Some pictures for a Sunday afternoon.

I finished the Embossed Leaves socks:


And here's a darker photo which shows the texture of the stitches better.



I really like the pattern but I'm a little disappointed in the yarn. The Knitpicks Essential feels very rough and scratchy - which is sad because their merino sockyarn (which they have reduced down to only nine colorways. Which is wrong.) is really super-nice.

I finished these while watching "O Brother, Where Art Thou" on television last night. I've seen this movie several times (rented it once and then have seen it a couple times in the just-slightly-edited form on TNT). And every time, I'm struck by what a darn fine movie it is - it's funny, at times slapstick. It's shot very well - I read somewhere that the whole movie was "greyed down" in post-production to capture the Depression-era "feel" and that is very effective. The whole cultural thing - the South-of-the-Great-Depression is interesting (and, at least as far as I can determine from the reading I've done about that era, fairly authentic).

And then there's the loose basing on the Odyssey. (Granted, the Coen brothers admit to never having read the Odyssey - which I think they should, now, and be forced to write a fifteen page paper on it, to atone for that omission). It's sort of fun catching little things like the fact that "Gov. Pappy's" real first name is Menelaus.

If you're at all into the classics (and I'm looking hard in your direction, Lydia), and you've not seen it, I highly recommend renting it.

And, it has George Clooney looking very Clark-Gable-licious in the movie. Definitely a plus there.

(And seriously: can you resist a movie that contains the line, "Them Si-reens done loved him up and turned him into a horny toad!"?)

I also finished the green loopy scarf. I had to play with the second skein a little (doing some judicious slipped stitches here and there) to force the dark green to more or less keep the fake plaid or fake argyley pattern that was present in the first skein.

I like the scarf, it's nice and cuddly.

And here's some Old Knitted Stuff - and this one is pretty old, I knit it probably in '97 or '98 when I still lived in Illinois. I kept wanting to post a photo but this is a really tough thing to photograph well.

It's supposed to be a knitted squid. I was inspired to post a picture after seeing the Nautie that "Crafty Snargle" made for a swap pal.

The pattern is unfortunately no longer available for this guy, it was one of those hosted on a Vanderbilt website that has since gone away. And I think I lost my copy.



(Posted BIG so he won't be upset and call down the wrath of the Elder Gods...he does look a bit like that Lovecroftian thing that you must not speak the name of, no?)

I'm in a weird mood today. On one hand, I'm sort of happy - Merle, the nice older man who had gone through lung cancer treatment was finally feeling well enough to come back to Sunday School today (but wasn't up to church yet). It was really good to see him and I hope his recovery continues. But I'm also sort of anxious and at loose ends - I think I was too idle this weekend and spent too much time on line. (And it's also "that week" and I ALWAYS get anxious then). And the news - national as well as more regional - is distressing me. It seems there are too many bad news stories, too many people being killed, too many kids being kidnapped. And people I know are having minor to major anguishes.

I think maybe what I'm going to do - now that I see Dulaan project is going on for another year - is whenever I feel distressed about the world seeming a hateful place, I might make myself cast on for something - a hat, a scarf, a pair of socks - that will eventually go there. I tend to believe in the Therese of Liseux saying that every act of love adds to the balance of love in the universe, and that maybe my tiny little actions can help cancel out some of the hatefulness. I think I'm also going to go through my stash, and any of the leftover bits of animal-fiber (warm) yarns I was saving for "whenever" will go to make hats and stuff. Instead of being saved "forever." I know I have some lovely green alpaca left from a vest that will make hats and mittens. And I'm going to use up the rest of the "algae" yarn - knit on smaller needles to make it denser - and make a hat or two.

I have a big box left from something I ordered that I can just put aside and fill.

I also have some sportweight sockyarn I'm not totally in love with, colorwise, any more - I might see if I can make the baby sweater in "Not Just Socks" out of it (if it's not quite the same size, that's fine, it will fit SOME baby somewhere).

And I'm going to pull out and finish a wool scarf I started a long time ago with no potential recipient in mind, and finish it for the box.

And since the "Artistry" yarn seems to be warm enough even though it's just part wool, I might use the rest of it to make a second scarf (again, at a tighter gauge than I made mine) and pop it in there. Green is a "good" color in Mongolia, I hope? I have lots of green leftovers to use up.

And if I have yarn left from the current pullover, it can go to make hats or whatevers. So I'm doing something, some little thing, to help, to reach out across the miles and say, hey, someone in another part of the world cares at least a little bit.

That may help beat down some of the anxiety and sadness.