More Movies

I finished up the Harry Potter/Hedwig socks for my nephew, Michael, but I didn't have time to take a photo of the second one. But you know what, it looks pretty much like the first one. I didn't do anything to try to make them match exactly, but they're pretty close to the same. I guess if I had wound off a few yards, I would have been able to match them up, but I am never that concerned about having them be the same. I didn't take a picture because I wanted to get them to Michael when I saw him on St. Patrick's Day, while there's still a need for wool socks. Spring is definitely moving into the Twin Cities.

I am also making progress on my Borghild sweater. I've finished the first sleeve:



and I'm almost ready to start the decreases on the second sleeve. This is a very long project for me. As usual, by the time I get it finished, it'll be too warm to wear. I seem to do that every winter/spring.

And, trying to catch up on my movie reviews, again, I watched three more nominees before the Academy Award ceremony:



I liked this one, but as you saw earlier, it didn't make my Top Ten. As you probably know, Mickey Rourke stars as a past-his-prime professional wrestler. He was gigantic in the 80s, but that was 20 years ago and now he's getting old and his best days are behind him. It's a pretty searing performance by Rourke, and just like Robert Downey Jr. brought so much of himself to his role in Iron Man, I think Rourke's own history makes this a role of a lifetime for him. The regret, loneliness and longing on Rourke's face is quite real, I'm sure. I think the reason the movie didn't totally resonate with me is that I'd already heard so much about it and seen clips before I saw it. There's a very emotional scene where Rourke's character has a conversation with his daughter, who he's estranged from after pretty much abandoning her in childhood to pursue his own dreams. I'd seen the climax of that scene in clips dozens of times before I actually saw the movie, so I think it lost some of its power for me. It's coming out on DVD in a few weeks and I'd definitely add it to your list.



Although I thought Mickey Rourke's performance was fantastic, I did think the Academy got it right in giving the Best Actor Oscar to Sean Penn. He plays the first openly gay man elected to a major office in the U.S. The movie starts at Harvey Milk's 40th birthday, when he realizes he really hasn't done much with his life, so he moves to San Francisco and starts living out of the closet, in the Castro. He organizes the neighborhood and runs for a position on the Board of Supervisors a couple of times and eventually, after he starts running on a campaign of hope, he wins. I don't think it's spoiling anything since it's fairly well known, but he's eventually killed, along with the mayor, by another member of the Board of Supervisors. Although it's a tragic story, you really get a sense of what a difference Harvey Milk made in his short time on earth and you feel energized and hopeful. The whole cast does a great job, including James Franco, James Brolin (who is fast becoming one of my favorite actors), and Emile Hirsch. This one is already out of DVD, so if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.



Continuing the theme of great acting, it's no breaking news to say that Meryl Streep is amazing. She completely inhabits the role of a tough nun in 1964. She's suspicious of the new priest, played by the always fantastic Philip Seymour Hoffman. Is he just progressive and a new kind of priest, or has he done something completely inappropriate with the one black child attending the church's school? Caught between them is a young nun played by Amy Adams. The acting was really great, including a small part of the black student's mother, played by Viola Davis. The cinematography and writing is really well done, but it's a bit cold and I didn't think it reached a level of greatness, but it really is worth seeing.

Knitting News

OK, as I said last time, I wasn't super productive in the knitting department between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I did work on a few things.

I finished one front and the back on my Borghild cardigan. I thought I'd knit the boring stockinette back before the second front so that I'd have something to look forward to.



As I mentioned last time, I gave a pair of socks I knit last summer to my sister for Christmas and I was knitting a hat for my brother.



Project Name: Koolhaas Hat
Pattern Source: Interweave Knits, Holiday 2007
Yarn: Classic Elite Lush
Yarn Source: Needlework Unlimited
Date Started: 12/7/08
Date Completed: 1/13/09

Comments: I didn't finish it in time, but I had him try it on and he definitely needed the length the pattern gives for a man's hat. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn. I looked for another skein in a couple of my local stores, but couldn't find this color. I thought the yarn was a little soft and feminine looking anyway, so I decided to just knit it in the women's length and keep it for myself. I used a little bit of some other yarn to finish up the top, so it's not as fuzzy, but it really isn't too noticeable. It fits me just fine. So, now I've started another hat in Malabrigo for my brother and hopefully I'll have it done by the Super Bowl.

I also knit a scarf, but I want to block it out before I take pictures and I've been too lazy to get down on the floor and pin it all out. I've got this cold that will not go away, so my energy level is sort of bottomed out. But, I'm spending most of the weekend sleeping, so I'm hoping I'll sleep it away!

I've also done a little crocheting. Here's my progress on the Babette blanket:



I have a definite love/hate relationship with that project. Sometimes I look at it and think it's great and other times I think it's hideous. I definitely am a better knitter than crocheter.

I'm currently working on preemie hats for the annual January preemie hat collection. Here's my first:



Jeanne and Chelle have taken down their blog since last January, but there's a Ravelry group, so if you're interested in joining us this year, let me know and I'll point you in the right direction. I plan to heed President-Elect Obama's call to service for MLK Day and knit preemie hats.

Update

Now that it's officially fall, I'm keeping busy, but most of it is not really good blog material. It's election season, so I've been doing some volunteer work for the DFL and watching hours of political/news coverage. The debate was really fun to watch and I can't wait to see the VP debate this week. Most of my readers are progressives like me, so do what you can to make sure things change this time!

It's football season too. The Vikings have been pretty disappointing, but thank goodness they won last week or else I'd really be depressed. You feel like such a chump when you dump so much money into season tickets and then the games suck. My fantasy football teams are doing pretty well. I'm in first place in the league I care the most about, the one I've been in for the last 10 years that my brother is also in.

The new television season has started too. I haven't seen anything new yet, but it's good to see some old favorites return. With the writer's strike last year, it's been a while for some of these shows, and I'm happy to see them. I'll do my usual fall tv post in about a month or so.

With all that extra tv watching, I have been doing some knitting. I finished up the first of my Vikings Froot Loop socks:



The yarn (Chestnut Bay Fibers) is a little thinner than I'd like, so I hope these don't wear out too quickly. I didn't want to mess around with changing the numbers in the pattern, so the gauge isn't as firm as I'd normally like. They do fit very nicely though.

I'm also knitting one more pair of socks for the Knitters for Obama drive.



I'm using Woolease for this pair and am almost up to the toe right now on this first one. I'm starting to collect stuff for the Minnesota group now, so I should be able to finish up the pair in time for my delivery to the Veteran's group.

And finally I'm doing a knitalong on the Elsebeth Lavold Ravelry group. I decided to make the Borghild sweater in a Silky Tweed I had in my stash:



I love this yarn. Soft and silky and also just gorgeous. It's gray and cloudy today, so I couldn't get a good shot of it without the flash and the flash overexposed it, so hopefully next time. But it's a lovely green with flecks of orange.