We had an interesting weekend that included three movies! An unusual thing for us, but every once in a while… We saw Superman Returns which, despite most critics’ enthusiastic recommendation, we thought was just dreadful. It was badly cast, the action sequences were easily twice as long as they needed to be and using archive footage of Marlon Brando as Jor-el was just creepy. We also saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. It wasn’t up to the level of the first PotC film but it was entertaining never the less and Johnny Depp was a delight, as always. Finally we saw Monster House. This is the only one of the three I thought was really good. It’s carefully crafted and very well cast. Without going into the story line (which is coherent and has a beginning, a middle and an end!) I will tell you that this is an old-fashioned ghost story - the kind told around campfires on long summer nights. It has the horror and pathos necessary for that type of tale and manages a little humor as well. Caution: it’s a pretty intense film (though there’s no blood) and I wouldn’t recommend it for children much under 12.
I also had my first fresh mango this weekend and found it wonderful! I have had the fruit in packaged fruit cups before but never fresh. Myria picked out a couple when we were shopping Friday - just out of curiosity. I really loved it; it was incredibly sweet and juicy. It also had (neither of us had any idea what to expect) a large, teardrop shaped pit inside. The flesh is fibrous and clings tenaciously to the pit so eating the thing is a bit of work and somewhat sloppy - well worth it though. Oh - and the juice stains (ask me how I know!) so, of course, I’m wondering how I would go about using this as a dye :)
And, speaking of dyeing…
A chance happening upon an elderly stash of Crystal Light drink mix resulted in the above yarn color. You can read about the process in Pink Lemonade over at The Dye Pot.
Finally, since I don’t knit in theaters (I’m always afraid it will be distracting to the people around me and that seems terribly unfair - especially given theater prices these days) I didn’t do a lot of knitting over the weekend.
I did finish the second blanket panel though, and start the third. I wasn’t thrilled with this week’s offering from the lace sampler group, so I went through my books, etc in search of a lace pattern. I finally came up with this one last night:
It comes from the 365 Knitting Stitches a Year calendar - April 29th, to be exact. The width is good and the pattern is pretty; the calendar calls it “Vandyke Lace, Panel 1” and it’s a simple, 6-row repeat.
I hope you all had fun and enjoyable weekends :) Onwards!
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geez, y’all were ebert and roeper this past weekend- what a movie marathon- sounds like fun-
love that pink- i dyed some laceweight for a shawl using both the pink lemonade and regular lemonade kool-aid and got an almost acceptable coral, but that pink is really a nicer color- umm, you know who will see yours and want me to dye some!!
stay happy-
Barb - I was thinking about your coral when I put this together. It’s not a true pink, there is some orange in it. I wish I could see your lace weight - I’ll bet it just fabulous!
I always need a shower after eating mango. Lovely color on the yarn.
Oh my, the yarn is gorgeous! I love the pink!
Rob - Oh good - then I was eating it right :) That big flat pit - like an over-sized pumpkin seed was a trip! It was so good…
Becka - It wouldn’t have occurred to me to try the Crystal Light as dye - it was leftover from many summers ago and I was just going to throw it out. And then Myria suggested that, like Kool-aid, it might be useful as a coloring agent and I thought, <i>Why not?!<>
Love the new dyed yarn…what a great color. The lace panel is beautiful too.
Fresh mango is so brilliant and so much better than the pre packed stuff. And very sloppy and messy.
Maureen - Thanks a bunch. Your comments are always so kind :)
Abi - Brilliant is exactly the word. It was awesome and - as you said - rather a messy proposition. Worth it though!
