Thank you Elizabeth!!

I participated in the Special Swap this go around and got my package this week from the awesome Elizabeth. I'm a little late reporting this great package because I forgot to tell Elizabeth my new address, so I had to wait for the box to be forwarded from my old office. It was well worth the wait, though! The theme this time was "Sweets" and this group of gifts was indeed sweet!



From the top left, there's a spindle and some fiber to get me started (apparently Elizbeth doesn't think I buy enough yarn - I've gotta start on the fiber too), a couple of cookbooks that look amazing - some cupcakes and muffins and all chocolate recipes, and next and winding back down, a jackpot of candy - I seriously think my eyes sprang out of my head like you see on cartoons when I opened the box and saw all that candy (it's pathetic, really, that an almost 40 year old woman would be that excited by candy), I ate one of those Reese's as soon as I took the picture, in between the Twix and Mounds you can see some beautiful earrings and stitch markers that Elizabeth made just for me - love them!, on the middle left, there's an adorable cupcake magnet (which will be gracing my cubicle shortly) and a nice magnetic notepad. And the creme de la creme on the bottom left is a skein of Sundara sock yarn. You know you want a better look at that beauty.



I've never seen Sundara in person, but I now know why it's so popular. It's a really soft, lovely yarn and the picture does not adequately capture the rich, bold colors of that green colorway. It's gorgeous and I love it!! I loved all of the fun ribbons that everything was tied up in too - I'll be reusing those ribbons on my cards, too, Elizabeth. Thanks again for such a fantastic package - everything was perfect.

I also wanted to let everyone know about a project The Yarnery is doing. Here are the details:

The Yarnery is very excited to let you know about The Promise Blanket project. We are asking anyone and everyone to knit a square made of fingering weight superwash sock yarn and send it to us. Then we will sew the squares together into at least one blanket (more if you’re generous) to auction off for charity.
The charity we have chosen is the Women’s Advocates, Inc., which provides shelter and resources for women and their children who are victims of domestic violence. Something that shouldn’t exist, but sadly does. Domestic violence affects too many families and if the proceeds from our project can help even one woman start anew we’ve made a step in the right direction.

Inspired by Socks In The Cities and Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larissa Brown and John Martin Brown, we are hoping to create a beautiful blanket knit by people near and far. We will display the blanket(s) in our store and online and hold the auction on Saturday, August 16, 2008. The auction will be open to knitters and non-knitters, with all of the money going to the Women’s Advocates, Inc.

If you would like additional information about the Yarnery, the blanket, or the Women’s Advocate visit yarnery.com for links. If you have any questions please email me at sitckal@gmail.com.

We would appreciate your help in any of the following ways:


*A 7 ½ square made of sock yarn (the Knitalong book has a pattern - you can find it in our store or at the library).

*Donate any of your left over fingering weight sock yarn to The Yarnery, 840 Grande Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105

*Mention our project with a link on your website, blog, store, class, etc.

*If you are in the Twin Cities, MN area please join us at The Yarnery on July 20, 2008 from 6:30 - 8:00pm for an “old-fashioned” sewing bee to seam the blanket together.

Thank you for your support and good will.

I knit my square, and I hope you'll all do the same:

Best of 2007

It was a good year for film, so it was hard to choose the Top Ten. Here are my favorite movies of 2007:

1. Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2. Into the Wild
3. Once
4. King of Kong
5. Lars & The Real Girl
6. Taxi to the Dark Side
7. The Savages
8. Sweeney Todd
9. Sicko
10. Gone Baby Gone

Yeah, none of my Top Ten were nominated for the Academy Awards this year. In 2005 my top five were the five nominees. That was really rare, but it's also really rare that none of my favorites are nominated. I actually really liked all the nominated films this year, but they just didn't grab a hold of me like these did. I should say none of them were nominated for Best Picture, because Taxi to the Dark Side actually won the Best Documentary Oscar.

On July 1 I did a top five of my favorite movies so far and it was a light and funny bunch, with Once at the top. I predicted that more dramatic films would make it on my top ten and oh boy, did they. Diving Bell and Into the Wild edged out Once for the top spot on my final list and they were both really emotional for me.

This year I intermixed the documentaries and fiction films because I didn't see as many documentaries this year as I had in years past - I think the big bounty of documentaries has passed again - or maybe I just wasn't as good about seeing them when I wanted to. In any case, I had three documentaries on my list and if I slid those off, I probably would have added Rescue Dawn, Knocked Up and Michael Clayton. I also really liked another documentary this year, My Kid Could Paint that. I haven't seen No End in Sight yet, though.

So, that's the list for this year. I highly, highly recommend all of the films I listed and pretty much all of them are available on DVD if you want to add them to your Netflix list.

In other fun and exciting news, I got a great package in the mail! My Special Swap partner this time was Kat and she sent me an outstanding parcel. Our theme this go around was A Day at the Spa. Everything arrived in this pretty box:



I opened it up and found a pretty card and these pretty little surprises:



Soothing blues and greens, I'm already relaxing! But when I opened those little packages up I found some pretty great stuff:



Kat was way too generous!! Starting from the right, there's a hand-knit beautiful blue and green facecloth - gorgeous and soft. Next in the back is a really fragant candle - I can't wait to try that out. It smells fantastic. Beside the candle is a bag of chocolate/white chocolate squares. I couldn't wait to try those out - they are delicious!!! In front of and beside that are two big packages of Burt's Bees products. LOVE the Burt's Bees (luckily Kat does too, because I sent her some too). There a little something to soothe every part of my incredibly dry hands, feets, face and body (come soon spring!) Next to that is the best relaxation of all, knitting! Kat included a bunch of really fun accessories and a gorgeous skein of yarn and scarf pattern from Knitspot. You want to see that yarn close up, don't you?



As you can see on the tag, it's Arequipa from Ball and Skein - an alpaca/silk blend (two of my favorite fibers!!) It's a gorgeous colorway called storm - purple and gray and black, beautiful, beautiful! Thank you so much for the fantastic package, Kat. I'm really looking forward to continuing our friendship and of course using this stuff up!!

Thank you!!

The theme of the current round of the Special Swap was a picnic. For some reason, it seems like a lot of us had a harder time coming up with a good selection for this theme, but my partner, Kim, was brilliant! She added a honey/bees theme to the picnic theme and look at the great package she sent me:



From the left, in the back, you can see a beautiful sunflower card. In front of that is some Tupelo honey - yum!! As soon as I finish this post, I'm making some toast to try some of that honey. Next to that is "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. I like the idea of including a good book in the package. The book is on top of the hottest pattern around right now, the Bee Fields shawl by Anne Hanson. It's so pretty and I've definitely been contemplating this knitalong. Next to the book is a set of stone stitch markers called "Little Bit O Honey". Next to that, starting in the front, a lip balm from Burt's Bees, a honey body butter and in the back, a very nice bottle of wine (Kim and I were totally on the same wavelength that you really need to have a nice bottle of wine to make it a decent picnic!) At the right end is a skein of Kim's merino laceweight yarn in a color called "Tupelo Honey" so that I can knit up that Bee Field shawl! It's so soft and lovely - perfect!! Thank you so much, Kim. Once again, it was a great pleasure being your partner.

I saw a couple of movies this week, both of which I'd recommend. First I attended a preview showing of this:



The film is about Marla Olmstead, a 4 year old girl who became the toast of the art world for her abstract paintings. The filmmaker began making a film about Marla and the nature of abstract art. If a 4 year old can create these amazing works, what does it say about abstract art? And what makes a great abstract painting great? But a few months into filming the documentary, 60 Minutes did a story about Marla which questioned whether she really created the paintings, or whether she was helped by her father, himself an amateur painter. The questions arose because no one had really seen Marla create a painting from start to finish. 60 Minutes got permission from the family to install a hidden camera in their basement and have Marla paint a painting down there for the camera. The footage shows her dad coaching her on what colors to use and the painting she did for the camera seems much less accomplished than the rest of her paintings. So the filmmaker sort of starts to insert himself and his own doubts into the film and it becomes not only about the nature of art, but also about the media and storytelling in general, whether through painting, documentary or journalism. It's a fascinating story and the film is really well-done. Besides those big meaty issues, you also have the parenting issues, the draw of fame, the question of art vs. artist - is a painting just as beautiful and worthwhile if it's painted by a 35 year old man or a 4 year old girl?, the value of art. So many questions. This is the perfect movie to go to and then sit around with some friends afterward to discuss. The director was at the screening and answered some questions and it seemed pretty apparent that the audience was divided on the issue of whether Marla was the artist behind the paintings or whether she was being exploited by her father. Everyone agreed that it was a really good film, though, so I highly recommend it. The official release date is in early October, so look for it in an arthouse theather near you in a couple of weeks.

The other film I saw is a little more mainstream:



This one is probably familiar to you, but I'll give a quick overview. Russell Crowe plays Ben Wade, an infamous train robber in the post-Civil War west. After a train robbery, he lingers with a lady friend a bit too long and is captured. The Pinkerton guard and bank employee recruit help to transport Ben Wade to a neighboring town so he can be put on a train to be tried in Yuma. Christian Bale plays Dan Evans, a hard on his luck cattle rancher who desperately needs the reward money to save his land, so he volunteers for the "posse". Ben Wade is the leader of a violent gang who are guaranteed to try to rescue him, so the trip is dangerous. Both Crowe and Bale are masterful actors and their talent is on full display in this film. The film is based on an Elmore Leonard short story. If your familiar with Leonard's work, you know that Ben Wade is a villain who is very attractive. He's charming and smart and Russell Crowe displays both characteristics easily. Dan Evans is a bit of loser - his oldest son has lost respect for him and his wife can barely look at him. Bale's performance very subtly shows his decent core, his immense self-doubts and his determination. The interplay between the two leads is always fascinating to watch. There are a number of other really great supporting performances, too, especially Ben Foster from Six Feet Under as Ben Wade's right hand man, Charlie Prince. Every time he's on screen, he almost steals the show, but not in a distracting or annoying way. I wouldn't be surprised to see several Oscar nominations from this film. I would say that whether you love or hate this movie may depend on your reactions to its ending. I won't give anything away, but I will say it worked for me. On the surface, it seemed improbable (and some things like Bale's character, who has lost a leg in the Civil War jumping from roof to roof, are pretty improbable) but as I thought about it, I thought the choices the characters made were set up well earlier in the film and did seem completely within character. As a Western, the film of course is beautifully shot. The red rocks and canyons are gorgeous. There is definitely violence - people are regularly shot and killed throughout the film. But I didn't think it was overly bloody or hard to watch. I think if you enjoy a good story and amazing acting, this one is worth checking out.