The Desolation of Yet Another Childhood Favorite

Went with Boyfriend to finally see the new Hobbit movie. I should preface this with some background information; Boyfriend was reared on The Hobbit from the age of approximately five years old. He loves it. Love is probably not a strong enough word, even. So when he heard they were not only making it into a movie, but into THREE movies. he was overjoyed. I, on the other hand, was less enthusiastic.

I read The Hobbit. I tried several times and finally managed to get through the whole thing when I was 13. (I then continued on to read all three of the Lord of the Rings novels in quick succession, after which I swore off reading Tolkien for the rest of my life.) It isn’t a long book. Not really. Being a Tolkien novel it’s obviously jam-packed full of details, and, compared to the LotR novels, it’s much more to-the-point. Making it into 2 movies, I could see fairly easily. Even making it into 3 shorter movies (it is a children’s book, after all) isn’t unreasonable; what’s the average children’s film, an hour and a half? Sure, that’s fine, totally do-able. But three almost-three-hour movies? There’s no way they could possibly get enough material to fill this time, I said to myself. No freakin’ way. 

How they were going to fill the time became apparent once I saw the first film: they were going to make shit up. Especially after conferring with Tolkien-pedia (aka Boyfriend) in the next seat, there were large stretches of that film that were completely made up.  Yes, they pulled in some bits from The Silmarillion, that’s okay I guess. I’ll allow it. But a 5-minute scene with Radagast on a sled pulled by bunnies? I’m pretty sure Tolkien would not approve.

But this second movie… Ugh. I’m just going to make a list. A list of my serious issues with this movie.

1. Casting
   Usually I’m pretty good at identifying actors when they pop up on screen. It’s something my best friend was always able to do really well and living with her for three years gave me plenty of time to practice. But it still took me until seeing names roll across the credit screen to be 100% sure that the lady elf in this movie wasn’t really just Liv Tyler with a really bad dyejob. I mean seriously. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Evangeline Lilly is a decent actress and smokin’ hot, but really, couldn’t they have chosen an actress who looked just a little less like Liv Tyler?
   
   And then at least, couldn’t they have covered up her roots?
   
   
   
   
   I mean seriously, this is just plain sad. 
   
   Especially because since it clearly isn’t all her hair, this was intentional. This took me out of the movie every single time she popped up on screen. I know it’s because I’m a little OCD, but… ::twitch::
   
   It should also be noted that Tauriel (henceforth to be referred to as Arwen 2.0) exists nowhere in Middle Earth ever.
   
2. EditingDuring my tenure in film school there was one point emphasized above all others: editing is KEY. Part of the beauty of the original Lord of the Rings movie cycle was that they managed to take three immensely long novels that are, in large part, filled with superfluous and irrelevant details about the world around the characters and pull out all of the nuggets that were really relevant to the story, thereby making it much easier for the average human being to consume. Even beyond the writers’ room this was the case thanks to skillful editing. Then, with the release of the director’s cut, the superfankids were able to see much of the cut material and we were all happy, while the rest of the world was also content with the shorter version.
   
   The opposite is the case with The Desolation of Smaug. Part of the problem with this movie was that it’s 2 hours and 40 minutes felt like 6 hours because everything just dragged ON. Did we really need 5 minutes of dwarves smashing spiders with tiny swords? No, we didn’t. 1 minute of this would have been sufficient. Did we need 15-20 minutes of Legolas & Arwen 2.0 hopping from hobbit to hobbit shooting orcs on the riverbank (a scene that was purely synthesized for the movie, I might add)? No, we absolutely did not. 3-4 minutes would’ve been fine. I’d even take 5, because the bit with the fat dwarf rolling in the barrel, while unnecessary, was pretty amusing. 
   
   Unlike the majority of my favorite books that Hollywood has seen fit to slaughter in recent years, The Hobbit films aren’t suffering from missing storylines or simply the fact that most 500-page stories don’t fit in well to a 2.5 hour timespace; rather, it’s the opposite that rings true. They are so desperate to fill the absurd amount of time they’ve decided this story warrants that they are…
   
3. MAKING. SHIT. UP.If Tolkien were alive, these movies would never have been permitted to be made. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tolkiens weren’t planning another lawsuit. A good two thirds of this movie was completely synthesized by the writers and has nothing (if not less) to do with the book. There is no big scene by the riverbank. Legolas isn’t even IN the book Legolas’ ladylove Arwen 2.0 was never anywhere in any of the books. Most importantly, Thorin & the dwarves NEVER enter the mountain. That whole bit with the forge and gold at the end? Totally fake. Not to mention completely stupid. Thorin & Smaug don’t ever talk and while Smaug does burst out of the mountain and head for Laketown, he does it to follow Bilbo, not to spite our pint-sized heroes. 
   
   Considering the world in which these movies are set is probably one of the most richly described fantasy lands ever, the fact that they felt the needed to make anything up at all is nothing short of insulting. The rational person is then lead to ask, “Sweet Jesus, why would anyone DO such a thing?”
   
4. The Producing Team in Hollywood is Just a Bunch of Money-Grubbing AssholesSeriously. This is the root of all their problems. This is the case with just about all major motion pictures that have come out in the past 15 or so years. I mean, for goodness’ sake, in Episode 1 the whole podracing bit was obviously meant to be turned straight into a video game (which it was, a game which I purchased for $5 at Walmart shortly after its release, played for 2 hours, and never touched again) and pretty much all of the Gungan fighting storyline was clearly meant to be turned straight into toys.
   
   
   
   
   This is something that modern culture has come to accept, and by and large I include myself in this statement. I liked Star Wars: Episode 1 and as a non-fangirl I don’t mind Jar Jar Binks or the podracing storyline. But what they’ve done to The Hobbit has just hit too close to home. I remember hearing originally they were planning on making 2 movies, and that would’ve been totally fine. There is more than enough richness to this story that 5-5.5 hours of combined screen time seems perfectly acceptable to me.
   
   The third movie is where they lost me completely. It is such an obvious play to drag out the series into another trilogy and line their pockets a third time that it makes me nauseous. The over-commercialization of the film industry I find to be despicable and it’s one of the main factors that lead me to switch out of film school way back when. And it’s something I’m largely able to ignore; I don’t go to a lot of movies and I don’t have kids. But whenever they manage to destroy something I love, it brings up all my feelings of disgust again.
   
   I think what depresses me most about this movie, the entire situation, and the movie industry at large is that film is supposed to be an art form. As is writing. And by dragging out this franchise until it’s dead, I feel like the art has been lost and replaced by commercialism and green. Like a favorite pet who is alive and licking your face when you leave for summer camp and stuffed next to the fireplace when you come back. 

So go see this movie if you must. Just don’t say I didn’t bitch about it enough to have warned you.

Just Another Blog About Yarn

Please note: for this to make sense you have to realize that I've switched to using tumblr for awhile. I'm going to attempt to remember to cross-post stuff to here, but I make no guarantees. Anyway, this was my first tumblr post.

I’m going to say straight up - I’m a skeptic. I’ve resisted tumblr forever; a seasoned Xanga lover who moved onto LiveJournal, I haven’t managed to keep up with a journal, online, handwritten, or otherwise, since the latter half of my college career. Recently, though, a friend has persuaded me to give this another go, and so I shall.

This will almost certainly end up being just another knitting blog, confessions of a yarnaholic, possibly with some rants about weight loss, pretty pictures I’ve taken, and posts about music mixed in for good measure. If I can stick to it this time, though, I’ll be happy. Because lately, I can’t seem to stick to anything, and that has to change.

What Is Your Earliest Human Memory?

I remember being in a hospital in San Francisco. I was probably… 18 months old? I had dislocated my elbow for the first of three times. I don’t remember the pain or crying for hours. I just remember the doctor who fixed my arm giving me a little plastic yellow racecar for being a good girl. I’m fairly certain this car still exists in my parents’ attic somewhere.

Saturday Morning Routine

I do so love Saturday mornings. It might be weird, but I always feel strangely productive on Saturday mornings. I'm a relatively early riser, usually out of bed by 8:30. sometimes nine, and since Boyfriend sleeps later than me 99% of the time it's kind of my quiet time. Bosco usually follows me around, even after I feed him, so we have some cuddles. Then I guess I do a little yarn organization. I'm not sure what else to call it lol. I collect any yarn I may have acquired over the week, along with any new FO's, stuff for the shop, etc. Unblock anything that's dry. Straighten up my yarn bukkits and update the contents lists associated with those. Photograph everything & update my Ravelry pages. Reply to emails, messages, etc. that I didn't get to during the week. Pack up swap packages. Update my epic spreadsheet in which I track all ongoing projects, the status of my stash, etc. ...Yeah, that definitely sounds weird.

It's mostly mindless though, and makes me happy at the same time. It's a good way to wake up in a relaxed state of mind, I think. Listen to some music, drink some coffee.

I did grab some pictures of my FO's from last week that had been blocking. I'm particularly pleased with this one here. It's my own Limited Engagement: Bowery Ballroom base in MollyGirl's Keep Warm colorway. It's truly a luxury to knit with my own yarns, and I was concerned while I was knitting this one that I would wind up frogging it. I thought I might have used needles that were too large or that it wouldn't block well. I used Fish Scale Lace, one of my personal faves, and while being knit it's very... curly is the wrong word. But it definitely doesn't hang straight. This works sometimes, but I didn't want it in this particular piece.

As you can see it blocked quite nicely, and I ADORE the way the colors came out. It didn't pool at ALL. And being baby alpaca of course it's about the softest thing ever. Super yum. 

The rest of today will probably be calm. There may be hanging out with people, though I may also spend the day playing The Sims, as I am wont to do from time to time. I usually try to knit while doing do, but it never really works out as planned. I really do need to finish my repeat from yesterday and one for today on the Caledonia I'm making for my co-worker, so that will definitely (hopefully) get finished. I got a whole slew of Mal Worsted scraps for my scrapghan from my swappie friends so I'd love to try and knock out a few more squares. We shall see.

So off I go. But I leave you with this song for a weekend giggle. Enjoy!

What Turned Into More Than A Writing Sample

I was recently asked for a writing sample. There are fewer things I've found more difficult to write about than "whatever you want". I bounced ideas around for awhile... Favorite yarn... Why I love to knit... My favorite thing that I've made thus far... Which of course got me thinking about the first thing I ever made. It was a scarf, Lion Brand Thick & Quick Chenille, black, no fringe, knit on periwinkle-colored plastic size 11 needles. I wanted to make it for Adam, the boy I was dating at the time. I was 15 and he was my first real Boyfriend. And now I can't remember whether I gave it to him for his birthday in the fall or for Christmas that year. Or why I picked that yarn, even, other than it was soft and wasn't too expensive for my budget at Michael's that day. But make it I did, all five and a half feet of it. I was extremely proud at the time, though I'm sure if I saw it now I would cringe. I wrapped it up and gave it to him on either his birthday or Christmas, and he was appropriately pleased and wore it thereafter.

Sitting in the hall at school a few months later we realized that there was a run in it, probably five rows in, right by the cast on edge. I was mortified, horrified, and generally dramatic as I was wont to be at that point in my life. I insisted on reknitting it, snatching it back and not letting anyone see it. It was the end of February by then, and the season for scarves was coming to a close, but I was determined that, since we were clearly going to be together forever, the scarf would endure as well. I remember sitting at home on the couch, holding a half-unraveled scarf, my sister grabbing the yarn and pulling it into the kitchen, then running back to me to repeat the process. After winding the yarn back into an enormous ball, I proceeded to reknit the thing, meticulously counting the stitches every few rows. I presented it to him a few days later, whole and run-free.

Two weeks later, we broke up.

I eventually got over my heartbreak and we did become quite good friends again. He continued to wear the scarf all through high school and college. We didn't see each other often, but he said he wore that scarf on every single cold day and he'd think of me each time. Likewise, whenever a non-knitter asked me about my craft and the inevitable question about the first thing I made came up I would think of him. Last November he came to my birthday party and we fell to chatting. As the evening wore on, he told me he had some bad news: the scarf was gone. Stolen, he thought, out of his coat sleeve at a big party. He declared it to be the end of an era, asking me at the same time if I could make him another scarf just like that one. I said of course I would make him a scarf, but it wouldn't be the same.

And even if I could recreate that exact piece, made out of three whole skeins of a yarn long since discontinued, I wouldn't. It wouldn't be the same scarf, with the little tail poking out that I could never quite get to stay hidden. And we aren't the same people we were when I knit it the first time (or second). It wouldn't mean the same thing.

It's good, I think, as knitters, as creators of warm and cozy things, as givers of handmade gifts, that we keep in mind not only the projects we make, but who we make them for and why we even bother. It's true that I've given people things I've made which have gone unappreciated. Things that have been relegated to the back of closets, the bottom of drawers, never to see the light of day again. And knowing this has happened has made me gun shy, perhaps even a little jaded at times. But then there are those times when I get a text from a friend or an email from a relative, or maybe just glimpse a post online... and it's right there. That thing that I made them this past holiday season. That thing I made for her bridal shower six years ago. It's an afghan on a bed in the background of a picture or a hat right in the foreground, on the person who I made it for. It's on their hands as they type on their phone, writing to say they're thinking of me because I'm the reason their hands are currently toasty warm.

It's being at my parents' house, wrapped up in the afghan my mother made for my father when they were in college, sitting next to a table covered with one of the dozens of doilies that my grandmother crocheted.

It's thinking about the next afghan I want to make for my own home, and how someday my own kids might use to to make a cushion fort, like I did with my other grandmother's afghan when I was little.

It's good to keep these things in mind. People outside of the yarn world sometimes think that knitting is very solitary, but I've found the opposite to be true. Aside from the large number of friends I've made, both in person and online in the global yarn crafting community, I'm constantly connected to the ones I love both through the gifts I've made and those I've received.

Take that, store-bought scarf.

Spring & A Storm

I'm definitely going to be needing one of my Tasti pints when I get home. Today has been rough and this week is only going to get worse. It's hard to deal when you realize Monday is going to be the easiest day in your week.

The weekend wasn't bad. Had a nice time at Etsy HQ and hanging out in Dumbo with Boyfriend and his friend. I love Dumbo, I really do. I used to work down there and while the job wasn't really worthwhile, getting to have lunch in the July sunshine on the pebble beach totally was.

Sunday was supposed to be another fun day in city but pretty much everyone bailed at the last moment so Boyfriend and I stayed home. I worked a bit on my sweater (it's joined in the round now!) and a cowl out of one of my Limited Engagement yarns. I also have been playing around with the idea of phasing out my Etsy shop and launching my own web store, so I fiddled around with that some too. A productive day, but not exciting by any stretch.

The only good thing thus far today is the rain. It's keeping people indoors, eliminating some of the humidity, and fits my mood perfectly. Makes me want to listen to "Spring & A Storm"...

P.S. I have a hat pattern that I'd like to launch soon, but I would definitely like to have some people test knit it first based on what happened with the cowls. Anyone interested should get in touch!

Frozen Treats Heal All Hurts

After a busy busy weekend, about the last thing I wanted was a busy week. Alas, summer in recreation.  What is a little civil servant to do.

It was a good weekend, though. Geocaching on Saturday and my first craft show as MollyGirl on Sunday. The show was exhausting, as they always are, but also rewarding. I love getting out and talking to people about my craft. Plus, outdoor show meant puppy kisses! My reward after a long sweaty day was a giant tub of froyo. I'm a simple girl, really. Frozen dessert items are generally all I need to heal my emotional hurts. Even when I was little, this was the case. I once stepped on a beehive and got stung 25 times. I cried and cried... until a neighbor brought me a fudgecicle. 

It was a more stressful show than usual; my father built me a wonderful new display... which was still being worked on and finished several hours into the show. The new mirror I bought for people to try on stuff was broken when I took it out of the box. I almost poked my eye out with one of the pegs on my fancy new display. Just one of those days, I guess. So stressful for sure, but rewarding nonetheless. Just looking ahead to my next show now at the end of the month out in Southampton NY. 

I got some merino angora blend to dye up and it's BEAUTIFUL. Going to have to keep one of these babies for moi. =] I'm having a bit of a love affair with angora right now, I must say. It's just SO SOFT. If only I could get my hands on some alpaca/angora... Yumm...

I haven't been knitting too much. I should try and punch out a bit more of my sweater, really, and I have a cowl (a River Deep, Mountain High, if you must know) on the needles as well. I've also been working a bunch on my Mal Worsted scrapghan.  My goal is to get it done for Christmas,  though only having 38 squares of 252 done... we'll see. Lofty goals, I know. ;] The toughest part I think is getting all the colors. I can't afford to actually buy all the skeins (especially since I only want to use half of it at most) so I've been swapping a lot. It's helpful, but I realize at some point I'm going to run out of people to swap with! lol and then I won't have any more! But this is a problem for the future. I figure as long as I punch out a few squares every day and connect them up, I'll be okay. I adore granny squares, so it's actually tougher not to just do that. I love afghans. Love. Yay!

Right now I'm just trying to relax. I know I have an insanely stressful few months coming at work, so all I can do is try and keep my zen, hanging out with Bosco and Boyfriend and yarnz. We're making steak tonight for dinner, so pumped about that! And I have a pint of Tasti D-Lite with my name on it in the freezer. Only 8 points for the whole thing, and lawd knows I could use the pick me up. Like I said, frozen treats are my panacea. Headbutts from Bosco help too. =)

Hard Work & Straight Hair

So despite the initial discomfort of the keratin treatment, it was a ROARING success. I had never been so happy to wash my hair in all my life, and when I did wash it my hair dried practically straight! It was amazing. I almost cried. Which might seem a little sad but anyone with curly hair that 'fros up if you walk through the bathroom too soon after someone else takes a shower will understand where I'm coming from. The highlight of my day today was driving home for lunch in the blinding heat. It was freezing in my office today, and while normally I would have shied away from the heat and humidity I just pumped the music, opened with windows, soaked up the warmth, and let the wind muss my hair. Because I could.

It was about the only bright spot in the day. This has been a heck of a week and not in the good way. Work is becoming increasingly stressful and then I've been coming home and working my buttski off to prepare for my show this weekend.

That's right! First official MollyGirl show this Sunday! 10-5 in Veterans' Park in Westwood, NJ! Come!

And that's my pitch lol. I'm really looking forward to it - I'll have a whole new display thing by then. I hope. My father is making it for me from something I drew on an envelope, so I have no idea what it'll really look like in the end. I thought I was well set... and then found a whole mess of things that needed labels still. I spent the last three days labeling everything from stitch markers to shawls to skeins. And now I am labeled out. I think everything is labeled and ready to go, and truth be told, whatever isn't is staying home. I need a wee bit of time to relax.

I want to get some more work done on my Mal Worsted scrapghan and maybe do some spinning. I just ordered some fun fun batts (which I wasn't supposed to do but I did anyway) so I should probably try and make a little room for them before they get here. Right? Granny squares ho!

Itchy Itchy Itchy!

I'm so excited that my first pattern release has gone over so well! The positive feedback is very heartening. I have the chunky version of the pattern ready for release, so that will probably come out sometime next week.

The rest of the week wasn't fun, but workweeks rarely are these days. The only thing of real significance that happened is that on Thursday I got a significant portion of my hair cut off and splurged on a keratin treatment. I was skeptical as I always am of things that cost upwards of $200 but I feel better after getting it. I've heard enough first-hand positive feedback that I have some hope of not being fuzzyheaded (literally) all summer long. And for sure my hair has NEVER been this flat. One of my co-workers told me I looked like Cher, my hair was so pin straight. I actually don't like the way it looks at all right now, but that's because it was flat ironed so thoroughly. It won't look like this when I do it myself, thankfully.

The whole process took about 4 hours altogether and I'm currently in the "DON'T TOUCH IT" phase. I'm not supposed to put it back, clip it, tuck it behind my ears, or anything else that might put a dink in it. It wasn't a problem yesterday really at all. I always managed to catch myself putting it behind my ears before it was a problem. But today I'm feeling distinctly grimey. This is part of the reason I stopped flat ironing my hair  - it always felt greasy WAY faster than a simple blow-dry. My head is itchy like crazy now, though, and if I wasn't under orders I'd be in the shower at this very moment. I have to wait until tomorrow after 8 though... I'll make it, I know. I'm just going to be itchy until then.

At least I have a Karma Yarn Swap KA swap to look forward to tonight. I also plan to play some Sim City as soon as I can wean Boyfriend off his computer. And I spin. Must keep... hands... busy....

River Deep, Mountain High - A Cowl

Well, it's looking like it'll be another zinger of a week; the AC going out in the office for several hours on a 90-degree day isn't ever a good omen. But still, we must smile & carry on, yes? I finished not one but BOTH of my Mad May projects today. Both my biffle's hat and my shawl are happily blocking. I'll post pictures when they're dry, they're both pretty awesome. I'm particularly pleased with the shawl. I'm hoping to get that written out and test knit at some point. =D

In that vein I decided, for no special reason, to release my first pattern today! Woohoo! It's not a complicated pattern, but a classic one that works for pretty much every yarn. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on my own FO's and now you can make your own! Head on over to Ravelry to download River Deep, Mountain High now!

A Weekend Retreat

I didn't have a stellar week. I wrote a few really angry posts about my job, but my better judgement kicked in and I published none of them.

A weekend retreat was definitely in order though, and Boyfriend & I spent the night at my parents' lake cabin. Waking up among the trees surrounded by birdsong... it's very zen.

I used to hate it up here. We got this place when I was... 12 or 13? I hated it because it meant I would be disconnected from all of my friends,  and while there were other kids here there weren't a whole lot that were my age and the ones that were had no interest in being my friend. Now though, as an adult and with the addition of things like internet access, laptops, cell phones, etc. I'm very happy to be here. Away from things. Nothing pressing on me, no apartment begging to be cleaned or kitty asking why he can't have supper at 3 pm. It's very pleasant and as much as I hated it when I was younger I'm enjoying it now.

We're having some friends come up for the day later, they should be here in about an hour. But for now it's just us. Boyfriend is reading, I'm knitting, and there's some music coming through the windows from my computer. Birdies singing and the trees just being green & pretty. Yay.

Like A Proud Momma

I launched! Wooo! It was exhausting and exciting and there were some hiccoughs along the way but I did it, it's done, and I celebrated with many beers.

It was nice to be out with people. It's something I've really missed since college: being just out, in a bar, even if you don't know anyone there. I really have to make a concerted effort to do that more, especially now that I'm done rebranding and hopefully the bulk of my prep work for that won't need to be repeated, just maintained.

I finally have had some time to knit. I hadn't knit a stitch in about a week, which was both terrible and scary, but I needed to make sure I had everything done. I got four repeats of my Mad May shawl done, and if I keep going at two a day I should finish in time.

Now all I can think about is a nap. I feel like I didn't sleep (even though I slept like a rock, courtesy of a melatonin) and even coffee isn't helping. Wah.

The Big Day Has Arrived!!

Finally, after months of deliberation and hard work, I'm ready to unveil my big news. I've spent months and hundreds of hours working on this, thinking, deliberating, brainstorming, doodling, daydreaming, and writing. And the news is... As of today, May 11, Yarn Monkey Productions is officially closed.

I came up with the Monkey when I was a senior in high school. It was cute, fun, & silly, and represented well what I was all about at the time. It was just a weekend thing, a justification for the crazy amount of yarn I bought and things I was knitting, an excuse to learn new skills, to experiment, to expand my horizons. Eventually, I took on other skills like dyeing and spinning and was able to really expand as my vision for what this company could be grew.

The past couple of years though I've become discontent.  I want more - more from my craft, more for my business, more of this in my life. The end goal  - a brick-and-mortar business - has morphed over time as I thought more and more about what I really wanted, what I could see myself doing for the rest of my life,  I came to realize that in this grand picture of where I'm headed there was no room for Yarn Monkey as a brand.  I needed something new.

This something is what I've been spending the overwhelming majority of my waking moments on. I've been eating, sleeping, breathing, dreaming about rebranding my business for months. And now I get to share it with everyone!

I'd like to introduce you to MollyGirl, where fiber rocks!

As you may or may not know, my background is in the music industry. I worked at a number of New York City venues all through college in all sorts of capacities. I love live music - few things bring people together like a live show. And while it might be less mainstream, the fiber arts bring people together too, in very similar ways. In my mind these two art forms aren't disparate in the slightest; they simply haven't been brought together yet. 

Right now, MollyGirl is still small. Our internet shop will be packed full of yarn, handknits, accessories, and who knows what else. I plan on doing as many shows as possible, and eventually (hopefully) I'll be able to take this on full time. That's the immediate goal.

The long term goal is greater - a physical place where people can come together. There will be yarn, fiber, tea, and music. There will be songs and knits and community.  The fiber arts have historically revolved around social gatherings - why not now? I don't know when or where or exactly how this place will come into being.  Knitting shop + coffee house + small music venue...  It might sound crazy, but in my mind, it's beautiful.

So YMP isn't really gone. It's just stepped aside and made way for a new leading lady. Hopefully by the time you're reading this I've changed YMP listings over to their new MollyGirl names. All the things you loved in YMP's shop have simply relocated over to the new MollyGirl shop. They might not all be up just yet, but I'm working on it, I promise. Yarns & colors have new names,  but they're the same great products. We'll also shortly be releasing patterns on Ravelry and starting our fabulous kickoff raffle so you should head on over to Facebook and get involved in that. We've launched our new website too, and we'll be announcing shows as soon as we get them confirmed.

I'm SO EXCITED to FINALLY be sharing this all with you! We have a whole new look but everything is as you've come to expect - high quality at an awesome price. This has been such a labor of love, and I'm looking forward to continuing to expand my fibery horizons with you!

Much love,

Angela

Change's Gonna Come...

Tomorrow! I get to make my announcement tomorrow! I'm so excited!

Mostly I'm excited to be able to (theoretically) be able to get backt to my crafting. I haven't knit in... a week? About? I finished my tweedy leafy shawly thing on Monday. So not quite a week. But still. I'm going through some serious withdrawal. I just didn't have ay time! it was frustrating, but I perservered and everything I think is ready to go tomorrow. I think. I'm going to have to check my checklist for the billionth time. And then tomorrow night I will drink beer with friends and get to be social for pretty much the first time in months. Yayyyy!

I don't really have anything else to say, other than that's what I've been doing and where I've been. I'm looking forward to being able to relax into a more normal schedule after tomorrow if nothing else. I like schedules and being in a general rhythm.  Thank you for bearing with me through all this - it's going to be great, you'll see.

Another Day & The Start of Mad May

Oh Mad May... I'm not going to go all out the way I did with Mal March, mostly because I have WAY too much going on, but I'm going to try and get at least one project done.  I CO'd a shawl of my own design yesterday, though I'm working on another similar project already. I'm most of the way through that one, so I figure one repeat of one then one repeat  of the other, back & forth, I'll get them both finished in due time and I won't get too bored with either one.

Had a good powwow yesterday with my parents over dinner. My father is going to try and build me an excellent new display for all the shows I'm trying to book, so I'm excited about that, and Boyfriend & I are going to scope out new table display items and tablecloths this evening, among other things. I feel sort of bad, like it's all about me right now because I'm just so focused that business is most of what I talk about at the moment.  I don't want to stop until I make some progress though, and Boyfriend is being very patient and supportive.  He's planning on having the boys over for games this weekend, so that'll be good. It also means I can get some work done in peace and someone will feed me.  We're also going garage-sale-ing on Saturday, so that should be fun. I like an adventure. Maybe we can hit some geocaches too... Hmmm.... Adventuresss.....

Geochaching & Late-Night Gaming

After a stressful week at work (and at home to some extent) I was really looking forward to a kickass weekend. Thus far, it's been off to an excellent start, too.

During the week I decided to try and find Boyfriend & I something to do. I vaguely remembered having a swap partner who was involved in Geocaching. I didn't know much about it then but I decided to look it up and thought we'd give it a try. Looked forward to it allll week, too. So yesterday, Boyfriend & two other friends and I piled into my car & drove to Hofstra Park in Prospect Park, NJ & set out to give this a shot. It took us awhile to find the first one, and we didn't find all the ones we set out to find, but we did find some and we had a blast! Got a good little workout too. The park was great, both urban & woodsy at the same time. It was kind of weird but good for our purposes. It was up on top of a hill overlooking Paterson & a strip mine... so they were nice views... of the sky anyway.

Afterwards we got lunch, parted ways for showers and naps, and reconvened at our place around eight for pesto & games. Gaming until 3 am does weird things to people. There was no drinking (for once) but we did end up making a cake.

Today I'm just catching up on stuff I didn't get to do during the week. Like taking pics of my FO's from the week, replying to emails I didn't feel like reading on my phone. Now I'm about ready for a nap though.

I did finish Candome hat. I tried to make the top a little interesting by adding a little cable twist into the decrease section, but it's not really noticable, I don't think. Oh well, no worries. The colors are nice, even if they're not my colors.

I finished the bag too, which I ADORE and I'm PUMPED to make another for myself! I was worried it wouldn't be the size I wanted, which was large enough to hold a beach towel. In lieu of a beach towel I tested it with my voluminous bathrobe and it totally fit! Super pumped! And I love this yarn! I don't think I'd ever use it for anything other than beachbags, but I am tempted to go stock up on some Cascade Sunseeker in different colors and make a few spares.

I also made another beret, which I finished towards the end of gaming last night, out of a sacred skein of Studio Donegal. I LOVE this stuff, I think it just knits up beautifully and it's nice & springy & soft... Ahh. I became enamored of it last year when I was in Ireland (where it's spun and pretty much exclusively distributed) and almost peed myself with joy when someone at last fall's North Jersey Fiber Arts Festival scored some to sell. It's just a simple beret with a little lacey leaf pattern in one place to add a little focus. Ugh. I wish I had a place to buy this locally, I'd use it all the time instead of hoarding it like Halloween candy.

This morning I CO'd a flat knit cowl. My co-worker loved the hat I made in Piedras for Mal Madness but she doesn't wear hats or want a cowl that she has to pull over her head. I snagged a skein of Twist in Piedras on sale & figured I'd make her something with buttons. I don't like flat knitting as much as in the round, but I'll get through it. =) But first I think I really want a nap. Not feeling hot today again, so at the very least I'd like to be horizontal with comfy blankets & pillows on my comfy comfy sleep number bed. Tea and nap, then more knitting. Sounds like a kickass finish to a weekend to me! =D

A Time For Rest

I hate that it's been so long. It makes me sad, actually. But these past few weeks have been rough, and I've either not had the time to sit down and devote or I've just been too weary, either physically or emotionally. There were two deaths, one that I had to leave the state for. There's been YMP busyness. Easter. Insomnia. Illness. Mal Madness. A LOT of stress at work (the summer is coming faster than you think, and it's hitting my office already).  It's just been exhausting, tiring to experience and too tiring to talk about at length. I spent a lot of time in my head, and I kept thinking to myself, "I should write about this!". I couldn't bring myself to put words to what I was feeling though, there was just too much.

Sleepy penguin!

Candome Hat

This past weekend, though, I finally got to take a vacation. Granted, it was just a long weekend with my hunnie, less than a three-hour drive to Mystic, CT, but it was the only vacation I've had since August of 2011 so I was SUPER PUMPED.  It was a sort of strange weekend, though it all worked out in the end. Just being ANYWHERE but our apartment alone with Boyfriend would have been great, but Mystic is kind of special for us, so it was nice to get back.  We went to Mohegan Sun, walked around the town & Olde Mystick Village (my fave!). We met two ADORABLE miniature Australian Shepherds, which I did not know existed but now I must have. Boyfriend & I have been wanting one but they need way more space than we have; apparently, the minis are calmer and need less space. SO CUTE my head almost exploded. We also went to the aquarium, which I love, & saw the penguins, which I love. I wanted to buy some original Penguin Art but settled for a print & mug instead.

I did visit two yarn shops, I'm proud to say, and I think I did pretty well with my self-restraint. The first was Mystic River Yarns, which was a lovely shop, really. They had a great discount wall, and I picked up a few skeins of different yarns by Ellyn Connor's Yarn Sonnets. The other was really an alpaca farm (though we didn't get to see much of the alpacas themselves, which was fine). Our hotel was 10 minutes from Burgis Brook Alpacas in Canterbury, CT. It was kind of tough to find and when we got there we were a little creeped out . You pull up to a house on a quiet country road surrounded by hedges & high fences with only a few other cars, a padlocked barn to the right, and not a soul in sight. It was a little eerie, but the proprietess heard us and came to open the shop. Once inside it was quite pleasant, although it was mostly mainstream yarns, lots of Malabrigo, Noro, & Araucania, which was kind of a bummer. I was able to score a skein of Aysen and one of Coliumo in Berry (which I actually really needed  for a project I have in mind - I'd swapped for one, but the person stiffed me & thought I was SOL) as well as 2 skeins of their farm blend and one of a corriedale/mohair blend from another local farm. I was well pleased with my purchases, all told.

I got a bit of knitting done, including a bunch of work on the bag I'm making for a swap.  I'd decided to crochet the bag originally, and unfortunately most of what I did was work on this bag. I got to the point where I'd start the cuff of the bag...  and it was WAY too small. I wasn't jazzed about the way that it was coming out anyway (reminding me how much I dislike crocheting) so when we got home for the weekend I frogged it all and started a knit bag. I'm almost done with the body of it, and I really like the way it's coming out. 

I also did a wee bit of work on my Candome hat.  I bought a skein of Rios in Candome during Mal March (naughty me!!) because it was on sale and I'm trying to use it up so I don't feel guilty about having bought it lol. I always love people's pictures of FO's in Candome but I never like the way it looks in the skein... To be honest, I don't know how I feel about this hat that I'm making  either. Something simple, just a plain stockinette slouchy hat, I'll probably put a button or something on it. The only bit of fanciness is that I added some mini cables to the ribbing on the brim. I meant to be able to knit this in the car, though I wound up driving on the way up and passing out on the way home. Now I'll try and punch it out once I finish my bag, though it's hard to work on it because I get bored really fast with the stockinette. Slow & steady though.

I'm hoping things will quiet down for awhile. Probably not for long, but two weeks of routine would be nice.  I'm a creature of habit, I like routine.  I'm all for shaking it up once in awhile, but I've had enough shaking now. No more shaking.  Time now to rest. 

Stripey Hat Mania!

Been sick on and off for the past two weeks. It has not been my favorite. Mostly just cold stuff, but a couple of fevers, a migraine... super fun. Rehearsals for the musical I'm going to be in have started, too. It also seems like a couple of big life changes are headed my way come summer... It's been a hectic couple of weeks.

It HAS meant that I've had some quality knitting time though. =D I've reorganized my yarn in an effort to try and use up a chunk of it, (The big life changes headed my way may also include another move, and when that is the situation, less is always more!) notably that from my trip to Scotland last year and the North Jersey Fiber Fest from this past fall. I've been doing well so far! I used up two scarf quantities that I bought, but not for scarves. I just couldn't come up with any patterns I liked, so there's the Norse series...

A nice chunky cowl, an adult-sized hat, and a child-sized hat, all from 4 skeins of Wendy Norse Chunky, a lovely single-ply wool/acrylic blend, that I bought at the Wooley Brew in Pittenweem, the most adorable little town ever in the heart of Scotland. It was pleasant to work with, for the most part, though it was one of the most loosely spun single-plys I've ever worked with and splityness was an issue for me. I probably wouldn't buy it again, but I love the end result. 

I also just finished (this morning!) a set of five hats I've been calling the "Scottish Stripey Hats". I bought 5 skeins of Rico Kids Classic Aran to make a stripey scarf, but again, I couldn't come up with a pattern I both liked and felt like doing. 

So instead of a scarf... five hats! I'm super pleased with them. The first three (white, blue, & brown) are regular adult-sized. The fourth (pink) is child-sized and the last (purple) is larger adult-sized. And I have enough left over to make a kindle cozy! I'm going to CO that once I'm done writing, before the start of Mal Madness tomorrow. These two sets have also given me the chance to start some basic colorwork. Really really basic, but it made me happy anyway. =)

Excited about Mal March Madness. I've got plenty of Mal laying around, so my recent reorganization of yarn and plan about which to use may have to wait. I tend to hoard the Mal because I love it so much, so this should give me impetus to actually USE it. This does mean I'll have to get my swift back from my father asap though. 

I'm so tired. Honestly, my knitting is about all that's keeping me sane right now. This is a weird time, I guess. Boyfriend is busy busy busy with work & it's making him very unhappy. There's no real holidays for awhile, so no diet ditch days to look forward to. We planned a little vacation for the beginning of April, but it seems like a million years away. I was SUPER excited about it for a few days but it's hard to maintain that level of enthusiasm with so long to go. I'm just kind of coasting along right now... The doldrums shall pass, as they always do, just gotta keep rollin' along in the meantime. =)

Pittenweem!

Songs & Snowpocalypse

This past week as a little nutty. I had my little medical drama nonsense on Tuesday, and was a sad little mess for the rest of the day. You would think on a day where I was scheduled to have a procedure and knew I would want to go straight on home and climb into bed, I would make sure I had my apartment keys.

But alas.

This was also the same day that I went to the Dunkin Donuts drivethrough for coffee, ordered the coffee, paid for the coffee, and drove away without the coffee. I should have had the wherewithall to check the rest of my essential belongings after that, but it was not to be. So I got home after my procedure, stressed, weepy from the stress, and in a rather large amount of discomfort to discover that I was locked out. This happens frequently enough that I keep a spare set of keys in my glove compartment. Except that we lent those to a friend so he could feed Bosco when we were away for a weekend. Awesome. So I sat in my car in the cold, sniveling and feeling sorry for myself, alternating between a rousing game of solitare and Ravelry, until Boyfriend came home from school. He got me upstairs, ordered me Mexican food, and tucked me in on the couch with the remote and some yarn.

The rest of the week just kind of took its cue from there. I was mostly sad, sick, and weepy. I knit some. I played a bunch of Sims. The highlight of the week I went to my favorite LYS on my lunch hour Wednesday to console myself. I was poking through their giant pile of Mal Worsted and lo, there in the back, was a skein of Mal Twist in Purple Mystery. One of my favorite bases in one of my favorite colors, and I had just finished a long discussion with the proprietess about how irritiated she was Malabrigo and would no longer be carrying their yarns once her current stock sold out. She hadn't had any Twist in a year, and she was shocked to see what I'd found. Since it was probably the only one of its kind, she gave it to me for half off! I promptly went home, wound it up into a center pull, and hurriedly finished a hat I was very disgruntled with so I could cast on a cowl for moi. Said cowl is blocked & just about dry, and I'm ridiculously excited to wear it. SO SOFT. Crazy.

The disgruntling hat started out as a Winter Garden hat. It ended up looking similar, but I got really enraged at the pattern and stopped using it after a few rows. Maybe it's just because I was in a bad mood when I started it, but I caught the gist of the pattern from looking at pictures and finished it my own way. This is not the first time this has happened with a pattern I downloaded off the interwebs, and I'm sure it won't be the last either (though it happens significantly less since I started working these things through myself & designing my own patterns), but I find it particularly irksome when a pattern has been paid for. But this plays into a very long rant about "proprietary" patterns and the internet. One day maybe I'll share the whole thing here, but now is not the time.

Anyway, the cowl was a good project to work on during the so-called "Snowpocalypse". Which wasn't really that terrible. I mean, yeah, it was a whole bunch of snow. But down in Jersey, it could have been a lot worse. It was 8-12", just as predicted. And I suppose it's easier for me to be blase about it because, living in a second story apartment, I didn't really have to shovel any of it. But looking back on snowstorms gone by (think last October, or ANY of the snowstorms from the winter before that) it really wasn't terrible. People are just gunshy because of Sandy, I get that. I really do. And it's true, there's no harm in being prepared. But there's no need to be so dramatic about it. Let us not abuse the term "Snowpocalypse" (or "Snowmageddon", if that's your preferred flavor) is all I'm saying.

Yesterday (Sunday), was nerve wracking in its own right. I bit the bullet and did something I both swore I'd never do again and have been wanting to do for months. I went and auditioned for my old community theatre company's spring show. I haven't participated in a show of theirs since... 2005? My entire family had been involved for years, since the late 90's, in a multitude of capacities, but we all kind of dropped out eventually. For me, the drama and feelings of insufficiency just became too much. I took voice and dance lessons nonstop, worked my butt off to please the directors, bowed and scraped and did my time, and still I was always passed over for parts. It hurt a lot, especially because the only explanation I could come up with was that I was heavier than the girls who did get parts. It wounded me. Add in all of the other interpersonal drama and I'd just had enough. So I left. And then I went to college. And I came back from college. And now it's been years. I've grown, I have a different point of view and a the skill set to deal with these people as an adult, to stick up for myself. I've improved and honed my singing skills significantly since then. And I have significantly more confidence.

(The success at my weight loss plan helps too.)

So I thought about it. A lot. Agonized, really. I didn't tell anyone before I did it, too. It was a hard choice. It's hard to go back to these people after having been away for so long, these people who really hurt me, hurt my self esteem, as a kid, but who were also fundamental in shaping me in a lot of ways and who were responsible for a lot of my best memories from that time period. It was really hard. And I thought I was going to have a 
stroke when I got there. But I did it. I'm pretty proud of muself. And I think I'll do this show. If nothing else, it'll give me something to do other than play the Sims all day long, right?

Beastie: It's Just That

I've been having a rough week. Between the unpleasantness of my little procedure on Tuesday and the impending transabdominal ultrasound and probable outcome of said scan looming on the horizon that is this coming Monday (not to mention the alleged "Snowpocalypse" headed our way), I've not been terribly happy.

I did want to get in my little review of a yarn I tried last week though. I wanted to wait until it finished blocking before putting my final thoughts into the universe, and now that it has been unpinned I think it's time. I was really excited to try Cephalopod Yarn's Beastie. I made two Christmas gifts out of skeins of Traveller and I loved the color of one (Stranger's Home, AK) so much that I wanted to get a skein for myself. I had a little extra money so I went and bought myself a skein. It was then that I saw Beastie for the first time and I was super excited. Aran is one of my absolute favorite weights to work with and I was really stoked to see them use a heavier base. I selected a skein in Chupacabra, a lovely red-violet shade. When it arrived, I was all set. I had a stitch pattern picked out from a dictionary, I set up my swift, and then I opened the package. 

I was surprised at first touch how it felt. It wasn't really soft at all. It was about at the edge of acceptable textures for something you'd wear against your neck. So when I looked at the fiber content (which I hadn't really paid attention to until this moment) I was totally shocked. Beastie is a blend of merino, silk, and alpaca. One of my favorite blends of all time. I love it, absolutely love it. It's the best of 3 worlds, the perfect balance between soft, warm, and cool, perfect for next-to-skin items. But upon touching Beastie, I'd never have guessed what its fiber content was. Really, it felt to me only marginally softer than Cascade 220 or Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. Hold on, I thought, this can't be. It must just bloom up when it's washed.

So I knit it up. It was fine. Nothing to write home about, not really. I punched out the cowl within two days, washed it, and lightly blocked it. I left it alone, and came back a few days later. The texture was no different.

Now, it's true, Traveller is not the softest superwash merino ever. It's saving grace is the multitude of beautiful colors it comes in and the fact that it's washable. These are still true for Beastie, but I still somehow feel cheated. When you tell me it's alpaca/merino/silk, I expect greatness.

It was nice enough to work with, though honestly I don't think I'll ever buy myself another skein. 140 yards of aran for $20? For my money, I'd just buy 2 skeins of Malabrigo Rios or a skein of madelinetosh vintage. Beastie was disappointing at best, and my recommendation is to pass.

The Worst of Me

Ah, Superbowl Sunday. As usual, I ignored it in its entirety. Not 100% intentional, I simply forgot about it and made other plans. When asked how I could forget, didn't Boyfriend remind me? I simply explained that my boyfriend likes math and dice games; I'm lucky he knows the Superbowl is a football game.

I spent the weekend with guilty pleasures: The Sims 3 & the Bachelor. And knitting, of course, though I wouldn't consider that a guilty pleasure. I started & finished a cowl with some of Cephalopod Yarn's Beastie. It's beautiful, although I have to say I wasn't overly impressed with the yarn itself. I adore merino/alpaca/silk blents, but honestly if I hadn't read the label I wouldn't have realized that's what it was. It doesn't even feel like merino to me. I'm hoping that it'll bloom & soften a bit with washing, so I'm waiting on it to dry before I make my final judgement. Started another cowl, this one out of some Mal Chunky, today based off a pattern from one of my many stitch dictionaries. I love stitch dictionaries, they're the most useful texts a serious knitter can own. I really need to collect Barbara Walker's volumes, because it seems like every other dictionary is a rehashing of her work, though that is a purchase that will have to wait.

The Sims is one of my biggest weaknesses ever, and has been for years. Which is sad, because it's essentially a bug-ridden, money-eating timesink... but I can't give it up. It's just too funny. TBoyfriend caught me watching it and was like, "Oh lord, WHY are you watching the BACHELOR?!?!" My answers, in this order were:

1. because Scott & Todd (the morning radio dj's on 95.5, who I've faithfully listened to every weekday morning that I've ever driven anywhere) make fun of it.
2. it's actually frightening how addictive it is, and also how hilarious it is. Seriously. I think my family watched the first season of the Bachelor (just for reference, this is Season 17, not including the Bachelorette seasons) when it was on tv because it was new and exciting and I was probably 12 or 13, and I've avoided it ever since. But talk about a guilty pleasure. Seriously. You can't script this stuff. One girl talks about kicking the crap out of other girls who get in her way, and "falls" down the stairs, pitches temper tantrums when she doesn't get 1-on-1 dates, and according to the "Next Week On The Bachelor" vignette, appears to get chased by a wild animal, fall into some icy water, and give herself hypothermia. All I have to say is this: Bitches be trippin'.
3. it makes me appreciate you [Boyfriend] ever so much more.

A fourth answer, which arose later, is it's an excellent show to watch whilst I spin, because I don't have to really watch it. As long as I can hear the insane word vomit that is this show, I can follow. I'm not proud of either of these pasttimes, not like I am of my continued love for Pokemon, but there they are. That's the worst of me. The Sims 3 and some horrifying reality television are my only real vices. Some people might think that I ought to include my overwhelming stash of yarn in this list, but we all know I really need that to live so it doesn't qualify as a vice, right? ....right?

A New Cowl, A Familliar Game

This weather is driving me bananas. I feel so rotten, between stuffy nose, cough, and a raging sore throat... Ugh. Boyfriend and I stayed home yesterday, me because of germiness and him because he had an insane amount grading to get done. I don't think I ever appreciated before exactly how much work teachers put in. He's done absolutely nothing but work for the past six days, at school and at home. No one is underpaid like teachers are underpaid. Kind of disgusting really.

Anyway, I finished a cowl yesterday that I'm pretty excited about. I love to buy variegated yarn, but finding patterns to show it off can be tough. When I get pictures I'll post them along with some more about the pattern. If there's enough interest maybe I'll post the pattern! I had enough leftover to start a matching hat too, though I'm not sure that's going to work like I intend. We'll see.

I also descended once again into time sink that is The Sims. Sometimes its sirens' song just calls... and I am powerless resist. It may impede upon my knitting time, but this phase too shall pass eventually. :)

A New New Leaf

Finally, the holiday madness has subsided in its entirety and I'm feeling like myself. Not entirely well, of course, because with the temperature swinging from one end of the spectrum to the other every four days my allergies & sinuses are extremely unhappy. But just gotta take it in stride.

I've been knitting my buttski off, but with stuff (by and large) that I want to make, which is nice after all the Christmas madness. I think I made... 24 Christmas gifts? I actually finished them up a few days before Christmas too, which as never, never, notinthehistoryoftheuniverse happened to me. I was irrationally giddy about it.

Now I'm just looking towards the future, getting stuff ready for the show season to come, dyeing and experimenting with new colorways, bases, etc. I put my Christmas money towards a spinning wheel too! It's small, a Fidelis wheel from Heavenly Handspinning, but it works well and I'm practicing a little every day. Not as good as with my spindle by a long shot but I'll get there. Until then all I can do is practice. I do really wish I had gotten a double treadle, but that's my only regret. And I'm sure this won't be my last wheel, so it's something I know for next time.

I was on a roll with blogging before, but I'm hoping I can be more involved starting now. I've got a lot going on - I've started Weight Watchers (and lost 9 pounds!), I'm making an effort to cook more and make new recipes, and I may be getting involved with a local community theatre troupe after a long hiatus - in addition to my knitting. I want to start releasing patterns too, challenge myself to get more involved in design work. And I'm going to need somewhere to write about that, right? I hope you'll read along, and feel free to leave me comments!

Much love in the new year,
Angela

My first FO of 2013! A Kindle paperwhite cozy! Anyone interested in seeing a pattern like this?