NaBloPoMo 2011 · Project Spectrum 5: The Basics

The end of a couple of things, and also beginning

It's the end of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month)! That — and by "that" I mean everything November — went by pretty quickly and also painlessly. Thank goodness. Let's try to keep on that express train right through winter! The blogging was maybe lame at times… one of the reasons the month flew by so fast is because I was busy doing things, and blogging suffers. It's also just different. I don't know. I'm still not ready to give it up. I'm comfortable here, even though it's/I've changed some over the past few years.

It's also, technically, the end of Project Spectrum 5: The Basics. Can I just say? I am amazed… amazed that I've seen this through in a timely fashion from beginning to end. The knitting projects aren't all done yet — I may even have lost track a bit of that part — but all the yarn is dyed. And then some! Though I am, arguably, somewhat challenged when it comes to finishing (it's genetic), I really had no problem keeping my enthusiasm for PS going over the last 7 months. I'm delighted to have developed an interpretation of Lolly's concept that worked so well for me.

So, here's the last of it… November is the month for Neutral: Black/White/Grey.

image from www.flickr.com
I wanted to play around with the neutrals, but also aubergine. (Purple is the new black!) (That might have been last year, but whatever.) The group on the left was dyed first with ecru and the middle group first with grey. They were then tied up and manipulated some before being thrown into the purple bath. (That sounds kinky, or like some sort of torture, doesn't it? Ha!) The group on the right is just straight-up black; variations in color there are due to differences in fiber content, number of plies, etc. Close-ups below.

image from www.flickr.com
image from www.flickr.com
image from www.flickr.com
The finished "project" skein, below, turned out much darker than anticipated — almost black — because I still underestimate the power of black!

image from www.flickr.com
May I play favorites? Honestly, I think this is my favorite of all the PS dyeing. Wanna see it closer?

image from www.flickr.com
Closer still?

image from www.flickr.com
I love it more and more! The yarn is a merino and silk blend and it is going to have to be a scarf or small shawl. I can't wait to knit it up!

The project part of PS will remain active around here until the yarn's been knit up, and until there's a blanket knit up from all the squares! As soon as these neutral squares are knit up, I'll start to figure out how it all works. I am SO excited.

I did some extra-curricular dyeing on Sunday — Katie did, too — and I'll share that over the next few days. Because as much as I love that project yarn, there's another that I dyed on Sunday that I love even more. I do. I love it. I love it so much that I would marry it!

 

NaBloPoMo 2011 · Ten on Tuesday

Ten on Tuesday: Musicals!

Ten on Tuesday10+ Favorite Musicals

Shall We Dance?

I'm not even going to consider animated musicals… that's a whole 'nother topic.

1. The Wizard of Oz. It was always a huge event every year when The Wizard of Oz came on TV! We had a small, portable, BLACK & WHITE TV — I didn't even know, for years, that Oz was in color! Still, we were riveted to the TV. I think The Wicked Witch of the West/Margaret Hamilton might have been scarier in b&w! Scarecrow/Ray Bolger was my favorite growing up (still is and always will be); I could tolerate Tin Man/Jack Haley, but really couldn't stand Lion/Bert Lahr; I've a much deeper appreciation for them all as a grown up. Perfect casting. Somewhere Over The Rainbow…

2. Show Boat. This is the first "old" musical I ever came across on late-night TV as a teenager — chopped all to hell on the screen, TERRIBLE quality — dark and muddy, made even worse by black & white TV! This is the musical that made me fall in love with musicals! Howard Keel! Ava Gardner! Old Man River…

3. Funny Girl. Babs. Omar. Laughter, tears, heartbreak. My Man…

4. Oklahoma! Oh, Jud Fry/Rod Steiger was SUCH A BAD MAN! There's good and bad, light and dark, safety and danger, compare and contrast in every movie, but I think it had never been so clear to me before Oklahoma! Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'…

5. The King and I. This is the movie that taught me what sexy was: Hello, King of Siam/Yul Brynner with your bare chest, bald head, cute accent, and THOSE EYES! And all those kids! Anna/Deborah Kerr was so beautiful… so amazing. And I loved her dresses. So swishy. Getting To Know You…

6. Mary Poppins. Another perfectly cast movie! I remember how much fun the Sister Suffragette number was as a kid, and how much more I understood it when I watched with my own kids. Shoulder to Shoulder was the first Masterpiece Theater series I ever saw — I don't think I even saw it from the beginning (and what I wouldn't give to see it again) — and I was positively riveted by the Pankhurst women and that story! My life-long love for Dick Van Dyke began with this movie. Chim-Chim-Cheree…

7. The Sound of Music. Julie Andrews has had some pretty great leading men, and Captain Von Trapp/Christopher Plummer is certainly one of them. I love everything about this movie. My Favorite Things…

8. Jesus Christ Superstar. I received the Broadway soundtrack for Christmas and listened to it every waking moment. Dad took me to see a production at UW-Oshkosh for my birthday, I think, when I turned 14 or 15? I've seen several other productions, since, including an amazing spectacle of one with Sharon that had Ted Neely and Carl Anderson cast in their movie roles as Jesus and Judas. This is the first movie that I went back to the theater to see again, and again, and again… for a total of SIX times! Could We Start Again, Please?

9. Grease. Pure fun, through and through. Danny is the John Travolta that always springs to my mind… or Tony Manero. Can't imagine a more perfect cast than this, either. You're The One That I Want…

10. Moulin Rouge! God I love this movie. So unexpected and familiar at the same time; fun and sad; madcap and dramatic. Baz Luhrmann is a crazy man — in all the ways that I love crazy. J'adore Ewan McGregor. Come What May…

…and also Roxanne.

BONUS NUMBERS:

11. Top Hat. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. That is all. Cheek to Cheek…

12. Singin' In The Rain. Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor… rain. That is all, again. Good Morning…

13. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Howard Keel again (such an amazing voice)… with brothers. When You're In Love…

14. Million Dollar Mermaid. Esther Williams, Victor Mature, Busby Berkeley. Love this stuff. Let Me Call You Sweetheart…

15. Mamma Mia! Definitely not the greatest musical ever made, for sure, and some of the (Pierce Brosnan) singing is pretty bad, but it's ABBA and SO much fun!! Dancing Queen…

Oh, that was fun!! What about you? Yay or Nay on usical-May? If a Yay, what's on your list? What have I overlooked??

 

Food and Drink · NaBloPoMo 2011

Weighing in

I had a great track for a post going in my head while I was in the car this morning, but I lost it along the way and I haven't been able to find it again. So, I'm falling back on photos today… photos of food. It's a good thing the blog doesn't ever have to weigh in.

These are some I took last summer for Ali at the coffee shop. I don't think I've shown them before — maybe a couple. If I did, think of it as going back for seconds.

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Sandwiches and salads. That's not so bad. I think that's a Goud-Asparagus panini.

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Coffee is good.

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Coffee drinks are yum, especially frozen blended ones that include chocolate and a little fresh whip!

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Mmmmuffins.

Remember, photos have no calories!

 

NaBloPoMo 2011 · Project Spectrum 5: The Basics

We’re dyein’ over here!

There was some Project Spectrum dyeing of the neutral variety.

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Though now that I look at it, this is extra-curricular stormy-day sky scarf dyeing.

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Katie did some dyeing, too. She wanted cobalt blue for a cowl. Yowza!

Better (and more) pics will be forthcoming.

It was a great weekend — somewhat busy and productive, somewhat relaxing. I can't believe it's already over!!

NaBloPoMo 2011

More thanks!

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Mack and Addison made a "turkey" of thanks.

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We all had to write something we were thankful for on a tail feather.

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Guess which one is mine?

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I should have focused on his eyes, but he was very proud of the dirt on his nose from playing football earlier in the day!

It took a while to get motivated today — chilly, rainy — but I managed to get a few things done, including throwing a big ol' monkey off my back. It feels great! Tomorrow, I'm firing up the dye pots for the last of the Project Spectrum dyeing. Katie will be over to make a yarn brew, too!