Thursday, April 3, 2008

F is for Felted Marbles

F is for felted marbles. At the end of Malabrigo March, I had a bunch of high-quality skein ties and remnants left over, much too good to discard. So I made felted marbles and strew them around the first Annetrelac sock, which is posed with the Wee Tiny Sock Swap sock for scale.

Annetrelac and friends

It's easy to felt Malabrigo marbles. You start with skein ties and remnants, tease them mercilessly, dunk a fair quantity (not too much at once) in warm soapy water, and roll them between your palms. It takes a minimum of two minutes of tedium rolling to form a decent marble. Even so, most of these have a seam, like a peach.

Remnants   Teased fiber   Felted marbles

The marbles seem heavy and dense when first formed and wet, but when dry they are surprisingly light for their size.

F is also for freak flag. Mine would seem to be waving high. I didn't set out to select the Ten Most Obscure Movies of All Time (and I do mean all time), but apparently I have a penchant for such. So here's second clues for the movie meme.

1. "I am not a sissy!"
"You see what's happening, don't you? How we're being corrupted by their hipper-than-thou fashion and cool slang you can't help but use?"

2. "Arthur! What an Englishman you are."
"I'll discuss peace over Wellington's dead body!"

3. "Id! Id! Id! Id!" (Dr. Morbius)
"Monsters. Monsters from the id." (Doc Ostrow)
From: Forbidden Planet (1956). What guilty pleasures are all about, in cheesy b/w. There's an excellent hommage in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Identified by: Risa

4. "Akita! Akita!"
"A time of beginnings, of darkness, of light, of the sun, the earth, the sea, of man!"

6. "People of Valencia! I bring you bread!"
"We call such a one El Cid."

7. "Break the conga line." (Mel Bakersfield)
"Any approach is no damn good if it lands on runway 2-2." (Vernon Demerest)
From: Airport (1970). A worthy progenitor of Airplane! and many, many others.
Identified by: Risa

9. "You can add Sebastian's name to my list of playmates."
"Waving the flag with one hand and picking pockets with the other, that's your 'patriotism'."

10. "As long as the lady is paying for it, why not take the vicuña?" (Salesman)
"It's the pictures that got small." (Norma Desmond)
From: Sunset Boulevard (1950). Overlook the howlingly bad framing device and instead enjoy how ostentatiously scrumptious vicuña looks in b/w. Although in film noir, those who play must pay.
Identified by: Eileene

DH keeps insisting he can do better with this meme and is threatening to take over the blog. Gentle readers, what say you?

Finally, while out biking I noticed this sign of the times.

Welcome home

Possibly the happiest family roundabout Exit 151.

9 comments:

CrazyFiberLady said...

oo oo, #7, I saw that when I was asick in bed a few weeks ago. That was the original Airport movie.

And how could a sci fi geek like me not know that #3 is from Forbidden Planet :)

Sweet Camden Lass said...

I did wonder if #2 was the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But it isn't.

Anonymous said...

Ahh.. I was going to say All About Eve for #10 but I knew that wasn't right but it was a film sort of like it. Now I know it's Sunset Boulevard.

Kim said...

Flap that flag lady! Unfortunately, I can't with the movie meme. The marbles are wonderful little Follies! Great socks big & small.

Anonymous said...

Nope, not a clue. Love the marbles, though!

Bezzie said...

They don't blister your palms making them? Must be my cookie rack when I hand felt then. Did that family have a sign up about Scott when he was in Iraq? I think there's a place I pass on the way into work with a similar sign.

Donna Lee said...

The entrelac sock is gorgeous. That's a technique I would like to try. I just have to get up the gumption. I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen?

Anonymous said...

Not sure if you read the Montclair paper, but the Scott of the banner is the current front-page picture and story.

celeste said...

i hope scott gets to stay back.