FO!

Another weekend done and gone. Why do they go by so quickly, when they're so much fun? Ah, the answer is in the question. I saw this movie this weekend:



Very, very cute. The story is about a rat in Paris who is a bit of a foodie, unlike the rest of his colony who eat garbage. This means that he doesn't quite fit in with the colony and is a little bit of a disappointment to his father. He also takes very dangerous risks to put together meals - like going into kitchens where humans may discover him and try to kill him. There just aren't a lot of great ingredients for creating masterful meals in the garbage, though. His hero is the late French chef, Gusteau, whose philosophy was that "Anyone Can Cook". The rat of course embraces this philosophy and begins to see visions of Gusteau's ghost after he's separated from the rest of the colony. He ends up in Gusteau's restaurant and through a series of events, he creates a soup that is a hit sensation, but everyone thinks the garbage boy created it. The rat is able to communicate with the garbage boy that he knows how to cook and they figure out a way for the rat to become a chef by controlling the body of the garbage boy. It all sounds very complicated, and of course it is, but it's charming and entertaining. There's good drama - will the garbage boy be discovered as a fraud? Will the rat be discovered and killed by the humans? Will the rat be reunited with his family and colony? There are some delicious bad guys - the chef who runs Gusteau's, who used to be Gusteau's sous chef, and has dreams of millions of Euros made exploiting Gusteau's reputation and celebrity in a line of frozen dinners. There's also a food critic who scoffed at Gusteau's populist philosophy and could ruin what remains of the restaurant's reputation (and probably a bit of a poke at film critics as well). There's even romance in the form of the garbage boy's relationship with a line cook who takes him under her wing when he's elevated to a cook position. The animation is beautiful of course - right up there with the best Pixar films. My only problem with the film is that I was very grossed out at any scene where the colony is all together and has to scramble away. Seeing all of those scurrying rats is really disgusting. Even if they are charming.

I finished up the painting in the living room and got almost everything back in place. I did end up getting rid of a lot of stuff to avoid the clutter. It felt so good! I still have some DVDs and CDs that are overflowing the racks I have. I'm not getting any more racks, so I need to cull down what I've got and get rid of stuff I don't listen to/watch any more.

I also did some baking this weekend. We've had a gorgeous, cool week around here, so the idea of heating up the oven wasn't disgusting. I belong to a CSA and we got a bunch of zucchini this week, so I made zucchini bars with cream cheese frosting for book club. They were delicious and a bit hit with my fellow readers. Since I had the oven on, I also baked up a banana bread - one of my favorite treats.

I also finished up my Shimmer Socks:



Project Name: Shimmer Socks
Designer: Meg Croft
Pattern Source: Magknits
Yarn: Lorna's Laces (Rainbow colorway)
Yarn Source: Coldwater Collaborative at Yarnover 2007
Date Started: 5/26/07
Date Completed: 7/15/07

Comments: I am really pleased with the interaction of this pattern and this yarn. It's my first time using Lorna's Laces and not the last. It was also my first time doing a short row toe and heel and I really like them. I think they fit quite nicely. Here's the obligatory sole to sole shot, so you can see how the heels fit:



I also think the heel looks very pretty. These were a Project Spectrum project - I started them at the end of May, so the green and yellow fit into that and I didn't finish until July, so the red fits into that Perfect! Here's one final shot of the finished project. As usual, I knit the legs shorter than the pattern called for:

Half FO

I finished my first Shimmer Sock last night:



As usual, I shorted the leg for my own comfort. I made it even 1" shorter than I normally do and I thought maybe I should rip out the ribbing and knit that extra inch, but I think this is ok. I'm going to stick with 5" legs instead of 4" legs in the future, but for these socks, it's ok. I'm pleased as punch with how this turned out. The fit of the short row toe and heel are both very nice.

Did you notice my new sock blocker in that picture? I'm very pleased with that, too:



I got a design called "Look Inside" from Leggy Creations. They are bigger and heftier than my Fiber Trends blockers so they closer to my actual feet - I bought the wrong size FT blockers. They are also gorgeous! Lovely plain wood on one side if you wanted to take a picture and not have anything distract from the socks. A really cool collage on the other side. I love collage! These have some really cool pictures, like hydrangeas, a red telephone, written words, etc. I just love them.

I often hear a debate among knitters about blocking socks. Why do it? Won't they just naturally be blocked once they're on your feet? Sure, and for the first 10 years I knit, I didn't block socks. But once I got my sock blockers, I wouldn't ever go back. Here are my reasons for blocking socks:

1. It's so easy to take pictures for the blog. You can really see how they look while on the blocker and I don't have to contort myself to get an on the leg view (I have incredibly short, fat legs) and I don't have to expose my unnaturally pale skin to my readers as often. I still always take the sole to sole picture when I finish a pair, just out of tradition.

2. They're so great for drying my washed socks. I tend to wash my socks on a gentle cycle and then air dry them. Sure, you can hang them up to dry or lay them out flat, but the sock blockers make it so quick and easy.

3. Blocked socks are aesthetically pleasing. After they dry, you take them off the blocker and they look great. I tend to knit socks in patterns because I'm bored with just ribbing or stockinette and a blocked knit looks better than an unblocked one. Yes, once it's on my feet, it probably looks the same as an unblocked one, but in my sock basket the blocked socks look so nice and inviting. It's the same reason I iron clothes even though they're going to get wrinkled once I wear them, or fold clothes instead of just rolling them into a ball or throwing them all together in a drawer any old way - I just want them to look nice for me.

I don't say that everyone should block their socks. Those octopus hanger things from Ikea are cool and if it seems like a hassle to you, don't do it. But let me enjoy my blocked socks without thinking I'm being ridiculous, ok?

Not Much Progress

There's not a lot to blog about around here lately. I've been busy, but it's mostly been work or things that just aren't that interesting. I did try out the new Taste of Thailand in downtown Minneapolis on Thursday night. Just as good as the St. Paul location.

I have been knitting a bit, but I haven't made a lot of progress. I'm almost done with knitting up my Yarn of the Month samples - I'm working on this month's selections. I have fallen in love with a couple of the yarns. I spent about two hours spinning my wheels on the Weeping Willow Shawl. This pattern is just one big chart and there's an error on the last row that I knit (there's a K2Tog toward the beginning of the row that should just be a knit). I knit and re-knit and counted and just couldn't figure out why it wasn't coming out right. I FINALLY figured out that I should check to make sure that all of the YOs were paired with decreases and found the extra K2Tog. So, I need to undo that row again and re-knit it. UGH!!!

I made it through the heel and started the leg on my Shimmer Socks too. I put all the stitches on a piece of yarn and tried it on and it seems like the short row heel and toe fit really nicely. Here's how the toe looks:



and here's the heel:



I can't wait to finish the leg and really try it on and see how the ankle fits. Still loving the pattern.

While I was knitting on these I was watching "Shut Up and Sing", a documentary from last year about the Dixie Chicks and the whole controversy about Natalie Maines' comments about being ashamed that the President is from Texas. I'm not a huge country music fan, but I did really like the film. It was interesting to see how these women work together as a group and their reactions musically and emotionally to the controversy. I wonder how an all-male group would be different. I'd recommend checking it out if you like documentaries or have any interest in the DC music.