More Flowers

It's a gloomy rainy Monday, so here's yet more cherry blossoms from Branch Brook Park. These are the late bloomers in the park, double ruffled pinks, in full bloom this past weekend. The flower clusters are so full, they give the impression of weighing down the branches.



Not to be outdone, the triple ruffled socks of irony (Jeanie Townsend's Ruffles & Bubbles) made their successful début bicycling to a Tour de Montclair planning meeting and to MY SnB. Tree pollen may make me wheeze, but the falling maple blossoms proved no impediment to the intrepid socks.



I heart the socks of irony! JaWoll Cotton may have a stupid name, but it's excellent for athletic socks, with just the right amount of slip inside the shoe, cushyness, and wicking. I suspect it will prove durable as well. The ruffles did not catch in the bicycle gears; indeed, their only drawback was I started thinking how well their cuteness would look with [cough] new cycling shoes and new cycling capris.

The Ruffles & Bubbles foot seemed plain compared to the cuff, so I substituted a star toe of three points, modified from the directions in Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. It's okay, maybe not as glam as its name would suggest, and surprisingly camera-shy. I can't get it to photograph properly – the digicam is registering crazy diffraction patterns in the yarn (a challenge I've had before with regular JaWoll).



Ah well, here's more flowers, apple blossoms from Branch Brook Park. I can't get over how early the apple trees are blooming this spring. Mine popped two weeks ahead of normal. Most years my tree is so full of bees at blossom time that it hums. This year was a silent spring. Something to make me go Hmmm on a rainy gloomy Monday.

G is for Goodies

G is for goodies, two that I got and some linky love for everybody.

Rosemary generously gave some prizes to her Toque, Yo! test knitters and I got a Designs by Romi penannular pin [grin]. A heart, of course, because that's her signature design (pictured on an old gauge swatch). I love how it's not just for lace shawls, although it sure does make me think of making myself Muir. Thank you, Rosemary, I enjoyed test knitting and now can wear my heart on my sleeve, literally.

Last week I knit up some fingerless mitts from the Patons Soy Wool Stripes that Julie in Texas sent as part of a swap. It's colorway 70530 Natural Geranium. As with the last pair, these are sororal twins. Thanks again, Julie, these are perfect for when I get pinky on the brain, which has been known to happen.



And here's three happy links:

Jessica is having a Summer of Socks 2008 Button Contest, through April 25. Which implies Summer of Socks is coming soon! (Be sure to sign up for free accounts on Flickr and Ravelry, if you haven't already.)

Knitty is celebrating their 50 millionth site visit with their biggest contest ever, through May 1.

Knitting Daily has made the Top Five Interweave Knits Readers' Choice patterns available as a free download through May 14.

Cherryblossomland 2008

For Earth Day, here's some pix from Branch Brook Park, affectionately known as Cherryblossomland. I never tire of the show.



Renewal of this graceful urban treasure continues apace. There are new playing fields, a roofed bocce pit, and the old fieldhouse and the old community center have been refurbished (= nice new accessible restrooms!).



The ponds have been stocked with trout (eagerly sought after by anglers, not pictured), which makes the prohibition on dumping in the park's drains all the more critical.

   

An area along the canal was clear-cut (gasp – so many trees gone!) and replanted. Many of the new trees are so young, they still need braces. This grouping of weeping cherries looks very promising – I look forward to watching them grow and mature.



Even with all the creative destruction, there's no lack of old friends to visit.



I like a mix of tree silhouettes, bark colors and textures, and blossom colors and types, although my faves tend to be the small single pinks.



Because every sock deserves an adventure or two, I took the Annetrelac socks to frolic amongst the cherry blossoms.

   

Entrelac is not a favorite technique, but I'm happy with these socks, not to mention they're my first Sockdown! project to [cough] finish on time. They're kinda like these large double pinks, just plain appealing.



I got more cherry blossom pix (wanna see more?), but that's enough for one post. I hope your Earth Day was green and blooming!

ABC-Along I Contest

Immodest as it may seem, I'm again sponsoring the ABC-Along "I" Contest! It's incentive for ingenuity, to counter flagging interest in the ABC-Along and to spare gentle readers the inhumanity of un-inspired photoessays for letter nine of the alphabet (I).

There are two prizes, one for the judges' favorite "I" photoessay and one for a random entry. Prize i is Zen String Lotus Toes, 100% superwash British Blue Face Leicester, in colorway Iris.



Prize ii is Farmhouse Yarns Fannie's Fingering, 80/20 Merino and nylon from U.S. farms, in colorway Indigo.



To enter the "I" Contest, add your ABC-Along I photo to the ABC-Along 2008 Flickr pool, with a caption and tagged icontest, no later than May 10. Your photo description may link to a blog with additional text or photos, if desired. One entry per person, please; the photo and text must be your own work, naturally. The contest is open to all members of the 2008 ABC-Along.

Two prize winners will be chosen, one by the judges and one by random number generator. The judges' favorite gets the pick of the prizes. Judges are not eligible for prizes; their decisions are final. Winners will be announced here.

Any questions? Ask away in the comments. Otherwise, let's see your great ideas!

Tricot Fist Sock of Irony

For April Sockdown! I started a tricot fist sock of irony. Some gentle readers may consider that distressingly violent language, but I figure if the boys may have their toys – if Eisenstein can have a kino fist and "Stefen Colbear" can have a flaming sword of truthiness – surely I can have a tricot fist sock of irony.



The SOI is Jeanie Townsend's Ruffles & Bubbles (available from the Townsend Socks Knit-Along). Without the bubbles, because it's ironic. The ruffles are made separately, then knit onto the sock leg. I modified the pattern by reducing the stitch count, knitting the ruffles in the round, and staggering their placement. They remind me of ruffled pettipants and flower petals, also vaguely of sheep, of Little Bo Peep, and even of bicycle gears. (Imagine EZ's Nether Garments covered in ruffles. Gah.) I'm constructing the sock like a sports anklet, with a sturdy slip stitch heel, yet suspect the ruffles may catch on bicycle gears. Ironic.

The yarn is Lang JaWoll Cotton, color 0094 Natural. It's a perfectly good yarn, but I do believe it may bear the stupidest name I have encountered to date and that is saying quite a lot. If you know of a stupider, do tell.

I picked the pattern because the ruffles are similar to the cuff of Kaibashira (late of MagKnits and now on Knotions – hooray!) and also emblematic of my first weekend in May dilemma: MDS&W or Tour de Montclair? With these socks, wherever I am, I'll have a small reminder of wherever I'm not. Sock of irony!

Pink Alert!

When I started writing this post, it was because I saw these early (for this area) cherry blossoms in Branch Brook Park.



But then I noticed the MagKnits site has been taken down, with only a terse letter of farewell on the homepage, and many designers have been scrambling to reformat their patterns as pdfs and upload them to Ravelry or their own sites.

Huh?

Solitary Smiles

There's something awfully nice about finding a sweet card and a Wee Tiny Sock in the mailbox at the end of a long week. The card shows Pooh Bear and Piglet hand in hand and the legend "My very favorite things are small things." Thank you, Val, I love my new sock! I am indeed a fan of Scout's Swag yarns. Happily, despite the colorway name, Kill Bill, the sock hasn't tried anything murderous. I'm keeping it away from sharp pointy objects, though.

Speaking of guilty pleasure movies (pretty much Tarantino's entire oeuvre), it would seem my movie meme selections indeed are among the Most Obscure Movies of All Time. Now I have a new reason for being slightly embarrassed about liking them. Or an explanation for why I'm the only one laughing in the movie theater. Here's the restored list in all its awful glory.

1. "I am not a sissy!"
Lance in Undercover Brother (2002). The Man tries to derail a black candidate's presidential campaign by demeaning black culture. So rude, so funny, yet not a bit mean-spirited. Pure fantasy, right?
Not identified.

2. "Arthur! What an Englishman you are."
Duchess of Richmond in Waterloo (1970). Great spectacle, including dazzling, never-equaled zooms.
Not identified.

3. "Id! Id! Id! Id!"
Dr. Morbius in 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!"
Just about the entire cast in When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970). Simply the greatest dino-bikini flick ever. The excellent hommages in Jurassic Park caused solitary laughing in the movie theater.
Not identified.

5. "Chicken good."
Leelo in The Fifth Element (1997). Directed by Luc Besson, costumes by Jean-Paul Gaultier. 'Nuff said.
Identified by: Eileene

6. "People of Valencia! I bring you bread!"
Rodrigo Díaz in El Cid (1961). Good Muslims and bad Muslims, good Christians and bad Christians, with hints of what European arts and science owe to Arab culture. More fun and 'way less self-righteous than Kingdom of Heaven.
Not identified.

7. "Break the conga line."
Mel Bakersfield in Airport (1970). A worthy progenitor of Airplane! and many, many others.
Identified by: Risa

8. "I used to design for gods."
Edna Mode in The Incredibles (2004). Fabulously nostalgic in color palette, soundtrack, and family-oriented story.
Identified by: Carla

9. "You can add Sebastian's name to my list of playmates."
Alicia Huberman in Notorious (1946). Luminous black-and-white, juicy noir story, and the Nazis receive just desserts in the end. A Hitchcock film with Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains in a tragic triangle.
Not identified.

10. "As long as the lady is paying for it, why not take the vicuña?"
Salesman in 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


For various reasons, I spent 'way too much time on teh Internets this week. At least now there's a new Ravelry group, UCC Ravelers, to show for it. Plus I saw the Fabio and Happy Hooker books that mysteriously appeared and disappeared in my Ravelry library on April Fool's Day. But I never before noticed the library shelves have lights, very classy (official screenshot by Mary-Heather).



Julie has organized a fundraiser to mark the first anniversary of Ravelry, Ravelraiser '08. Proceeds go toward a new Ravelry server – and there are eye-popping prizes.

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.



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.

      

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.



Possibly the happiest family roundabout Exit 151.

April Foolery

It's Flash Your Stash Day! This year, it's all about guilty pleasures. You have been warned. Sensitive readers may wish to avert their eyes; some others may wish to pay closer attention.

There's guilty pleasures, the yarn: Lion Brand Half-Pound o' Romance, colorway Leaf. One ball makes a garment, the label says so. I'm seriously considering it for a version of Aibhlinn or Mossy Cowl.



Consider yourself flashed.

Then there's guilty pleasures, the movies: I don't usually do memes, but this one is irresistible.

The rules:
1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. Looking them up is cheating, please don’t.

I note this list is by no means comprehensive. Put another way, I have a lotta guilt.

1. "I am not a sissy!"

2. "Arthur! What an Englishman you are."

3. "Id! Id! Id! Id!"

4. "Akita! Akita!"

5. "Chicken good."
Leelo in The Fifth Element (1997). Directed by Luc Besson, costumes by Jean-Paul Gaultier. 'Nuff said.
Identified by: Eileene

6. "People of Valencia! I bring you bread!"

7. "Break the conga line."

8. "I used to design for gods."
Edna Mode in The Incredibles (2004). Fabulously nostalgic in color palette, soundtrack, and family-oriented story.
Identified by: Carla

9. "You can add Sebastian's name to my list of playmates."

10. "As long as the lady is paying for it, why not take the vicuña?"


In the Ravelry forums, my Ravatar is sporting a parrot today. What did you get?