foggyknits

The Hobbit, with SPOILERS

foggyknits — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:39:43 +0000

I actually got to see the Hobbit in theatres last week. My not so quiet 7 year old boy actually sat through the whole film, with no fuss. In fact, he was play-fighting the next day with a shield, but he asked that I pretend it was an oak branch.

The film is completely different from the book, but is enchanting and mesmerising in its own way. I’d go see it again in theatres if I get the chance. The Hobbit is very different from the LOTR films, much less formal in tone, more relaxed and fun.

The Erebor/Dale sequences at the beginning are full of lovely design elements; hexagons, octogons, angular shapes abound. There are a lot of what looks like hand-knitted garments too; this is easily noted in the Bag End sequences, during the Unexpected Party.

All the ‘changes’ from book to film seem to be added on. There is not as much hacking and chopping (I’m referring to the absence of Bombadil in LOTR) at the book itself, just many many details added on top of it. Or maybe I need to re-read the book again to find more stuff to nitpick.

There is a lot of action, so it should be a good film even for people who haven’t read the books / don’t like / don’t care about Tolkien, but it might be a bit long. I’ve read and re-read Tolkien since I was twelve, so I was riveted the entire time. My husband didn’t grow up with Tolkien, has no interest etc… (in his defence, he’s from China), and he found it boring, he had trouble following the story and he was truly shocked and disappointed when he found out that it was part one of three.

Watching The Hobbit got me in a knitterly mood, hopefully something will come of it and I will actually have some FOs.

WIPs Update

foggyknits — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 21:09:14 +0000

So, I haven’t been making much progress on my knitting. Three out of four are nearly done. The pink yoke cardie just needs buttons and finishing. I can’t bring myself to finish them, I don’t think that they’ll turn out how I wanted. This is new for me, usually I’m super excited about a project until the first time I try it on after all the finishing is done and I start to see a million imperfections. Hopefully, I’ll have a bunch of FOs in the next few months. I like the purple mittens I recently cast-on, but the cable is a 24 row repeat so it is definitely not toddler friendly. They’ll be ready for next winter, at any rate. I’m using a cable chart from my Elsebeth Lavold viking knitting book and I’ll use the Glitten pattern for the thumb construction, without the cable chart. I just want one cable panel per mitten. The yarn is Dream in Colour Everlasting Sock, it’s really beautiful, and thankfully not nearly as splitty as I thought it would be when I first saw it up close. Happy new year and may all our knitting resolutions come to pass. 😇

I’ve been busy outdoors a lot lately.

foggyknits — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 02:30:58 +0000

Mt-Royal Nov 2012

As usual, I haven’t had the time to knit as much as I’d like, though Sanagi’s neverending stockinette is a pretty good fit with my schedule right now. I ran out of Sea Silk in the rainforest colourway (that I purchased in 2006 or 7), ordered a new skein, expecting dyelot issues. Handmaiden seems to have completely revamped rainforest, there is a lot more brown and beige in it now. I had some pink Sea Silk left over from my Haruni, and since I’m making Sanagi with 2 strands held together, I simply used one strand of pink with one strand of old rainforest for a couple of inches, let it become entirely pink for a bit then worked pink and new rainforest together until the pink ran out. I’m on the shoulder straps now, I might even finish before the new year.

Miles of stockinette

I’ve finished my Cetaceans cardigan, (formerly unicorns, I couldn’t get it to fit nicely with the decreases, etc) I just have to sew on the buttons, weave in the ends and take pictures. I began some mitts for myself, with a thumb gusset. I’m kinda making them up as I go, since the only tricky part is the gusset, and it’s not terribly complicated. Or so I think. I haven’t even searched for gusset on YouTube so I could be terribly wrong.

Hoping for a calmer December

foggyknits — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 01:23:39 +0000

November has a way of turning into a crazy busy month for me, and I never see it coming. Below is the reason for one my ER trips this November. The other was a 2 year old covered in hives. Thankfully nothing was seriously wrong with either kid. No allergies and no stitches, just medical grade glue.

Required medical attention but not serious

I did finish a hat, which turned out to be a bit of a collapsed souffle rather than a wearable object, and I’m on the verge of finishing a cardie for my daughter and a sanagi dress for me. We’ll see what I can crank out this month, but what with the holiday and me knowing better than to knit christmas gifts, I think January is going to be a lot more exciting on the knitting front.

Rainbows!

foggyknits — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:09:55 +0000

Double Rainbow!

There was a lot of rain on Saturday, but it cleared up enough around supper time for this, a double rainbow! Which reminds me that I have to finish that Unicorn Sweater for my daughter ….

Apple Picking

foggyknits — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 01:57:54 +0000

No knitting content, but we did go apple picking last week, it was beautiful and the apples were amazing. We went to an orchard in St-Grégoire, QC.

I didn’t make her hat; entrelac is something I have never had the courage to try.

Randomness

foggyknits — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:03:50 +0000

This little guy dropped by to say hello during my morning drive today. I love rainy fall weather. It is not miserable, it is awesome.

Autumn Has Arrived!

foggyknits — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:44:33 +0000

At the bus stop

So I’ve been working on winter accessories. (Okay, when I’m not working on Sanagi, which is a lovely pile of straight stitch at the moment, but I should it finish soon.) I made this hat for my son according to his specifications. Since I couldn’t do a detailed picture of The Hulk, he settled for words instead. It turned out quite well, I improvised the pattern but kept it simple for once. It’s a little too big which means I might get two winters out of it. I knitted his name into the inside of the brim, so hopefully it won’t get lost at school.

The Hulk

I have another hat to finish, plus I’ll need some mittens for myself. Something super warm so I can grip the steering wheel of my car first thing in the morning without my hands falling off.

Summer Round-Up

foggyknits — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 21:48:15 +0000

Simmer Dim knit with STR Lightweight in Thraven

My plans to be a productive knitter during the summer months exploded in my face (yet again). The summers here are as hot as the winters are cold. I love the cold and hate the heat. Once it hits 30 C, I am done; I just lie on the floor waiting for the heat to end. I got off to a good start in June, with Nerd Wars to motivate me, but that is where the good times end. I finished Simmer Dim in 2 weeks for a Nerd Wars challenge. I just love it. It’s going to get a lot of use this fall and winter. Then I made a Milo tunic for my daughter. I got it finished on time and thankfully it is knit top down because I ran out of yarn, so it is a short-sleeved sweater in the end.

I got more done in July than August, but I missed my deadlines and didn’t submit anything for Nerd Wars. I started the Pod of Cetaceans Cardigan, which is a great pattern, but I since I was working with a cotton blend yarn I didn’t entertain the idea of a steek for a second. I had no trouble modifying it for straight knitting and it was going really well, I’d reached the yoke when my deadline ran out, and the WIP has been sulking in a corner ever since. Same thing happened with my August WIP, I didn’t make the deadline and I’m too mad at myself to pick it up right now.

I should really be a responsible knitter and sit down and finish what I start. I went to do just that and then I stumbled upon the Sanagi dress pattern. I’ll just make a swatch to get it out of my system…

Lookie what I saw on my windshield this morning!

foggyknits — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 20:02:24 +0000

First Autumn Leaf

I’m so glad Fall is finally here, hopefully I’ll get back into my routine now that summer is finally over and done. I plan to actually knit stuff, and not just plan either, I mean actually produce a garment or at least an accessory or two.

Currently, I’m working on a Alice Starmore fisherman’s sweater for my son, or possibly my (younger) daughter, depending on how long it takes because I am a slow knitter even when I’m not using 3 mm needles like this pattern calls for.