  I like the potato ones best.

My ear is still a bit stuffy today, but greatly improved from yesterday.

And, with the return of the 31 Days of Oscar on TCM, I am enjoying The Band Wagon. This year, they are running the movies alphabetically.  And I am continuing knitting the cardigan shown yesterday.  Great old movies are great for knitting.  Almost as god as my NASCAR races.  (Go Brad, Go Junior!)

And so far, here it is into February and I still haven't started anything new.  I can hardly believe it myself.  I am doing very well in sticking to my goals.

On my way home I stopped at the nearby Amish Grocery to pick up a few items.  Among them a new 8 inch pan.

It says it is seasoned.  I am hoping my buddy who is addicted to old iron will send me some tips for handling my new iron.  Even though it's seasoned, I probably need to do something to it, but I bet she will know just how I should break it in.

Preparing for 2017

I am not a fan of resolutions, but goals I can live with.  They have a more "squishy" quality and I don't feel as bad if I don't meet them.  I've started working on my new ones and I've broken my goals down into two main areas again this year: knitting and reading.

I will share more about them in another post.  But I wanted to review the status of my WIP pile.  I went through to add the year 2017 to the tags.  In doing so, I discovered some were older than I thought.  Apparently, while I completed a fair amount of projects, most were new ones, or at least very recent.  I need to do something about that this year.

My last comepleted project for 2016 was the Red Ribbed Hat for my Little Peanut, which was also my .ast project on in 2016.

 

Looking through my project page on Ravelry I can see it is true. All 17 projects completed were started last year, except for the Lions Scoreboard Cowl, which started with the beginning of the NFL football season and had to wait until after their final game.  Of those projects, many were for other recipients. I knit two pair of slippers, two Hitchhiker shawls and the rustic blue silk Shawl that were for me.  The Scoreboard was gifted away, leaving lots of gifts, mostly for children.

I guess I have a bunch of older WIPs to get cracking on.  I will take that into consideration when finalizing my goals.

But before that, tradition came to the forefront today.  Every year around Christmas or New Year's, some friends and I have a girl's movie night.  Or in this case, afternoon. 

Our local movie theater added a third smaller theater screen.  This past month or so they have been showing some great older movies.  So today four of us went to a screening of The Wizard of Oz.  Flying monkeys and all.  And I loved it!  The sound is so much better there than at home on tv.  As well as the general ambience.

I look forward to going back in a couple weeks to see Casablanca.

 

But in the meantime, I have a Sockhead hat to finish.

Almost Ready

The finishing touches are done and both Red Teddy, for my Little Peanut, and Little Farmer's Wallaby hoodie sweater are ready for wrapping.  

 

Yes, I know the eyes aren't even,  and the mouth is lopsided, but that proves it's handmade, right?

After finishing the bulk of the wrapping today, I finished Teddy's face and grafted the underarms on the sweater.  I hope it fits ok.

So all that is left to wrap is the knitting and "to be knitted" items.  Now I need to figure out how to wrap and gift the two knit gifts that are barely started. 

Plugging Along, Plus Moon

Now that I have picked up the Baby Hap Shawl again, I am finally back in the groove of knowing the pattern and following the chart.

That little green stitch marker means I have reach the corner and have one side finished. Fourteen points of lace. Three more sides and then blocking, and then I can give this puppy away! I will try to at least finish a point or two every day.

It definitely is not brainless knitting. I will need to return to the Simple Brainless Sock or the Close To You Blues shawl (that is using my blue handspun) or the Ten Stitch Blankie when I need something easy for traveling or for Knit Nite. And there are still a couple socks that need concentration so I have not gotten to the place where I can cast on anything new.

Um, that is unless I decide to do some gift knitting. There is always that.

Oh, did you see the super duper moon?

We had a lot of wispy clouds here. They gave the moon an eerie looke, like something out of The Wolfman movie. (The one with Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Junior.)

 

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Movie Time

My favorite old movie channel celebrates a star each month. This month, in addition to their star, Christopher Lee, with all his delightful monstery movies, Turner Classic Movies is also celebrating their monster of the month: Frankenstein.
Every Sunday evening they are presenting a round of Frankenstein movies. Tonight are the original and the early sequels, Bride of and Son of. The rest of the month will have a variety of Frankensteins.
As I watch them, I appreciate Gene Wilder's version, Young Frankenstein, even more. There are many inside jokes I didn't get then that I find hilarious now.
Time to settle in and watch and knit.

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Powerful!

I have been watching a documentary on Turner Classic Movies about the the Europeans film artists who were exiled from Germany and other countries in the thirties as Hitler came to power. It is really moving and I didn't realize a lot of familiar names and faces were among them.

One example...Billy Wilder. I knew he was a great director, and lead many of my favorite films. Not only was he an European exhile, but three quarters of his family died in Auschwitz. It's sad that so many of these actors, directors, composers and musicians were forced from their homes, fleeing for their lives. Most never reaching the status that they held in their homelands.

And then there was Peter Lorre, Marlena Dietrich, Ernst Lubitsch, Bela Lugosi, Felix Bressart, Paul Henried, S.K. Sakhalin and so many more. Those names may not mean much to many people, but to me they are movie gold. And how our classic movies in the US were enriched by their presence.

------

And now, on to Casablanca, which featured many of those same exhiles in small background roles.

Now, after that heaviness, here is the promise of May flowers.

My lilac bush has buds just waiting to pop later this month.

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Power!

A rather gusty night we had last night around the old farmstead. At midnight, in the middle of "High Society" that was being dvr'd, our lights went out.

And, even though we heat with wood, we rely on electricity to pump the water through the heat exchanger to heat the house. And pump the water. AND MAKE COFFEE!

And just now 20 hours later, it has come back. Whir of the fridge, whoosh of the furnace blowing sweet heat. Click of television, beeping of microwave. The lights! The satellite! It's back, all back.

I can take a shower, once the water heats, and watch my movies. Bliss.

Before long I can start shedding layers of wool. (There is a long sleeved turtleneck under all that wonderful wool too.)

I mentioned to someone today that I could be perfectly happy without power I'd only I could watch tv. Hey, the simple pleasures of life--wool and television.

And maybe heat.

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Lost in Knitting Land

I have been absent from my blog but knitting up a storm.

While the Purple Swing Cardi is off the needles, it obviously needs some finishing work. Loose ends need to be woven in, then stitch down the neckline to make the ribbon casing, followed by a soak and dry in front of a fan, and it will be done.

My 2015 Lions Scoreboard Cowl is done through game 4 out of 16.

There was some of the silver yarn (used for the opponent's points) left after the game. That means not quite a quarter of the opponent's yarn was used, now that a quarter of the games have been played. But, since game four was a much lower scoring game, I decided to splurge on a fifth skein of the silver yarn. Unfortunately, the Honolulu Blue is in no danger of running out.

Here is the cowl to this point.

With the knitting on the purple baby sweater finished, I have worked on the Lavender Lace Cardigan. Picking it up, I found some temporary markers that usually mean "here is a mistake to fix when you return", but luckily, I think this time I had simply marked the future front/back divides a bit early. It must be a at home project for the time being. At least until the end of the lace.

The Gray Spiral Blankie is almost finished, it requires cool weather to work on it. I am on the last section of the border and I hope to finish it tomorrow while watching Friday night's schmaltzy horror movies on good old TCM. (This week's theme is spooky body parts.)

I also have to tune up my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel tomorrow. More on the reason for that another time.

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Summer Under the Stars

My favorite movie time of the year is August. Turner Classic Movies spends an entire month devoted to one star a day, 24 hours each. Yesterday was Gene Tierney all day. (The Razor's Edge, Laura, The Ghost and Mrs Muir.). Today is all Olivia De Havilland. (Robin Hood, Dodge City, Elizabeth and Essex.).
Upcoming stars include Greta Garbo, Fred Astaire, Groucho Marx, Monte Woolley, and 27 more.
For an old movie buff like myself, crazy good times. I'm almost giddy.
And luckily I am able to multitask, watching movies and knitting at the same time. August is a good month.

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Aftermath

Well, I am in withdrawal from my Christmas movies.  Even the two Hallmark channels have ended them as of today.  I managed to see just about all my favorites at least once.  Several I saw several times.
As I was zoning out on Christmas movies, I managed to get a lot of knitting done.  I swatched some yarn that I inherited from a friend's stash after she passed away.

 It is an oatmeal colored bulky weight that I am going to make into a vest.  After the swatch was throughly washed and dried, I was able to measure and weigh it.  I should have plenty of yarn according to the Custom Fit pattern I just generated.  I figure, it will be a good backup project for when I need a break from green.

I also sewed all the pieces to the Blue Blood Red Cardi.  It is all finished but the buttons.  I hope to sew them on later today and then get a picture of me wearing it.

I also cast on for the front of the Green Flowy Cardigan.  More on that later.

Christmas Media Snob

I admit it. When it comes to my Christmas music I want the oldies but goodies. Give me Bing, Frank, and Nat singing anything. A bit of Elvis with "Blue Christmas" and Brenda Lee "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree." Nobody but Eartha Kitt can sing "Santa Baby" the "right" way. And while I do enjoy Mannheim Steamroller and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, I really prefer the old tunes. Especially "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas". But it seems that our local Christmas radio station only plays the new ones. Darn.

When it comes to movies I am almost as bad. I want to see "White Christmas", "Holiday Inn", "Christmas Carol", "Christmas in Connecticut", "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life". A new classic for me is "The Polar Express". And so far I've seen them all. But I don't mind alternate versions of some. Why, I've seen several versions of A Christmas Carol: Reginald Owens version, one with Allistair Sims, a musical with Michael Caine, another with the Muppets. There is even one from the old Twilight Zone. And while I did watch The Santa Clause III, I did not see many of the newer movies. And I haven't once fallen into the black hole of the made-for-tv Hallmark Channel movies.

Give me the old and the classic ones. Movies and tunes. And more of the carols too.

I will admit it. I'm in a rut. And I don't want out.

I just had to share this picture from 2008 of Older Son and his tree lit up in the back of Old Black. (He also gave Old Black those exhaust stacks.)

 

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It is Finally Back

Dish TV and Turner Broadcasting finally came to their senses and my movies are back. Of course I did miss the ending of one to the first movies I caught again when I had to help Hubby hook up the gravity box to the truck to go get feed.

But it is now available On Demand. Yea!

Now, if you excuse me, I will go back to my knitting and movie watching.

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Missing In Movieland--a Rant

What was the word Charlie Brown used to signal anguish? Arrugh?  Cuz that is what I have been feeling.
Some of my followers may know that I am just a bit of an fan of old movies.  And since last Tuesday, Dish Network and Turner Broadcasting have been in dispute.  As a result, Turner pulled most (but now all) of their programming.  Although I noticed TNT and TBS are back, my beloved Turner Classic Movie Channel is not.  I am in mourning.
No Janet Leigh as star of the month.  Not Thursday October scary movies. No Essentials, which this week was The Haunting, followed by Village of the Damned.  Classic October spooky movies.
I wasn't too upset on Tuesday when this started. It was all Lassie movies.  And call me unAmerican, but I have never been a big fan of Lassie movies.  So all was well until Wednesday.  I have been doing alot of channel surfing.  I viewed channels I've never watched.
I am not a happy camper.
I WANT MY CLASSIC MOVIES.
There, I feel better.  Not a lot, but better.

60's Movies, Late 50's Too

After an evening watching old Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies last night, I find it don't find them nearly as much fun as I used to.
It isn't just the hindsight when I see Rock Hudson in the romantic lead.  The closeups and semi-closeups of Ms. Day drive me crazy with the blurry picture.  How could I not notice the vaseline or filters or what ever they used on the lens back then?  I blame my youth when I first saw them, but what about the rest of the world?
And did anyone really dress like that?  I mean how practical were coats with one button?  And with elbow length sleeves?
A kinder gentler time back then perhaps, but very strange.  Although it did produce my favorite movie of all time:
The Blob, starring an unknown by the name of Steve McQueen.

Under Control, Sort Of

Blessed Easter season to my readers.

This year, the holiday also coincided with my birthday, for only the second time in my life.  I had a semi-relaxing day, knitting and watching many movies.  My favorite channel, TCM , was heavily in Easter mode as well yesterday.  I saw the tail end of The Big Fisherman, about the life of St. Peter.  It was followed by King of Kings, and The Greatest Story Ever Told before turning to Irving Berlin musicals, starting with Easter Parade.  All told, in one afternoon I saw three different crucifixion scenes.  Each with a different flavor.  I still prefer the 1959 Ben Hur version I caught the end of on Saturday morning.  The storms, and style are so 50's.  Although I love John Wayne as the centurion in Greatest Story Ever Told.  One line, and even if you can't see his face, the voice is unmistakable his.
And today, in day after mode, I have been doing some knitting and bill paying.  I caught a few movies.  The daytime theme today was Frankie and Annette.  What fun!  And tonight starts John Wayne week.  He will be on all evening and some if not all daytime movies from tonight through Friday evening.
And on the knitting front...no new projects started!  Now that Lent is over I can go back to knitting for myself, but I need to finish the latest baby blanket and Lil Farm Gal's sweater before anything new can be started.  But I can plan.
Just to prove that maybe spring is here, I spotted these today.  A month ago they were buried under feet of plowed snow piles.

Like Comfortable Shoes

This afternoon, after Bible Study and dropping off my cell phone for some software issues (gasp, no cell phone!), I came home and sat down to some knitting and and an old movie.

Uh, you were aware I have just a bit of a passion for old movies, weren't you. And if not, where have you been?

Anyway, the movie , Rhapsody in Blue, sounded ok. I hadn't seen it before but it was based on the life of George Gershwin. I missed the very first few minutes but right away I knew I would like it. The actors were some I remembered from some great movies. Well, I hadn't seen many with Robert Alda, but there was Joan Leslie (Jimmy Cagney's wife in Yankee Doodle Dandy), and Rosemary DeCamp (his mother in the same movie). And there was grumpy old Charles Colburn, and Oscar Levant, equally grumpy.

Great music! As I expected when it was about Gershwin. And by the time Alexis Smith came on, as usual playing the dame I love to hate, it was as though I had slipped on a comfy old pair of shoes.

I love old movies. Or did I already say that?

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Life Goes On

A lot has been going on, since my last posting. As I grieved, I also looked ahead. The knitting continued and the Best Bud's Baby's sweater is done and awaiting packaging. Or it will when I weave in the rest of the ends.

I also finished the first wee sock. Isn't it adorable. I am also almost to the heel flap on the second. That ribbing does go slow. And of course, small dog included for scale.

Last week was the local 4H fair. I was able to attend Wednesday evening and all day Thursday. I made friends with an little cutie.

And we watched the next day while his big brother's Jersey cow won Supreme Dairy Cow over a massive Holstein. Yea!

Then when I got home Friday, suddenly my movie watching ran into a hitch.

Yikes! Especially when you realize the blurry three quarters of the screen is constantly rolling. Television shopping is in my near, very near future.

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Crafting in Movies

While watching an old movie today, (A Majority of One with Alec Guinness as a Japanese businessman and Rosalind Russell as a Yiddish mother), I noticed Rosalind crocheting. Recently, while enjoying the 1939 version of The Women, I spotted her knitting while at the fashion show.

And of course Bette Davis was also a movie crafter. She was knitting in Now Voyager and crocheting in The Letter. And there were probably other actors and movies that I have forgotten.

I love catching glimpses of my crafts in old movies. I sometimes wonder if that was in the script or if the actresses added that bit of magic on their own. I haven't caught anyone using a spinning wheel yet though; I'll have to watch closer.

In knitting news I have joined the sleeves, and started the garter stitch placket on the Best Bud's Baby's Sweater. I should be at the dividing point soon. I hope to get to the hood by tomorrow. With a good movie tonight (Lawrence of Arabia....still part of Alec Guinness day.) and the NASCAR race tomorrow (Poconos!) I should get plenty of knitting done.

And maybe I can find time to work on my seat pads, using my humungus new hook.

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Another Night, Another Movie

Who knew there were three movies based on the novel The Maltese Falcon? I didn't anyway. The second version is a looser adaptation than the classic 1941 version with Bogart. Those are both on too late tonight for me to watch them. Especially since I have to work tomorrow.

But I did get to catch the original version of the story earlier this evening. Filmed in 1931, I had never seen it before. It apparently is the most faithful to Hammett's novel. And it is a pre-code era movie. Pre-code movies are the best. Too racy for their time, they would be a mild PG-13 now. And it was very evident this was pre-code.

This earlier, more faithful rendition of the movie cleared up a lot of things that Bogey's version left me confused about. Miss Wonderly did sleep with Sam. And at the end, Wilmer shot and killed and Cairo. And the ending is a bit later than in the '41 version.

I always enjoy watching different versions of the same movie. Especially when some of the dialogue is the same. And it is fun watching for the differences as well.

The best part tonight was that I got to see the whole thing. I guess I grumbled enough about missing the ending last night, that we didn't go out to plant beans until after it finished. Barely finished, but finished nonetheless.

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