Ragna

In addition to the Mystery Project (mwa-ha-ha!), which is my current at-work project, I started to swatch the luscious Ragna over the weekend. Had to rip once, but it really is a fun pattern. I am knitting it in my favorite wool, Elann's Highland Wool, on size 7's and in a vibrant peacock-green shade called Calypso. (The photo makes it look much darker than it really is. Click for larger image, which shows the detail better.)

The center braid in the pattern is a traditional interlace pattern called a Saxon braid, with a twisted cable on either side. It's not a pattern for someone who hates cables; each right-side row has between 3 and 6 C4's per repeat. Uff da; but the no-needle technique helps a lot.

Eight Below

The kids wanted to see Pink Panther, but I talked them into Eight Below after reading a review saying P.P. was full of the type of crude sex-farce humor to which I'm trying to avoid exposing the kids.

*** WARNING -- MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOWING ***

Eight Below is a pretty straightforward adventure movie, but it's quite graphic in a "red in tooth and claw" way; it's not for very young children. Unfortunately, many parents at the showing we saw didn't seem to realize this & brought their little ones -- as young as threeish. So, we endured some wailing in several scenes... a graphic depiction of frostbite, a section where the abandoned dogs learn to hunt & then consume their kills, and an extremely scary "jump" scene where a predator attacks a dog. Some of the poor kids had problems with the deaths of two of the dogs, which were of course played for maximum pathos.

The human story (the intrepid antartic explorers trying to get back to the dogs) isn't nearly as compelling, for some reason. I think the dogs were better actors.

I admit, I was bawling at some bits; but I always cry unashamedly at movies, even dumb romantic comedies. Ali, on the other hand, was doing her best not to let me see her wiping away tears, but moms see that kind of stuff.

Johari Window

The Johari Window was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingram in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up. Click here for my Johari window & tell me what you think of me! (You can remain anonymous if you so desire.)

Diamond Scarf

The long-languishing Diamond Scarf is finally finished & blocking (here's one end of it, pinned to a beach towel. I couldn't get the whole thing in the picture & still show the lace. There's actually 18 repeats of the lace pattern.) The design is my own, adapted from a lace pattern I saw here, but reworked for a larger gauge on size 10 needles. The yarn is Plymouth Outback Mohair, in an endearingly funky pink-and-brown colorway -- I received the yarn as part of a holiday gift exchange we did a year back at the Orange County Stitch n Bitch... oops, I mean SnB-OC. I put it aside almost a year ago, but the time has come to knock off all my old UFOs.

Thanks for your advice on What to Do Next, ladies, but I forgot to mention the Mystery Project as one of the choices... well, it's a mystery, as I said. You'll see. When it's finished. Mwaa-ha-ha!

YAP Sox

In knitting news, the board-clearing continues as I finally got around to kitchenering the toes of the YAP Sox over the weekend. "YAP Sox" stands for "yet another pair of socks" and these were so dull that I didn't even bother to take a picture. Just imagine a pair of charcoal-grey stockinette boot socks: warm, comfy, & boring. The main excitement here stems from being able to cross them off the list.

I am down to two projects -- a lace mohair scarf that's 3/4 of the way done, and my swatches for the TKGA level 1 course. My next project will be something BIG -- SUBSTANTIAL -- CHALLENGING. No more scarves for a bit! I have two very different sweaters in the queue; now tell me (in comments), which do you think I ought to cast on?

a) A saddle-shoulder ribbed crew for Mike that I have been promising him forever, knit in a linen-like hemp fiber. (Pattern will be from the uber-useful Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.)
Pros: Interesting fiber; will finally get it done & fulfill my promise.
Cons: Somewhat boring; low risk of invoking the sweater curse (although I don't know how much that applies when I've been married to the guy for 17 years.)

b) The gorgeous tunic-like Ragna from Viking Knits, in a peacock-green worsted wool.
Pros: Much cooler pattern with high wow factor; easier on the hands.
Cons: Less portable because of intricate cable pattern; wool isn't fun to work when the weather gets warm.

Your comments are appreciated.

D is for Dance

Today was the Valentine's Dance at the university -- Mike & I went with two other couples & had a blast. The music was swing from the CMSU Faculty & Alumni Band, the same group that did the second set for the Sesquicentennial Ball back in November. Doesn't Mike look handsome?

Snowy Day

We've had some little snow flurries off and on today, nothing that is sticking but the fat white flakes look pretty floating down from the silvery sky. Then the sun comes out for half an hour and the snow disappears. Repeat several times throughout the day. It makes for a nice background while watching the Olympics.

Click on the picture to zoom in, you can see some big fat flakes...

Ravenclaw Complete

Ravenclaw House Scarf
Pattern from Atypically.knit
Yarn: Elann's Peruvian Collection Highland Wool in Ink, Light Grey Heather
Needles: size 7

Wow, is it warm!

C is for Cats

The real bosses of the house, discovered while doing what they seem to do most of the day, that is, snooze on our bed.

Pyewacket: "How dare you disturb me at my rest? I am Queen Pye and I require at least 22 hours of sleep a day to be at my regal best. If I want you to come in here & take my picture, I will summon you. Until then, kindly piss off!"

Friday: (zzzzzzzz)

Memories (?)

A meme swiped from TurtleGirl:

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL MEMORY OF YOU AND ME. It can be anything you want--good or bad--BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE. When you're finished, post this on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people DON'T ACTUALLY remember about you.